Rome (Italy). In November 2021, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from the Roman Province St. John Bosco (IRO) participated in the transmission of the 24th General Chapter. In the course of four meetings, two in the Provincial House of Rome; two in Sardinia, in Macomer and Cagliari, the Provincial, Sr. Gabriella Garofoli, and the Delegate, Sr. Antonella Cangiano, shared the ‘transforming’ experience lived in Rome from 17 September to 24 October 2021, with the XXIV General Chapter of the FMA Institute.
With simplicity and clarity, they told about the preparations and the initial days of acquaintance, engaged in the ‘enterprise’ of learning the names of all the participants, of the climate of fraternity and family that was immediately created, despite the linguistic difficulties and the origins from 97 countries, with many different cultures.
In describing the stages of discernment, they shared the strong experience of the Holy Spirit which led to the election of the Mother General and the Councilors. To foster a deeper understanding and make the atmosphere more involved, they showed images and videos with the testimonies of some Capitulars and communicated the guidelines of the FMA Institute’s journey for the next six years.
On each of the different occasions of transmission, the gathered sisters welcomed with enthusiasm and joy the information received and the story of the various stages in which the Chapter took place. The meeting was an opportunity to get to know the new General Council better and to appreciate, once again, the vastness and universality of the FMA Institute, which throughout the world continues to be a gift from God to the Church and to young people of every culture, ethnicity and religion.
The attention to detail in the preparation of the environment and in the narration favored the climate of listening, prayer and sharing, through which each FMA was able to express her own impressions on the chapter experience, as she had perceived and lived it while being in Community, through social media and news coming from the Generalate in Rome.
At the end of each transmission, Sr. Gabriella gave the Animators the ‘wedding wine at Cana’, exhorting the sisters to live together as a ‘generative community’, always under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The final toast, in the joy of the feast, was a sign of a heart filled with gratitude for the great gift that the Institute is for each FMA and that we are for each other.
Source: fmairo
