Presentation

The reflection of the chapter participants will take its starting point from the content of the present Working Document.  It has as its aim to make known the syntheses of the Province Chapters and to offer some guidelines for reflection on the theme.

The text is articulated in three parts:

* Proposed method of work for GC XXI

It presents the frame of reference-the Word of God- in which the reflection on the proposed theme moves ahead, and the passages in which there are articulated:

- the preparation that every Chapter member has carried out in her own environment compared with the contributions of the different provinces and gathered together in the Synthesis;

- the study of the theme in the Commissions and Chapter Assembly;

- the development of guidelines to be given to the whole Institute for the successive six-year period.

* Syntheses of the responses of the Province Chapters

The drawing up of this part was entrusted to the Pre-Chapter Commissions made up of Sisters from different parts of the world where we are present.  During these last months they have taken an attentive vision of all the contributions of the provinces, later synthesized in the lines collected in this text.

After a first analysis of the data, the Commission together with Mother General and with the General Council, has pointed out a few thematic nuclei around which to gather the reflections that emerged from the Province Chapters.  These nuclei mirror the questions present in the booklet In Preparation for GX XXI.  Though gathered from many sources, cultures and diversity of context, the responses grouped themselves along converging lines and proposals.

Taking evangelical citizenship as a point of reference, the Commission organized the contribution of the reflections received around three nuclei: relationship with God (foundation of evangelical citizenship). interpersonal relationships (community: workshop of evangelical citizenship), the mission (educating ourselves and educating others to evangelical citizenship).

These are three nuclei that express continuity with the preparatory journey and with the approach to the Plan of Formation from which the Province Chapters often took their inspiration.

The syntheses of responses from the Province Chapters remains, therefore, the restitution of the work carried out in the provinces.

 * Living Evangelical Citizenship

This part of the Document was developed by the General Council, who conferred with, the Sisters of the Commission for the approach and, for the entire work, with some FMAs expert in the proposed themes.

It was articulated in three points: 

-  Evangelical roots of citizenship that are the basis of our being active citizens.

-  The challenge to our lives: presents the panorama of the world-wide situation with its problems and the challenges to our way of life.

-  Ways of evangelical citizenship: regarding the questions about the research on the manner of expressing evangelical citizenship today.

For the last two points we followed the scheme already utilized in the Syntheses which, in this part, are expressed in the attention to three great instances: the request for a renewed experience of God, the request for communion, the request for education.