Congregation of Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
XXII General Chapter
Rome, November 22, 2007
Dear brothers,
A warm greeting from the commission charged with preparing the next general chapter. We met in Rome from November 19-22, 2007 and present you with our resulting reflections and proposals.
The XX General Chapter had as its theme: We the Congregation: in Service to the Mission, and the emphasis was put on We the Congregation; the XXI General Chapter accentuated Mission, a topic given additional reflection at the General Conference in Warsaw. For the XXII General Chapter (Rome, May 17-June 12, 2009), we wish to center on Christ; He is the source of our fraternal life and it is He who invites us to take the message “elsewhere”….
The title we chose is:
“The Love of Christ impels us” (2Cor. 5:14)
As ardent lovers of Christ uniting us in brotherhood,
we proclaim the gospel
The bible verse emphasizes our roots in the Word of God, particularly the experience of St. Paul, the great disciple and apostle; his center was the love of Christ which instills in every person and community those motives for action that enliven us and heal our wounds and take away our preoccupations.
In our congregation fraternal and apostolic life must begin in the fact that each of us rediscover the centeredness that Christ has, that we be “ardent lovers” of Christ, of his Heart, of his love.
The preparatory commission welcomed a request from the Major Superiors’ Meeting (October, 2007) to involve every single member, whether from the Northern part of the world or from the growing and developing areas in the Southern and Eastern parts, in chapter preparations.
Method:
A. To involve each person the commission foresees asking three personal questions that each religious is asked to personally reflect on and that can serve as the basis of dialog with a trusted other. The fruit of such work will bear upon the chapter preparations.
B. A survey will be sent each community and each chapter / assembly so as to involve each member; responses should be sent to Rome, c/o of Preparatory Commission for the General Chapter by December 15, 2008.
C. Three questions shall be sent Major Superiors and their councils, based on their specific knowledge, about the hopes and problems for their specific contexts / geographic area; responses are due by December 15, 2008.
An internet link will be set up on our web site: www.dehon.it that will provide space for articles, studies, and a forum.
The commission will prepare an Instrumentum Laboris that will be sent to each chapter delegate and participant.
We thank you for your collaboration in the common reflection we make and for the journey we will make toward our XXII General Chapter.
Preparatory Commission
Fr. Carlos da Cunha Sousa Lobo (MZ), Fr. Giampietro Brunet (IS), Fr. Heinrich Wilmer (GE), Fr. Jesús Crescenciano García García (VEN), Fr. Paulus Sugino (IN)
** Attachments: Survey A (for individuals)
Survey B (for communities and chapters)
Survey C (for major superiors and their councils)
XXII GENERAL CHAPTER
Rome, May 17-June 12, 2007
“The Love of Christ Impels Us” (2Cor 5,14)
As ardent lovers of Christ uniting us in brotherhood, we proclaim the gospel
A.
Survey for Individual Religious
Dear Confrere,
In preparation for the XXII General Chapter, we put three questions before you:
- As an ardent lover of Christ: what experiences did you have that helped you discover the person of Christ and what helps you grow in friendship with Christ?
- Fraternal life: what are the aspects of fraternal life that help you grow in your religious vocation?
- Urgency of our mission: how can you present the gospel message to our new generations?
Practical considerations:
· Each one should put together his answers after some reflection. The answers will remain private.
· To assist in a common process for renewal of our religious life, we advise each one to look for a person he trusts with whom he can speak about the reflection he made.
· If it is deemed useful, these reflections can make up part of the community process and/or the district/regional/provincial chapter.
XXII GENERAL CHAPTER
Rome, May 17-June 12, 2007
“The Love of Christ Impels Us” (2Cor 5,14)
As ardent lovers of Christ uniting us in brotherhood, we proclaim the gospel
B.
Survey for local communities
Provincial chapters
District/Regional Assemblies
A. Ardent lovers of Christ
Fr. Dehon taught us to make “union with Christ in his love for the Father and for people the principle and center of our life” and to “discover more and more the person of Christ and the mystery of His Heart” (Cst. 17).
