English 
Sr. Rosiene, Brazilian, currently in North Brazil, participated in the XI General Chapter and shares her first experience as a delegate.
In September 2018, I had the grace to participate in the biggest event of our missionary Family, the XI General Chapter. There were 48 of us, missionary sisters from different geographical and cultural backgrounds. I have always thought that the Chapter was the most important event of a Congregation, being a moment of renewal, of evaluation of the progress made, a time for decisions and choices.
I remember when I was elected delegate to the Chapter, how I was surprised and at the same time worried about the great responsibility of representing my Province in such an important event. I tried not to raise many expectations. Instead, I put myself in an attitude of welcoming the new, trying to live in the present moment, to experience true unity in diversity.
The experience was for me a great representative assembly of all the members of our Congregation, a time of renewal in the light of the Gospel and the spirit of our Foundresses, with the aim of becoming a prophetic presence to serve the Church of Christ present in our realities more effectively. It was also an experience of faith and sharing. An event of special attention to the Spirit who always demands of us more openness and sincerity of heart to discover together the choices and changes that we must make to live the charism in the present context, considering the aspects of the mission, spirituality, the administration of goods and the formation of the new government.
The experiences lived during the event were different, I would like to highlight some of the most marked positive aspects that I experienced:
- The different faces that form the single face of the Congregation. This made me experience a feeling of joy, imagining how the seed of the missionary vocation is always dynamic, has travelled and continues travelling through the various contexts of the world.
- The Chapter gave me the possibility of having a broad vision of the life of the Congregation. In fact, through the sharing of each organism, I have come to know the successes and challenges that the Congregation lives and faces in the different realities.
- One of the most significant moments for me was the approval of the Constitutions and of the General Directory, a work that required a lot of commitment, dedication. All of us welcomed it in a very cheerful and fraternal atmosphere.
- Participate in the choice of the new team of government, representing the sisters of my Province.
- I appreciated the methodology used by the facilitator, having a limited time for interventions avoids superfluous words and helps to make better use of the time.
After this wonderful experience, I would like to leave a message for the sisters who will be the new delegates to the next General Chapter in 2024. I wish that they welcome and value the opportunity that is offered to them, because it enriches us and makes us love ever more the Congregation to which we belong and thrusts us to live co-responsibility with greater awareness. Try to know a little Italian and English, to take better advantage of everything that happens in the Chapter and this favors greater integration and interaction with the participants of other nationalities.
Finally, may all live this moment intensely, as a time of grace from the God of life, putting themselves in an attitude of listening, welcoming, availability, discernment, aware that they are not only representing themselves, but all the sisters of the Province. Right from now, I wish a fruitful experience for those who will represent us and a blessed Chapter for all of us who will be here “cheering”, so that everything may happen according to the desire of Jesus, Apostle of the Father, Sower and Seed.
Sr. Rosiene Gomes de Freitas – North Brazil
