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Futility of Mind

(18th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians. 4:17-24; John 6:24-35)

St. Paul writes that the Gentiles live “in the futility of their minds.” His audience, the Christians of Ephesus, used to live this way but ought not to do so any more. He does not explain the term in detail but associates it with the “corruption of evil desires.”

Evil desires are expressed in the first reading: “Would that we had died at the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!” There’s nothing wrong with hungry people wanting food, but in this case the evil resides in their lack of trust, in their accusing Moses of making the whole community die of famine, in their ingratitude.

God had rescued them, with strong hand and outstretched arm, from their oppressors, and yet they failed to place their trust in him. Nonetheless, he saved them once again. But in the very next chapter of Exodus, the people fell back into the futility of their minds, complaining that Moses brought them out of Egypt only to have them die of thirst.

As one listens to the discourse of Our Lady of La Salette, one senses that she is addressing a similar situation. Her people have fallen into a kind of futility of mind, blaming God for their troubles. As St. Paul says in another place (Romans 1:21), “Although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened.”

In the Gospel, Jesus sees the vain thinking of those who had witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. It was not out of faith that they were looking for him, but because they desired to be fed again. He tells them to work for food that endures for eternal life. The ‘work’ in this case is faith: believing in the one sent by God. He then goes on to proclaim himself the bread of life.

In the coming weeks we will have occasion to reflect on this more deeply. For the moment, let us rest with the importance of the ‘work’ of faith.

At La Salette, Mary speaks much of religious practice, not because it constitutes faith, but because its absence shows a lack of faith. Without this vital relationship with the Lord, even religion can be little more than futility of mind.

Moved with Pity

(16th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jer. 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34)

The word “shepherd” in Church usage refers to priests, and Jeremiah’s “Woe to the shepherds” text may well make us think of the scandals continuing to rock the Church. But in the Old Testament, it was the rulers who were called shepherds, and it is they whom Jeremiah condemns.

God promises his sheep that he will “appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them,” and give them a king “who will reign and govern wisely.” We can easily see this prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, whose “heart was moved with pity for the crowd.”

Many centuries later, a Beautiful Lady’s heart was moved with pity for her people. And, like Jesus, she “taught them many things.”

St. Paul writes, “In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ.” Our Lady of La Salette sorrowfully reverses this saying in her message. Her people, who once had become near, were now far off from her Son.

Simply by speaking of her Son, who “is our peace,” she “preached peace” as he did. Just as St. Paul cannot seem to find enough ways to say how Jesus brought reconciliation to Jewish and Gentile Christians alike, so Mary finds abundant ways to describe how her people need that reconciliation. She also shows how they might encounter it, namely by honoring the Lord’s Name, respecting the Lord’s Day, turning to him in prayer, participating in the Eucharist.

All of these, and more, are expressions of the trust expressed in today’s Psalm. The God who spreads a table before us is the same God who saw Maximin’s anxious father give him a piece of bread. This is the compassionate God whose goodness and kindness follow us all the days of our life.

Instead of suffering famine, those who respond to Mary’s message shall not want. Instead of being like sheep without a shepherd, they will walk in right paths, their souls will be refreshed, they will fear no evil. This is not a dream. It is a prophetic vision.

Pity is not just a feeling. It leads to action. Jesus taught the people looking to him for hope. Mary came to renew that hope. Look around you. Whom do you pity? How will you act?