This union with Christ is a profound sign of his spiritual experience. His entire life was filled with the love of Christ. An ardent lover of Him and His Heart to such extent that at the end of his life he could say: “for Him I lived and for Him I die”.
As followers of Fr. Dehon, we are called to share in his experience. In our consecration to the following of Christ, following Fr. Dehon as the historical model of our consecration, we wish to be ardent lovers of Christ and so continuously formed that He becomes the true center of our lives and permeates our persons, communities, and apostolic activities
1. In what way does our community/district/region/province help us, or can help us, to be ardent lovers of Christ?
2. How do we communicate to others – in our communities or by our preaching – our experience of Christ?
B. Who unites us in brotherhood
Fraternal life in community is what the church asks of us again. In his priestly prayer Jesus prayers that his disciples be one (John 17). Fr. Dehon’s reading of scriptures put great value on fraternity and community and drew from it the “Sint Unum” (Cst. 63). Fraternal community for us is the primary expression of our apostolic life (Cst. 60), even before we take on external duties and ministries. Community is the place of our human growth as well and the foundation of our turning back to God. Churches, ancient or newly established, along with their communities need to rediscover and live fraternity more deeply.
The new missions of our congregation, to which the love of Christ impels us, are henceforth places for the growth of internationality...
Inspired by a Dehonian reading of scriptures, we are called to freshen our call to live in brotherhood and fraternity, not solely at the mercy of spur-of-the-moment activities but doing so consciously and consistently in such a way that our lives become a witness to the world.
1. What are the elements that promote and favor a fraternal life? What are the elements that hinder it?
2. Aware of what Christ calls us to, what elements promote and favor a Dehonian life and what can we concretely do to assist the ministry of the promotion of vocations?
3. How do we open ourselves up to a spirit of internationality?
4. At a personal level, a community level, at a district/region/province level, the congregational level – how do we live up to our responsibility for material goods and their sharing (common accounts, solidarity, etc.)?
C. We proclaim the gospel
An experience of the love of Christ in our lives – the same faith experience that Fr. Dehon had, intimately united with the Heart of Christ (Cst. 4) – is the very reason that impels us to offer the Kingdom of God to humankind. This union with Christ is not just something that is found written about in our constitutions (Cst. 5) or part of a series of beautiful goals listed in our documents and personal plans, but something that needs incorporation in our fraternal life and our apostolates.
1. What courses of action, or processes, should we follow, what mindsets need changing, what structures should we revise, so as to advance the preaching of the gospel?
2. How do we impart our missionary experience beyond our own district/region/province?
3. Beyond our usual haunts and apostolic priorities (“go to the people…”, the new evangelization”), how and where do we proclaim Christ?
Practical Considerations:
· Each district/region/province should set up a small committee to collect and synthesize the community contributions and responses.
· The Chaper will discuss this survey and the synthesis of the community responses.
· The final minutes of the chapter/assembly’s discussion (not more than two pages) and the synthesis of the committee (not more than three pages) should be sent to Rome by December 15, 2008.
· Address them to: (preferably), or to:
Preparatory Commission
c/o Fr. Anísio / Secretary General
Via Casale S. Pio Vi, 20
00165 ROME, Italy
XXII GENERAL CHAPTER
Rome, May 17-June 12, 2007
“The Love of Christ Impels Us” (2Cor 5,14)
As ardent lovers of Christ uniting us in brotherhood, we proclaim the gospel
C.
Survey for
Major Superiors and their Councils
Dear Colleagues:
In light of preparations for the XXII General Chapter, we submit three personal questions:
- What are those aspects of your own personal experience as one given charge for your brother members (or as the Major Superior) that give you deep satisfaction?
- What are those aspects, preoccupations, problems in your district/region/province that are most challenging?
- What could assist you practically in dealing with the elements, preoccupations, and problems of your district/region/province that you find the most challenging?
Practical Considerations:
· Major superiors are invited to discussion this questions with their councils.
· After the discussion, they are invited to send the results (no more than two pages) to the General Chapter preparatory commission.
· Address them to: (preferably), or to:
Preparatory Commission
c/o Fr. Anísio / Secretary General
Via Casale S. Pio Vi, 20
00165 ROME, Italy