From 4th to 31st October 2019, the Sisters Faithful Companions of Jesus will be holding their General Chapter at the FCJ Christian Life Centre in Calgary, Canada. Ex-officio members and elected delegates will gather together to pray and to discuss ‘matters of greater importance’, identified in the months preceding the Chapter by means of consultation with all the sisters across the Society, as directed by the FCJ Constitutions.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Society must take an honest look at itself and be ready to face certain questions, some of them uncomfortable: What is God asking of us today? Are we faithful to our mission? Are we being asked to change, and if so, how? Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the delegates will gradually gain insight into the direction the Society needs to take.
We approach the bicentenary of our foundation with gratitude and marvel at what God has accomplished in and through us, trusting in God’s on-going strength and support. Jesus’s call to discipleship has its own particular context in our time. His cry ‘I thirst’ which meant so much to Marie Madeleine is heard in a particular way in every age. A chapter is a time when we listen again to this cry of thirst.
Sr Claire Sykes, fcJ, General Superior
An important part of the work of the General Chapter will be to translate their insights into specific directives for the whole Society in order to inspire an even deeper living of the FCJ vocation. The Chapter also elects the leadership of the Society for the next six years.
Amid the profound and rapid cultural change which we are experiencing today, religious institutes can, through their General Chapters, bring to society their reading of human situations such as, for example, the massive displacement of peoples, the ever-widening gap between rich and poor people, the encounters of cultures and religions, and the devastation of the environment. The directives offered will encourage the sisters in their present ministries, and may inspire involvement in new projects related to some of these situations.