Strength in Weakness
(14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ezekiel 2:2-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6)
We often experience our tears as a sign of weakness or vulnerability. We struggle against them, we hide them if we can. In many cultures, it is extremely rare for adults to cry in front of other persons, and only the most intense grief or pain can cause them to do so.
At La Salette, the Blessed Virgin showed herself in tears. Far from demonstrating weakness, however, they are one of the strengths of the Apparition, an important part of its appeal.
When we are in the presence of someone crying, most often we want to find a way to comfort or console. But Mary said, “However much you pray, however much you do, you will never be able to recompense the pains I have taken for you.” Before such words we feel powerless ourselves.
St. Paul, however, encourages us when he writes, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” In the notion of weakness he includes “insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints,” such as Jesus experienced even in his visit home and Ezekiel was told he could expect to encounter as a prophet.
It is in this context that St. Paul quotes the Lord’s words to him: “My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.” In other words, the source of our strength does not, cannot lie in ourselves.
When the Beautiful Lady calls us to conversion, she highlights prayer and the Mass because these are the best ways to obtain from the Lord the strength that can come only from him—strength to make necessary changes in our lives, to accept the hardships or rejection they may entail. If we rely on our own efforts, we will fail.
The hardest part for us is giving up. I don’t mean abandoning hope but acknowledging how powerless we are. This is painful. It may even lead to tears.
In the confessional at La Salette Shrines we often encounter penitents who weep as they confess their struggles with sin. They apologize for their tears, but one of our priests has learned to say to them, “This is La Salette. Tears are welcome here.”

Death, Faith, Life
(13th Sunday in Ordinary time: Wisdom 1:13-15 & 2:23-24; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15; Mark 5:21-43)
The Book of Wisdom acknowledges death as an unhappy fact of life. Our Lady of La Salette tearfully acknowledges the death of children in the arms of those who hold them. We, too, understand instinctively that this is not how things were supposed to be.
In today’s Gospel two persons in dire need approach Jesus. Jairus desperately wants his daughter to live. The woman in the crowd has been sick for twelve years and wants to live a normal life. They come to Jesus because they believe in his power to heal.
But their immediate reaction after each of the two miracles is not what we would expect. The woman tries to disappear into the crowd, but then feels obliged to come to Jesus “in fear and trembling” to tell him “the whole truth,” as if she feels guilty. Later, when Jesus raises the 12-year-old girl, her parents and the few disciples present are “utterly astounded,” as though they had not really believed it possible.
Does this mean their faith was insincere? By no means. It was real, but perhaps they were also “hoping against hope” (cf. Roman 4:18), like Abraham, the model of faith. This is why Jesus encouraged Jairus: “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”
When the Beautiful Lady enumerated the ills afflicting her people, she wept also over their response to their sufferings. Far from turning to God in faith, they abandoned hope, speaking blasphemies when they should have been saying prayers.
Mary’s tears reflect the words from Wisdom, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” We find the same in Ezekiel 33:11, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” She wanted her people to understand that “God’s anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will,” as we read in today’s Psalm.
When we are open to experiencing God’s good will, especially in hard times, we can live again, and join the Psalmist (and the sick woman, and Jairus) in singing, “You changed my mourning into dancing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.”

Called from Birth
(Birth of John the Baptist: Isaiah 49:1-6; Acts 13:22-26: Luke 1: 57-77, 80)
Elizabeth’s neighbors and relatives wondered what her child would be. Now we know his story. His role was to go before the Lord to prepare his ways. He was well aware of his unworthiness. He seems even to have passed through a moment when he shared the sentiment of God’s servant in Isaiah: “I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength“ (cf. Matthew 11:2-6).
Mélanie Mathieu and Maximin Giraud were, we can say, called from birth to announce the event of La Salette. The later lives of both were largely unstable, partly because people around them thought they must be destined for a vocation in the Church. They were willing to try, but neither one succeeded.
From contemporary descriptions of Maximin, he might have been what is today called autistic, incapable of sitting still. He never did settle in any of the occupations he pursued and often found himself deeply in debt. He died in 1875, only 40 years old.
Mélanie was taciturn and excessively shy but, over time, there came a shift in her relation to the Apparition, as she herself became increasingly the center of attention. In later life she published writings describing her childhood as that of a mystic, in terms that have nothing in common with any of the early documents about the Apparition and its witnesses.
My purpose here is not to focus on the unworthiness of Mélanie and Maximin. That goes without saying. Like John the Baptist, through no merit of their own they were objects of God’s favor and plan.
Yes, we are all called to be saints. That doesn’t change who we are. The children’s flaws actually lent credibility to their account. Ignorant as they were, they were incapable of inventing such a story, much less such a message, and in a language they barely knew! But their simplicity, humility and constancy in telling the story made them more trustworthy still.
No one could have predicted what their lives would be after the Apparition. But now we know their story. At the heart of it we find an encounter with the divine, to which they were destined by God, and fidelity to the mission received, despite their faults. The Beautiful Lady’s witnesses are good models for us all.

