Sr Anne's Reflections

Dear Sisters,

As we mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, this anniversary invites us to reflect on his life and death in the light of our own journey as Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph, and to consider what his example might be saying to us at this particular moment in the life of our Congregation. Towards the end of his life, Francis had, without a doubt, learned what it meant to let go. His health was failing, many things had developed differently from what he might once have imagined, and he was increasingly dependent upon his brothers and those who cared for him. Yet this time of diminishment was not simply about loss. It was also a time of deeper surrender, freedom, and trust in God. Francis continued to praise, to bless and to recognise the goodness of God in everything around him. Even death he could welcome as “Sister Death”.

Over recent years we have also been experiencing significant change. We have had to look honestly at our present reality, at our numbers, our age profile, our resources and the needs of our Sisters and our mission. Restructuring inevitably involves letting go of some things that have been familiar and important to us, while at the same time having the courage to recognise new possibilities. The decision to sell our former Generalate is one example of this. It had served the Congregation well and held many memories for us. Letting it go was not simply a property transaction; it represented something of the changing reality of the Congregation. In purchasing a smaller and more suitable Generalate for our present needs, we have tried to respond realistically and responsibly to where we are now. There is something very Franciscan in distinguishing between what we may wish to hold on to and what we are being invited to let go of so that we can remain free for what God is asking of us today.

In letting go we have also seen new possibilities beginning to emerge. In Kenya, the purchase of land at Molo and our plans to build a new novitiate are signs of our hope and our commitment to the future. The development of the land itself also offers possibilities for greater sustainability and responsible stewardship of the resources entrusted to us.

This anniversary year also calls us to deepen another dimension of our Franciscan inheritance: our relationship with creation. Francis recognised the whole of creation as brother and sister. Eight hundred years later, his vision has a particular urgency. Our commitment to broaden our understanding and implementation of the seven Laudato Si’ Goals challenges us to move beyond seeing care for creation as one particular area of ministry. It asks us to recognise that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are interconnected and that ecological conversion touches our prayer, our community life, our use of resources, our ministries and the choices we make as a Congregation.

Perhaps, then, this 800th anniversary is less an invitation to look backwards than an invitation to ask ourselves how the spirit of Francis is to live among us now. Towards the end of his life Francis is remembered as saying: I have done what was mine to do. May Christ teach you what is yours to do. Perhaps this anniversary is also the invitation to us as Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph: to begin again. This is not by forgetting all that has gone before us, but by receiving our history with gratitude and allowing it to give us the freedom to move forward. We remember with gratitude the Sisters who have gone before us, their courage, their missionary spirit, their sacrifices and their faith. We are now called to live the charism they handed on to us in the circumstances of our own time. As we commemorate the Transitus of Francis eight hundred years after his death, may we ask for something of his freedom of spirit: the freedom to let go when it is time to let go, the courage to begin when something new is being asked of us, and the faith to trust that God continues to work through our smallness and our limitations.

Wishing you every joy and blessing as we celebrate the Feast of St Francis.

With my love and prayers,