What does it mean to be a young religious sister in this day and age? And more specifically, to be a member of the Society of Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ)?
A new blog written by a group of FCJ Sisters who have joined in recent years reflects on these questions. These sisters, from seven countries, spent two weeks together in 2018 on pilgrimage to the places where Marie Madeleine, FCJ Foundress, lived and started the FCJ Society with her first companions. It was a joyful experience of unity in diversity.
They know that “each generation has had the privilege of courageously unwrapping God’s gift of Charism… moved by God’s Spirit” (General Superior Claire Sykes fcJ, in her Christmas Letter 2018). While Marie Madeleine and her sisters educated the children of cotton pickers in their time, and many of our sisters through the years have run schools for rich and poor alike, these sisters’ ministries nowadays are more diverse: teachers, school, university or hospital chaplains, catechists, youth workers, nurses, administrators, psychologists, social workers, spiritual directors, researchers and social justice advocates… Many come from lands that Marie Madeleine and her contemporaries could not have imagined going to, including Asia, Australia and the Americas. Together they want to reflect on their unique experiences of ministry and of living out their vows as FCJs in the contemporary world, in the various contexts and cultures where we find themselves.
Follow them at Weaving One Heart.
