Word of welcome of Sister Elisabeth Blanc -20th August 2017- Vaylats (France)

During the days of celebration

of the 19th and 20th August at Vaylats (France),

Sister Elisabeth,

in her capacity of Provincial,

gave the word of Welcome.

« I welcome all of you who have come from near or far, to live with us this time of celebration and thanksgiving.

We are happy to welcome our Bishop, Monsignor Laurent Camiade, the priests and deacons of the dioceses where we are on mission as well as the sisters who are close to us. If I may address a word in particular to our Sisters :

  • Micheline Cormier our Superior general,
  • Christiane Lorcy, Provincial of the Province France-Belgium
  • Annick Letort, Vice-Provincial of the new Vice-province, as well as
  • Our two Sisters of the General council, Marie-Annick Morice and Colette Gélinas.

Thank you to all of you for being here in unity with all of the Sisters who have come from the Province France-Belgium.

If I take the time to name all of these Sisters, it is also to allow you to better enter into the time of « passage » that we are presently living.

 

 

  • There are many among you who know the road that we took, like Abraham, in February 2000 in confidence and faith, sure that the Lord went ahead of us. This road of mutual getting to know each other and of collaboration has become a road of communion and then a road of Alliance in 2011 with the Celebration of the Fusion. By advancing on this road, in one way and another, we have allowed ourselves to be disturbed, dispossesed, in order to advance together towards more life and to become even more deeply « Daughters of Jesus ».

 

  • In 2011 we entered into the large Family of the Daughters of Jesus of Kermaria in France and in Africa and became the Province South-West. With a great deal of respect, delicacy and fraternity our Sisters, Daughters of Jesus of Kermaria, have generously enlarged the space of their tent to welcome us. During 6 years we have welcomed with great joy the Sisters who have come from all the Continents, wishing to discover the Province and the house of Vaylats. Sisters from Brittany have come to share the daily life of the communities in the south-west and Sisters from the south-west have responded to calls from the Province France-Belgium.

 

  • Today we enter into a new stage (already lived by our Sisters in Africa) : together with the communities of Limoges, Yseure and St Pourcain, we become the Vice-Province South Loire of the Province France-Belgium. In this way you will have the joy of better getting to know Sr Annick Letort who has been called to the service of this new vice-province. Following in the footsteps of our Founders and Foundresses, it is the work of God that we wish to carry out : we can already give thanks to the Lord for the beautiful road we have travelled so far, we can offer to him the road that is opening up before us and assure Sr Annick of our prayer and fraternal affection in her new mission.

Your presence among us, children, adolescents, young animators who have come from the north of France with Steeve Gernez, is an expression of how much we believe that inter-generationality is a richness and an opening that invites us to allow ourselves to be displaced and to welcome life differently. Throughout this celebration, in your different interventions, you will share with us the fruit of your three days of reflection and you will help us to pray. Thank you Steve for your presence and your leadership. Thank you to each one of you !

Lay friends, Associates of the Daughters of Jesus or those who are close to the communities, your presence here is an expression of the links woven with the Daughters of Jesus over a long period and in many different ways that go as far as deeply sharing the Charism.

The general Chapter of 2016 gave us new Orientations that we welcomed ;

« Through these orientations, the charism takes on new colours and new paths open before us : Sisters, communities, with the Associates, let us allow ourselves to be transformed by this gift of the charism which is renewed for us. The Lord himself will enable prophetic fruit to grow from what we undertake in Faith and Hope in order to bring to birth today the fire of charity. »

We have many reasons to give thanks after this long road undertaken in faith and confidence, including our Sisters who are celebrating their jubilees :

  • Sister Françoise who is celebrating 50 years of religious life,
  • Sisters Marie-Noël, Bernadette, Anne-Marie and Marie-Yvonne who are celebrating 60 years of religious life in union with those celebrating in all of the Provinces.

We give thanks with the priests and lay people who this year are celebrating 25, 50 and 60 years of fidelity.

In spite of our fragilities, new roads are opening up to us ; with confidence we turn towards the future with the invitation of our young Sisters :

  • Viviane and Débora who made their first vows in Cameroon on the 17th of July ;
  • Our Sisters Estelle and Blandine who made their final vows in the Congregation during the celebration of the 50 years of presence of the Daughters of Jesus in the Ivory Caost on the 8th of July and
  • Our Sister Yury in Bogota, Colombia on the 12th of August.

« Witnesses to the Good News,

With the sun of hope,

Sent into the future,

Lord, you call us. »

 

 

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