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President reports on international conference held in Poland

by Marlene Weisenbeck, FSPA

In November 2005 I was privileged to be one of two delegates from the United States to attend the Delegates' Assembly of the International Union of Superiors General in Warsaw, Poland. The overall experience of this assembly was like a meeting between Mary and Elizabeth-a meeting in which the conferences of major superiors of women religious in Eastern Europe exchanged stories of their lives with the 85 delegates from around the world. It was a concrete experience of communion, of strengthening our common mission in the world, and of witnessing that consecrated life is a living presence of the heart of Christ in the world.

We came from all parts of the world, and felt as if we had always known each other because we carry the same passion, the same dreams for the world, and we suffer together the same wounds of the world. Centering ourselves in the icons of the Samaritan Woman at the Well and the Good Samaritan Man, we pondered questions pertinent to our contemporary world. What are the major challenges in today's society that make us resistant to living out our passion for Christ and passion for humanity? What wounds must be addressed? How can they be transformed into living water? After hearing many stories of how the local churches and religious women mutually engage in building the reign of God, some universal themes became evident.

The Czestochowa Madonna icon

Networking and collaboration
Reconciliation and peace making expand when conferences work together, when intercongregational projects are undertaken, when women work together to bring love to the children of the world. In these networks we establish solidarity, raise consciousness and enable action to be taken. Christian realism In Eastern Europe, we learned that everything is not okay after communism. There were stories of tremendous suffering as well as stories of living water. The accent on the truth of these stories supports the beginnings of reconciliation. Reconciliation urges us to move forward in a world that is wounded in both body and spirit. The many stories of living water flowing through women religious in the world are not only stories of humanitarianism but of truly Gospel work which enkindles a passion for humanity and a passion for Christ.

Living together our moments of grace
At Czestochowa, we reflected on the power of love to transform our tears and to generate benediction. The Czestochowa Madonna is a wounded Madonna, appearing as a lady with a wounded spirit. Her face is at the same time sad and sweet, scarred and crying. She is also a woman clothed in beauty. She weeps with us and precedes us in hope and love.

We spend our lives giving birth to beatitude whether it is in the middle of wars, in situations where women are sold and abused, where corruption reigns, where the law of an eye for an eye prevails, or where tsunamis eradicate life. We prayed for a fullness of charity where love would be our guide, where hospitality would be our choice and our means of reconciliation. What must be globalized is our solidarity, our valuing of the dignity of every human being.

The feminine genius for peace and reconciliation
Care is the mission of a woman. It impels us to be what we ought to be and to put fire in the world by serving the poor, educating the young, bearing compassion for the immigrant, and contemplating the face of Christ. We learn together to do great and good things with the strength that comes from the evangelical choice to walk on the water. The sisters of Eastern Europe shared wounds that are many and still open. Yet their spirit patiently awaits the gift of reconciliation. In so doing they become bread of peace for everyone.

The present moment in history gives us a sea of change and crisis and complex realities. We feel impotent even while seeking the opportunity to take a qualitative step in life. The signs of our times lie in global communication, planetary consciousness, and the recognition of cultures. Given this milieu, our challenge is to re-think our view of the world and determine where we want to be in it and how we want to act in it. We can move closer to this preferred reality through a deep experience of God where we awaken ourselves to the meaning of God's mind for the world, by re-building an institutional presence in the church and society, and by imitating the itinerancy of Jesus.

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