God’s Work
(Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; Mark 4:26-34)
A farmer’s wife once told me that the only legalized form of gambling in her state was farming. Jesus, on the other hand, presents farming as an act of faith. The seed is planted and is mysteriously transformed as determined by the creator to produce fruit and shade. It is God’s work. Such is the Kingdom of God.
None of this would have been lost on the communities around La Salette in 1846. Farming was their life, and now more of a gamble than ever, with the failure of both staples of their diet: wheat and potatoes.
“If you have wheat,” Mary said at La Salette, “you must not sow it. Anything you sow the vermin will eat, and whatever does grow will fall into dust when you thresh it.” The professors of the major seminary of Grenoble, writing to the bishop in December 1846, found this disturbing. “This recommendation appears suspect, contrary to the rules of prudence and the laws of the Creator… Did she really forbid sowing?”
The secular press said such an idea was an abuse of ecclesiastical authority to terrify the “less enlightened” portion of the population.
Indeed, taken out of context, Mary’s words seem almost cruel. But we must keep in mind the whole of the Apparition and the message.
Look at the second reading. St. Paul says that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.” This is not a popular passage. But it is a reminder, a call to consider our way of life. St. Paul is here reinforcing what he said a few verses above: “We walk by faith, not by sight.”
God says through Ezekiel that he will plant a majestic cedar on a lofty mountain of Israel, which will bear fruit and provide shelter for birds. He will restore Israel’s glory, and make them once again a faithful people. “As I, the Lord, have spoken, so I will do.”
Mary’s words are in the same prophetic tradition. We can be faithful, we can walk by faith, if we will offer the submission of faith (cf. also Hebrews, 11). The rest (planting, growth, fruit) is God’s work.

Rome, May 20, 2018

Feast of Pentecost

Dear Confreres,

It is with much joy that I present to you the text of the decisions elaborated and approved by the General Chapter 2018, which was held in the city of Las Termas del Rio Hondo (Santiago del Estero, Argentina) from the 10^th of April to the 4^th of May this year, with the participation of 39 chapter delegates (Fr. Bachand was absent because of illness), 3 translators and 2 secretaries.

These decisions are the results of the attentive listening to the various reports presented to the Assembly (of the General, General Treasurer, Provinces and Regions), as well as the look turned toward the future of our Congregation in the light of the theme: “In the grace of La Salette, for a reconciled world” which has become the dominant theme of the Chapter assembly.

The Chapter wanted to give importance to some principal lines of action that would help the new General Council in the animation of the Congregation in the next six years:

1. The challenge of enculturation lived and to be lived in the near future in our Congregation, especially as a blessing and a challenge in the service of the Church of today.
2. Initial and ongoing Formation, the heart of our human, religious/charismatic and missionary journey or endeavor.
3. The celebration of the 175^th Anniversary of the Apparition, as a moment of growth for all of us, a source of personal and communitarian spiritual renewal, a propitious occasion to make known the event and the grace of La Salette in and beyond our habitual ministry.
4. A look at the animation of vocation among the youth and the development of our missions.
5. The responsibility to accept our Salettine religious life, as a witnessing to be lived and as a “prophecy” that should be offered and announced.

I wish that these documents do not become dead letters, but that they help all and every one to “rethink” and to “re-read” our own religious life above all in the light of “Christ, the rule of our life”, (Const. #7) and therefore of the charism of Reconciliation, which waters its roots in the message of the Beautiful Lady.

I enjoin the Provincial and Regional Superiors to distribute, as soon as possible, to every religious the text of the decisions and to organize, wherever possible, community meetings in order to help in the understanding and assimilation of the contents of the same.

The words and wishes of Pope Francis during the homily of February 2, 2018 to religious gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica: “You, consecrated persons, are the eternal dawn of the Church! My desire is for you to relive today this meeting with Jesus, walking together towards Him: and this will give light to your eyes and strength in your steps”,  I address to myself and to each of you, that they may stimulate us to live our religious life in the joyful fidelity in the following of Christ and in the generous spirit of service to the people of God entrusted to our pastoral care.

