We have come to the end of a week of work and discernment. I believe that you, and I, have felt that the Lord has been present in each reflection. The Holy Spirit has once again surprised us and encouraged us to go forward. “It has blown how and where it has wished to.”

During the Chapter certain themes have guided our reflection. Our contributions will bear fruit in what will be shared at the General Chapter in a few months time. We will continue to pray to the Holy Spirit that the richness of all this experience may be illuminated by his wisdom. We pray also that we may continue to hear the cries of our people and also of our sisters; those of us who are here but also those who have stayed in our communities and who have sustained us by their prayers. A sister said yesterday that the sisters who have stayed in their communities have not lived this experience and that it will now be up to us to know how to share with them “what we have seen and heard” because the life of each one of them was present in the presentation of the facts.

The Word of God was present in each of the Eucharists celebrated each morning, so allowing us to begin the day by disposing ourselves to an attitude of listening and discernment. The Word of God was also a means of introducing the theme of the day. We thank Father Teódulo for helping us to pray with the Word of God in a way that always surprised us.

I thank Sisters Teresita, Jorlady and Veronica who served with great discretion as secretaries during the sessions and as technicians. Thank you sisters!

Thank you to each one of you for the way in which you have involved yourselves during the Chapter, without you we would not have been able to achieve what we have achieved. Each one of you has in her own way worked to create a fraternal relationship between us. It is through such experiences that we get to know each other better. Let us continue to advance together in this desire for renewal, adding our grains of seed so that the charism of the Daughters of Jesus may bear fruit, especially by attracting the young of today.

« We should present what is new as an opportunity rather than as a challenge. » José María Arnaíz, SM

In an article from the Conference of Religious of Latin America (CLAR) in 2010 we can read : “All is changing, or almost everything … the only thing that we must not change is our first love, our first radical and fundamental option for Jesus Christ. A love that is expressed through an option for those for who He has opted, for who He gave His life. You know very well towards who He turned his regard, who He listened to, who He visited, who He welcomed and for who He showed mercy and compassion.” Attitudes that we would like to see present in us, the Daughters of Jesus.

Thank you to each one of the sisters of the Provincial council, Luisa, Martha and Monica who prepared the chapter together. Thank you to the sisters of the Honduras sector for their warm welcome, each one has got involved in her own way. Thank you to Deysi who has assured a presence of the General Council, thus allowing us to live in communion with the body of the Congregation. We unite ourselves in prayer with the other provinces who will live or have lived the same experience.

I will end by quoting some phrases from Mother Marie de Saint Charles who says:

“I pray to our Lord Jesus Christ whose life grows in you, and whose heart swells in yours, that he may inspire in your souls the desire and the strength to live in humility and obedience, supporting with tenderness and patience the spiritual difficulties and weaknesses of those around you, showing respect and deference for those persons to whom God has entrusted the care of your souls, so that you may attain self-detachment and be able to feel a strong and generous zeal for the salvation of these souls: this zeal is the characteristic virtue of a true Daughter of Jesus”. M.M. St-CH. L.C. 29. 12. 1864.

With these words I declare this chapter of 2016 closed.

Gelsomina Rodas Baquedano Provincial Superior