“In the beatitudes, Jesus, you teach us to how to live with a new spirit and to be happy in living this way.”  This quote, from the closing prayer of the morning of May 15^th, was one among many beautiful ones offered to us by our Canadian sisters. Indeed, it corresponds beautifully to the purpose of our being here in Chapter which is to discover how we can live our charism of reparation with Mary in a spirit of kenosis with happy and even joyful hearts.

We all appreciated the reflections that Piluca offered us after her consideration of the six images we created the other day which depicted potential ways in which we might live SMR internationality. Her thoughts provided a wonderful starting point for a plenary session during which we offered our own perspectives on the images as a whole.  This conversation gave us many insights into how we might go about reorganizing in view of our reality and Mission.

An interesting dynamic followed in which representatives from two different parts of one continent had a “goldfish bowl” conversation about a subject of their choice.  They chose to talk about how they might collaborate in ministry.  Two sisters from two other parts of one continent talked about how they and their sisters manage to live life to the full in the midst of aging, illness and diminishment.  Both of these “presentations” were opened up for comment.

After lunch we watched an excerpt from a video produced in 2011 called “Tree of Life.”  With it, we entered into a visual experience of creation from chaos.  We know that is from chaos that life and its patterns emerge and that all living creatures today live in the midst of both. Though we did many other Chapter tasks after the video, the photos of the emergent Universe were a perfect starting point for an evening meal eaten in silence in preparation for the reconciliation ritual which followed.  How ready we are for a well deserved day of rest and relaxation!