       Fr. Silvano Marisa, M.S.

             Superior General

Decision n. 1

                  PREPARING THE 175^th ANNIVERSARY OF THE APPARITION OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE

Affirming the importance of the 175^th anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady for the whole Congregation, to make the event and message of Our Lady of La Salette better known;

The General Council assure a thorough preparation of the 175^th Anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette at every level (personal, community and congregational) so that it will become a true source of grace for a spiritual, charismatic, pastoral, and vocational renewal for  every La salette and the people they serve.

MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH THIS MAY INCLUDE:

1. Before the end of 2018, the Theological Commission will prepare Marian formation programs which we can all live together;
2. A celebration during the CofC 2019 at the Shrine of La Salette, France, to be centered on the preparation of the 175^th anniversary, where statues of Our Lady of La Salette will be blessed and given to each Provincial/Regional Superiors. These statues are to be brought to their respective Provinces/Regions and, while respecting the traditions and customs of each country, they will serve as a centerpiece for Provincial/Regional ‘’Marian pilgrimages’’;
3. Each Province/Region will prepare and share with the CofC 2019 their programs for celebrating this anniversary;
4. Celebration of the 175^th anniversary at the Shrine of La Salette (France) in 2021 with the presence of every Provincial/Regional or their delegate, accompanied, if possible, by a delegation of 2 persons from their country;
5. Proclamation of a Marian Year (September 19, 2020 – September 19, 2021) for the entire Congregation, to be lived in all the communities and places where we minister;
6. Celebration of this anniversary in a spirit of ‘’sinodality’’ with the La Salette family (MS, SNDS, MSF, La Salette Laity, etc.) and with the Bishops of the dioceses where we work;
7. Renew the invitation to Our Holy Father to visit the La Salette Shrine in France, and request that he send a letter to the Congregation on the occasion of the 175^th anniversary;
8. Spiritual renewal on personal and community levels, leading to concrete actions taken vis-a-vis problematic situations, such as marginalization, which we may encounter in our apostolates.

Decision n. 2

«OPTIONAL MEMORIAL» OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE

Whereas the celebration of the «optional Memorial» of Our Lady of  La Salette:

1. Will help fulfill the mandate of Mary, the Beautiful Lady of La Salette, to make her reconciling message known to all her people;
2. Will give, in our respective countries, greater visibility and clearer understanding of the Event and the ‘’Great News’’ of Mary’s message, from which our mission and spirituality flow.

The General Chapter decides that, before the end of 2019 – if it has not already done so – each Province/Region, will contact their Conference of Bishops (or local Ecclesiastical Provinces or local dioceses) requesting that:

1. The «optional Memorial» of Our Lady of La Salette (September 19) be included in the liturgical calendar of the local church; and
2. On the occasion of the celebration of the 175^th anniversary of the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette (September 19, 2021) the «Optional Memorial» of Our Lady of La Salette be included in the liturgical calendar of the Universal Church.

Decision n. 3

INTERNATIONAL LA SALETTE COMMUNITY (FRANCE)

All the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette are aware of the beneficial service that the International Community renders to the La Salette Shrine in France.

Therefore,

The General Chapter decides that:

1. The General Council continue to animate each Province/Region to participate in the mission of the International Community at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in France;
2. In accord with Provincials and Regional Superiors, a program will be established to stager the beginning of service for members of the international Community, thus assuring continuity;
3. All Provinces/Regions make known to their members the ministry of this international Community from the beginning of their initial formation;
4. Members sent to this mission be ready and willing to learn the French language and familiarize themselves with French culture;
5. In order to give stability to the International Community, members agree to serve there for at least five years;
6. Members should be well disposed to work together with the La Salette Sisters, La Salette Laity, the local staff, the APS and volunteers at the Shrine;
7. During the winter season, except when the Shrine is open for the Christmas season, time be allocated for vacations, additional study of the French language and culture, including missionary work in the diocese of Grenoble, as well as in parishes and communities of the French Province and elsewhere, when invited by other Bishops.

