OPENING OF THE CONGRESS PHASE 2 – addressed to all the members of the Family
Sr Margaret Muldoon
We come here today to begin the second phase of our Congress journey. All of us have already been on the journey in our different countries guided by the booklet “An Invitation to Participate” and we were united with one another as we prayed for the Congress and now we come to listen to our experience of that journey so far. Gathered here are representatives of the five vocations, who, sharing the journey made in their particular country, will help us to hear what the Sprit is doing in the hearts of our members worldwide and so enable us to hear the call of the Spirit for us as a Family today. Gathered with us also are all the members of the Family dispersed throughout the world…
Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 17/09/2012
Is the symbol of the Holy Family, a song to life, verdant, full, deep, rooted firmly in the source which gives it life, its branches supporting flowers every colour, fruits of every season, birds of every kind, united in singing one single song: Glory to God Alone! (P.B Noailles)
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Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 16/09/2012
Herewith we are sending the comments
about the expectations of the congress.
Pilar SERRANO, consecrated Secular
I already participated in the 2002 Family Congress. As member of the preparation team, I feel enthusiasm, hope, joy and some anxiety.
Enthusiasm: because it is a special time for the whole Family.
Hope: that the Congress will bring us closer and lead us to be witnesses and a GIFT for the world.
Joy: because it is an event which makes us love and live the unity of the Family.
Anxiety: because, with the other members of the preparation team, we are responsible for the smooth running of the Congress.
My hope is that this Congress will really help us to grow as Family, bring us closer together, renew us and help us to be a GIFT for a changing world. At the end of this second stage I hope that the inter-vocational bonds may be stronger and wherever there is a member of the Family, we can feel the presence of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles’ Family.
Paul Matakon, Priest Associate
To arrive in Martillac and participate for the first time in the assembly of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles’ Family plunges me into a feeling of joy… the joy of belonging to a Family that is beyond blood relationship, the joy of being a fully integrated member, sharing together the desire for unity, the Communion for which the Good Father gave his life. To feel that we are brothers and sisters in the same family beyond boundaries and cultures… how beautiful!
I Paul, a simple Priest lost in the mountains of the extreme North of the Cameroon, to find myself in the footsteps of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles was a dream that has become a reality. To be in the place where the Good Father lived and is buried, is very touching.
May the second stage of the Congress of the family give a new thrust, a new dynamism which pushes us forward to embark on the work of bringing about communion which the world so much needs today. May the Congress open us to new means and ways which will continually help us to be family within the world by the living witness of our life, so that we will be a light for the universe even if it is only a spark!
Weronika Apostolic Sister
It’s a joy to see Martillac and the renewed Spirituality Centre. I have the grace to see it after 13 years, when I was present for the Missionary Session 1999. Now I am here as a missionary in Rwanda and I have the joy of meeting members of the five vocations of the Family.
My expectations of the second stage of the Congress: I desire …
To be present as the voice of the two communities in Rwanda, to bear witness “to living as Family on mission, a gift for a changing world”, concretely in Rwanda.
To listen to the witness of the other participants from the four corners of the earth, how they live the charism in their milieu, how they share it and by what means. How they confront the changes in this world and try to collaborate with other organisations and vocations in the universal Church to stand against injustice, war, exploitation etc.
To look for light and receive new inspirations. In this world of intense change, what can we do so that our charism is dynamic and that we remain prophetic and mystical people able to respond to the new needs and to God’s call.In this Congress, to hear how to go forward with zeal and detachment without being taken up by the objectives of the multi-nationals, the media, the powerful of this world, consumerism, etc.
Marina, Lay Associate
I can really say that it is my first time to participate in a Congress of the Family in Martillac, so I feel very happy and grateful to God and the Holy Family for this wonderful occasion to take part in this important event.
My expectations are numerous, among them: the enthusiasm to know the place where our Good Father lived, to meet my brothers and sisters from other continents who live the Charism of Pierre Bienvenu Noailles; especially to have the experience of our spirituality of Communion with the different vocations and in particular with the Associates of other countries and languages.
Sr. Rishmala- Contemplative
I feel happy to be a member of the P.B.N Family, living and promoting communion.
It gives great joy and inspires me with enthusiasm that we are able to seek together and move forward together in building up the Family.
I desire that this congress will bring about tremendous vitality to the Family and make it more visible, and will give support in the fulfillment of its mission in the church.
I found the preparatory work quite interesting and I entered into this process with great earnestness especially because this is my first experience, participating at a Congress of the Family.
Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 15/09/2012
God of Love,
in every moment we live in your tender embrace.
All around us we behold your presence.
All around us and within us
life emerges, fresh and new.
May we continue to expand our lives and our living,
accepting the challenge and responsibility
to be co-creators with you.
May we embrace all your gifts
and use them with gratitude, wisdom and courage,
Open to the connectedness of all,
May we see the expressions
of your love everywhere.
May our actions and attitudes generate unity
and our love bring us to communion.
May we, as one small Family
within your big universe family,
live our Congress journey,
Family on mission, as gift in the world.
Amen
Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 8/09/2012
As a Family on mission
* We recognise the urgent need for a change of mindset in line with the new understanding of the world, which demands a new way of relating to God and to the whole of creation.
* We commit ourselves to deepen our understanding of our Charism in the light of this new consciousness, in order to express our specific Holy Family gift in the world.
* Aware of our responsibility for this gift and in complementarity of vocations, we wish to give visible witness as Family so that we can make an impact on the different realities of the world, by being attentive to its needs, by encouraging dialogue, and by promoting justice, peace and integrity of creation.
* Common formation, and shared life experience, will help us move in this direction.
* We encourage the use of Family celebrations as opportunities to grow and move forward as One Family onMission.
* The commitments made at this Council will be further developed in the process of the forthcoming International Congress of the Holy Family.
Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 8/09/2012
Sr Margaret Muldoon, Supérieure générale
This newly-born webpage aim is to provide a channel of information/communication, in order to share what is lived during this important event, the Second Phase of the Fourth International Holy Family Congress.
Our Founder, Pierre Bienvenu Noailles always wanted communication to be at the service of communion. Currently, new technologies provide us with the possibility of creating a network of relationships which can reach further and faster, connecting us with persons and realities which we could never have imagined.
Catégories: Directly from the Congress | 8/09/2012