Going against the tide

“No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together…” (Fratelli Tutti,n.8)

Once upon a time there were two FMM provinces … France-Belgium-Holland-Faroe on the one hand; United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta on the other. Everything seemed to keep them apart: language, culture, political situation.  And yet… Although the context is not very favourable, they met for the first time (on a more broadly representative scale) in January 2021, at the very time when the hopes of a European Union with all its members were being shattered. Against the backdrop of Brexit and the Covid 19 pandemic, we are using digital communication techniques: our meeting is thus via zoom. Its aim? To get to know one another as sisters, and to start a process of unification of our Provinces. Against the current of the politics of our countries!  What a challenge!

And what do you think happened? Three days of profound sharing, prayer, generative listening, sharing in the spirit of truth in small groups and plenary assembly, brought peace, confidence and hope to anxious hearts. The joy and gratitude of feeling like sisters beyond all borders, united in and by the same charism was shared by all. These exchanges have strengthened our confidence in the One who continues His work in our Institute and sets a path for the future. It is true that the road is still long and marked by obstacles, but we are committed to it with clarity, courage and audacity, convinced that we are members of the same body and that the space of the absence of control is also the space where the Lord calls us and waits for us, the space where He wants to bring forth something new.  On this path, we have no doubt, we will not miss the Spirit, who presides over all nativities, all beginnings.

Sr. Françoise Roussel,fmm