Decision n. 4

A YEAR OF VOCATION IN THE CONGREGATION

The accompaniment of young people is a sign of the vitality that the Spirit sends out in the Church and in our Congregation. Our Rule of Life (I, 39 and II, 61) and the recent decisions of the 2015 Council of the Congregation in Luanda recall that an authentic baptismal witness is a call to follow Christ in the community of disciples. The Church itself, guided by the magisterium of Pope Francis, is experiencing a new synodal approach precisely in view of making young people themselves active protagonists in faith and in vocational discernment.

‘’Vocation culture’’ is very important. Rather, it supposes ecclesial synodality, because the call to the consecrated life is first a gift to the Church, and the whole Church is involved in the variety of its institutions and charisms. In this perspective, La Salette Laity who collaborate in our mission play a distinct role, not only in practical ways by helping in our works, but also by enabling the people of God to respond with joy to what God asks of them through the La Salette event and the presence of the Congregation. For these reasons:

In order to make youth and vocation ministry a priority for all levels of the Congregation and to actively respond at these various levels to the upcoming synod’s suggestions, the General Chapter asks the General Council to proclaim a Year of Vocations from September 19, 2019 to September 19, 2020 and to propose concrete initiatives.

Decision n. 5

VOCATION PROMOTION AND FORMATION PROGRAMS IN OUR NEW MISSIONS

The General Chapter asks the General Council to explore with local communities of Haiti, Tanzania and Mozambique, in concert with their Provinces, the possibility of starting a recruitment program for La Salette vocations in these newly established missions with a view to the possible opening of formation houses and formation programs during its term.

WHY:

1. The future of Congregation depends essentially on vocations.
2. Some of our Provinces are suffering from the vocation crisis and the decline in the number of candidates affecting the life of our communities and the current missions of the Congregation.
3. Our Rule of life (n. 39) clearly states, ‘’each member of the Congregation fosters and develops vocations’’.
4. Therefore, vocation promotion is part of our primary mission as Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.
5. Feedback from our members working in these new missions indicated that there are opportunities for fostering vocations in these countries.
6. While not forgetting the international and missionary character of our Congregation, the training of local youth to become missionaries in their own countries is one of the primary tasks of our missionaries.
7. An effective formation program depends largely on formators, on their ability to assimilate the socio-cultural context of the candidates, to assess their suitability, and to create the appropriate infrastructure.

HOW:

1. The General Council will explore with the communities of these new missions the possibility of vocational recruitment and the opening of formation houses.
2. The General Council will make an evaluation of this development, taking into particular consideration the following:

• The availability of formators (whose specific mission will be formation).
• The financial resources for these formation programs and the existence of an adequate infrastructure.
• The ability of members of our communities, and especially formators, to assimilate the country’s culture and social and ecclesial context for more appropriate discernment.

Decision n. 6

RATIO FORMATIONIS GENERALIS

CONSIDERING:

1. The various positive experiences, as well as the gaps we have in our process of formation at the level of Provinces and Regions;
2. The new requirements of the Church for the process of formation in view of the Religious Consecration and for the priestly ministry (cf. The Gift of the Priestly Vocation – Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis sacerdotalis- Congregation for the Clergy, Vatican, December 2016);
3. The text presented by the International Commission as a basic text,

The General Chapter Accepts ‘’ad experimentum’’, until the next General Chapter (2024) the Ratio Formationis Generalis – PREPARING TO SERVE IN RECONCILIATION. And proposes the General Council, together with the International Formation Commission, to requires the Provinces and Regions to review their Formation programs, following the directives presented in point IV, # 3, of the said Ratio.

Decision n. 7

FORMATION OF FORMATORS

MOTIVATION:

This postulatum motivates each Province/Region to address the formation of all formators and assist them in ‘’special preparation’’ (cf RL 54 cp), to accompany candidates in their discernment with preparedness and competency.

EXPLANATION:

• At the congregation level this will be a workshop inviting a member of the Provincial Council and a formator from each Province/Region to participate and explore possible programs for the formation.
• The workshop will be an opportunity for the participants to review the foundational elements that should be present in various levels of formation.
• The workshop will give directives to the General Council on the particular guidelines that can be followed at the provincial/regional level.
• The task of the two representatives is to animate a formation program in their Province/Region, integrating the guidelines from the workshop and considering the socio-cultural aspect of each location.

