Author Archives: Gosia Poplawska

  The present moment of the chapter is seen as new life but, like it happens in the seed, the splitting of the seed-shell is painful. We all carry this new life within us, but also the pain of letting go. We need a lot of compassion and patience in our hearts, feeling responsible for one another as we live this painful moment with compassion and respect. Each one of us is responsible for the new MSOLA plant that is developing.   As in the Ninfa Garden we visited yesterday, where something new has been built on the ruins of the past, in the MSOLA congregation too, each generation is adding something to the present garden. Today, we need to add our newness to the congregation. The difficulty we had with the technology at the beginning of the prayer showed us that even if things have been well prepared, any…

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  On the Sunday after the elections, an outing had been planned for those of us who wanted to visit the small town of Cori and the Ninfa gardens in the Lazio region, south of Rome.   The weather forecasted rain but to our surprise, as we waited for the bus, the rain stopped. All along the way, the sky and the mountains were covered with clouds, but as we approached the province of Latina, where Cori is located, the clouds started to dissipate. On the way we saw some small towns on the hilltops. Sr Gisela had prepared maps and directions on what to see in Cori. When we arrived, spontaneous groups formed and we set off in different directions to discover the old town, which already existed 350 years before Christ. Its narrow, medieval streets were decorated with banners, flags and exterior window hangings of the Virgin Mary.…

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Friday May 12th was the day dedicated to the election of the Superior General of the MSOLA congregation. The capitulants began the day with the Eucharist asking the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of the sisters in that important moment of the election of the new leader of the congregation. The whole day was dedicated to prayer, including a recollection animated by Fr. Dave Sullivan, Missionary of Africa. The morning was for personal discernment and in the afternoon the election took place. Sister Angela Nemilaki Kapitingana, Tanzanian, was elected Superior General. After all the hugs and congratulations, the singing and dancing expressed the joy of having a new leader of the congregation. Then, the capitulants went to the grotto of Our Lady which is under the house where the chapter is being held, to sing and express our thanksgiving to Mary. We ended with the Sancta Maria, the congregation…

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  Morning Prayer was centred around being clay in the hands of the master, letting ourselves be moulded and shaped in ways that will enable us to respond to the needs of those to whom He will send us. He has chosen us even though we are broken and vulnerable, so that we pour ourselves out to others as He pours himself into us.   How to liberate our positive power We thank the Lord for our experiences during which our inner space is opening up to transformation, for us and for all of humanity. The Holy Spirit with our participation, is shifting our awareness and creating a new narrative in us. If we haven’t experienced or don’t trust our God-given “power within”, we are either afraid of power or we exert too much of it over others. Enduring structures of “power over”, like patriarchy, white supremacy, and rigid capitalism,…

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  The morning prayer was a thanksgiving for all that had been lived the previous day. Joy was expressed by singing and dancing while joining hands forming a circle-community, which brought a lot of energy. This energy carried the capitulants through the whole day.   The experience of the eve showed that when things are said in truth, reconciliation is possible. Personal woundedness can be healed when each one speaks in truth.  As we advance, transformation is happening. The learnings of yesterday may help to make our orientations more concrete. Richard Rohr tells us that “Our healing and maturing always begins with us acknowledging what is there” … and with what “I” and “we” have experienced.   Yesterday, the communities of the Monarch butterfly and the Mango worked together to unify the documents each group had produced, and the result was a very good document. From that experience we learned…

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  The Prayer was centred on “New Wine”, a time to connect to myself, to become aware of what is happening in me. Under difficult situations God makes a new wine, opens new paths of freedom, so that we may walk together in the way of truth and justice. The Co-Facilitators noted with appreciation and affirmed the evident shift that was happening in the here and now. They brought it to the awareness of the Capitulants that along the process the working groups / teams had become communities! Transformation was already happening. Each of the Capitulants was responsible for this shift. We are becoming aware that along the process the working groups have become communities. The work of the day will be centred on Mission and XXX. I take time to see first in me and then in the group/community what is happening in the processes we experience in our…

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  After a week of hard work, Sunday, the long-awaited day of rest arrived! Sisters chose different ways to enjoy the day. The Eucharist was celebrated Saturday evening to allow those going to Rome to catch the early buses and trains… Picnics had been prepared for those going out.   The day rose magnificently, with a shining sun, birds singing, and a gentle breeze caressing the many trees surrounding the property of Fraterna Domus in Sacrofano where we are holding the Chapter.   After breakfast many sisters headed off to catch the bus, which would take them to the train station… It turned out that going to Rome from Sacrofano was quite an adventure… The nearest stop was crowded and the bus too small to accept the sisters. So, a few walked back the 2 km dreaming of eating an ice-cream, in Sacrofano, while others continued by foot to the…

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  The morning prayer was centered on the Transforming love of the Risen Christ. Then the capitulants looked at the journey done the evening before, regarding the MSOLA identity. Framing the Agenda on Key Area “Spirituality”, the Co-Facilitators, Selina and Yago, brought in the new insights and awareness that was integrated in the Butterfly Framework. These new insights were borrowed from the Book Paradoxology by Sr. Marie Therese Winter – Chapter on Spirituality in a Quantum Universe. The Butterfly Framework calls us to learn from nature and to normalize chaos and confusion…. darkness…. long periods of unknowing…waiting…trusting the natural process etc.….   In her book, M.T. Winter explains the quantum world. This is the world that is smaller than an atom. Things at this scale don’t behave the same way as objects that we can see. The quantum theory points towards a fundamental unity in the universe behind the observable…

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  On Thursday May 4th each working group chose its name in relation with nature. The names chosen were: breath of life, source, mango tree, Monarch butterfly and olive light. The groups worked at choosing the themes that will be worked on during the chapter.   The “Butterfly organic model” will be used during the Chapter as a main model of discernment. This model invites us to focus on the present moment. The desired individual and organizational transformation starts with the lived experience of the Chapter. It provides a framework for broad exploration by making conscious connections between the present moment–where information resides, our past experiences and the desired future. It aims at sustainable solutions. The Co-Facilitators, Yago and Selina, presented to the Capitulants the “Butterfly Framework” and explained how it was going to be used as a tool that would support transformation processes and the implications (consequences that unfold…

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  The General Chapter is a new beginning, an option for life which contains in itself a potentiality that we must develop, with a view to the transformation of the congregation and each of its members. On Wednesday we began the day with a sharing on what had touched each one the previous day, Tuesday: the presentation of the General Council report showing the reality of the congregation with its lights and its shadows. Then, we journeyed together into the life of an apostle: Carol, one of our sisters who lives her mission in her village in Spain. She is creating newness in herself and in those she is sent to. We heard the powerful voices of our younger sisters speaking to us. This awakened many feelings and gave us great joy. Our morning prayer was a thanksgiving for that intense time lived together and for all the new life…

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