International session, Justice, Peace and Integrity Of Creation
There was an International meeting of JPIC in the Mother house during January. This letter is from the International secretary, outlining the outcome of the meeting, with some suggestions and websites of interest.
Dear friends,
Little sisters of the Assumption, laity, members of JPIC commissions;
We have just finished our SIJPIC and we would like to share with you what we have lived these nine days. This meeting is the first we have had since our General Chapter 2017.
The chapter document is full of explicit and implicit references to JPIC. This constitutes our mandate for the coming years. In this way, our meeting has developed an action plan that goes from now until the next chapter: 2018-2022.
We started our meeting with a time to share what we have experienced since the International Session of JPIC Commissions 2017. This sharing has been enriched by the contributions sent by the JPIC commissions. Thanks to each one for all of this sharing.
From our evaluation, we have turned our attention to the chapter document that invites us to build the future. We are a “living and fragile” congregation in this world that God loves so much.
Myriam Collon led us in examining the spiritual experience of St. Augustine and Stephen Pernet and their links with JPIC spirituality.
You will find this text attached in Spanish, French, English and Portuguese. We think this contribution is beneficial to share with all our sisters and lay people in our meetings and/or JPIC sessions.
Our website http://www.jpic-assumpta.org/ is an instrument to share our experiences and a place to give visibility to news that does not seem to be in the media. We encourage you to subscribe to the newsletter that you will receive every month in your email. For this, you may write your email address in the lower right of the welcome page. You can also send us your email address (sijpic.psa@gmail.com) and we will do it. Please share this with those you believe may be interested.
In our chapter document, we agreed to celebrate May 8 in memory of our sister Paul Hélène. The SIJPIC is responsible for developing this congregational event. In the SIJPIC Assumption, we have decided to draw up a calendar of the celebrations of the Assumption Family: May 8 and March 20 (date of the assassination of Fr. Machozi AA) are some of them. On each of these dates, we will receive a proposal of celebration. The first will be that of February 25, the date on which an Oblate of the Assumption was murdered in Rwanda.
We want this to build a common memory of what the Assumption represents in the Church and the world today.
Our sisters from Brazil along with some lay people will participate in the World Social Forum that will take place in Salvador de Bahía from March 13-17, 2018. We will follow this meeting of civil society in search of a better world with our prayer. We will wait for news on their experience from those who will participate.
The United Nations launched a discussion process in 2016 with the Declaration of New York in order to reach two global pacts in 2018, one on Migrants and the other on Refugees. These agreements will be submitted for the consideration of the General Assembly.
The Church, through the Dicastery of Integral Human Development, has contributed its reflection to this process (see https://migrants-refugees.va/en/20-action-points-for-the-global-compacts/). In the same way, civil society has done it (we are also represented by VIVAT, see http://www.madenetwork.org/ten-acts). We encourage you to follow this process and to give support in favor of migrants and refugees as widely as possible.
You see that this SIJPIC time has been filled with much work. But, above all, it has been marked by concern over Franca’s health and the news of her death. We thank God for her life and her commitment in the JPIC leadership of our congregation. Thank you also to each one for your commitment to Justice, Peace, and the Integrity of Creation. Come, your Kingdom!
Marcia Ferreira
Sheilah Dooley
Myriam Collon
Pilar Trillo
