From Sr. Xaverine Mukansinga, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
It is with gratitude that I write this text to share my experience of the post-chapter of the North and West Africa Entity (NOUA) from
November 26 to December 3, 2023. I had the chance to participate as a delegate of the sisters of temporary vows.
It was a very good
experience for me. It was with deep joy and enthusiasm that I began the chapter among my older sisters. We were like sisters animated by a
spirit of unity and the joy of meeting one another. A feeling of pride in being a MSOLA increased in my heart.
The chapter took place in Ouagadougou in the John Paul II Spiritual Center. All NOUA communities were represented. We were 32 people
including two members of the General Council: Sr. Angela Kapitingana and Sr. Leticia Garduño Mejia; the spiritual father of the chapter, Father Augustin Gonsum, Missionary of Africa, and the two facilitators who had moderated the general chapter: Father Yago Abeledo, Missionary of Africa, and Sr Selina Wavinya (Sisters of Mercy). When my sisters asked me to represent them, I had a lot of questions about
a chapter. One of my sisters told me:
“No one knows what will happen in the chapter”.
And this is what happened: it is the presence of the Holy Spirit who guided us. We were all open to welcome what the Holy Spirit prepared for us each day. I felt the family spirit where everyone expressed themselves without fear to build our religious family together; we were truly like sisters.
“We are companions on the journey”, this sentence pronounced by our superior general, Sr. Angela Kapitingana, touched me deeply and made me understand the spirit of the congregation especially in this mandate from the general chapter: “to walk together without fear.”
As a young professed religious, I experienced this invitation to walk with my sisters, because I was well received by them all, I had the freedom to give my point of view without feeling judged, distrusted or underestimated by my sisters. We were companions indeed. The image of the disciples of Emmaus spoke to me a lot about “walking together”. We walked together like these disciples, sharing our joys, our sorrows and our hopes and this allowed us to understand how mutual listening facilitates the process of transformation that the facilitators explained to us using the metaphor of transformation from caterpillar to butterfly.
As traveling companions, the transformation will be contagious if it is first personally and then in community. I understood the need for the
personal work on ourselves that we are invited to do to be transformed witnesses that the Lord uses to transform others. We have begun together a story of transformation where we invite the Lord to journey with us on our own path to Emmaus.
I found this chapter to be a tool for on-going formation for me because it was a moment to stop and not only look at my vulnerability but
above all to take it as a tool for my personal transformation. It was not a meeting to argue our ideas but above all to listen and learn how
transformation is possible.
Sharing with my sisters in openness made me grow more in confidence.
By sharing our worries, our joys and our hopes like the two disciples of Emmaus, I felt privileged to belong to this congregation where I can
share without fear with my older sisters. At the end of the chapter, I felt the joy of the Risen One within me and I also saw it on the faces of my
sisters. Like these disciples, we returned to our communities with joy to continue the process of transformation, personal and in community.
I share the opinion of my sisters who said that the general chapter was brought home. That is to say, we lived the experience of those who
were in the general chapter. This made me understand where we are going as a Congregation and also to understand the Capitular Acts
which I had read without fully understanding them.
I thank God for giving me this chance.
And I thank the NOUA leadership team who wanted a sister of Temporary Vows to participate in the
chapter. I accepted this mission out of obedience but I am grateful, because it was wonderful! Let us remain in the spirit of listening. This
chapter gave me hope for the better future of our religious family because I saw how God wants to transform us into good instruments
for his mission.