The General Chapter asks the General Council to organize a workshop for formators at the congregational level on the theme of formation of formators during its mandate.

Decision n. 8

PROPHECY

To live their La Salette identity (Religious Life Community) in a prophetic manner, and in light of the theme of the General Chapter and RoL #1,

The General Chapter asks the General Council to urge Provincials and Regional Superiors of the Congregation in their ministry of animation to help their religious and seminarians:

1. To acknowledge and to live community life as a witnessing and prophetic sign in today’s world;
2. To witness always and everywhere in their personal and community life to a profound, passionate and total love for Christ (RoL #10 cp), lived faithfully while engaged in religious and pastoral activities;
3. To open their eyes and move towards new horizons, such as ministry to the marginalized in our world today.

Decision n. 9

COMMUNITY LIFE AND MISSION

To be a prophetic sign for the modern world we need to live in community, walking together with relationships marked by truth, trust and cordiality. Therefore,

The General Chapter asks the General Council:

1. To remind Superiors on every level that, respecting the subsidiarity principle, it is the Superior’s primary task to promote and uphold respect and unity in the life and ministry of every community;
2. To take care to include, in initial and ongoing formation, programs that strengthen spiritual life, interpersonal communication, and psycho-social integration both at individual and communitarian levels.

Decision n. 10

INTERCULTURAL WAY OF LIFE AS BLESSING

INTRODUCTION

1. Current world changes have important consequences on the relations between cultures. How can we continue to live as Church and announce the Gospel in a multicultural context which is increasingly accepted and lived in today’s society? What action can we undertake in response to Jesus’ command to his disciples: «Go, make disciples of all nations» (Matthew 28:19)? Cultural diversity must be lived in a spirit of communion

1. The Church, “Sacrament” of life shared in the diversity of the human family, is called to reach out beyond herself, to go out to the periphery (Pope Francis), geographically but also existentially, wherever is found the mystery of sin, suffering, injustice, ignorance, where religion is despised, where there is every form of poverty.

1. This specific feature of the Church must, now more than ever, be evident in our way of living, of forming community, and of witnessing to the Good News as Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, members of an international Congregation blessed by God.

The Chapter recognizes intercultural communities as a blessing, and that God is Father of us all. Therefore, the General Chapter:

1-    invites all members of the Congregation to embrace the intercultural way of life as an urgent call, in all the works  of the Congregation;

2-    encourages all the Provinces and Regions to seek the experience of life shared in the wealth of diverse cultures;

3-    proposes English and French as the most practical languages for communication in the Congregation, and invites the Provinces and Regions to offer their members the possibility of learning one of these languages.

Decision n. 11

                                                                                                                                                          COMMUNICATIONS

WHEREAS:

• there is a need to coordinate internationally the writing, publishing and disseminating of La Salette materials (new and old), in various languages, in collaboration with the General Administration,
• there is an abundance of art (paintings, statues, medals, music, etc.), old and new, related to La Salette,

The General Chapter recommends:

1. that the General Council create an International Communications Committee;
2. that each Provincial and Regional Council create its own Communications Committee;
3. that the Provincial/Regional Committees share with the International Communications Committee all appropriate materials, including those published to the members of the Province or Region, as well as La Salette art, multimedia and music, in order to make them available in digital form to the extent possible and as permitted by law;
4. that these committees acknowledge and encourage artistic talent in our Congregation and in La Salette lay movements;
5. that the International Communications Committee establish a team of translators and proofreaders for all materials to be published to the Congregation as a whole;
6. that qualified La Salette Sisters or laity also be invited to participate in these committees.

Decision n. 12

WORKING TOGETHER AS LA SALETTE MISSIONARIES BY CONTINENT

REASONS: whereas:

a) - in recent years there have been experiences of collaboration, proposed and coordinated by the Superior General and his Council, such as the new missions in TANZANIA and MOZAMBIQUE, which have met with success;

b) - in recent years, there has been in the Provinces and Regions direct collaboration defined by interprovincial agreements approved by the General Council, for mutual assistance in mission or formation, etc., with personnel from different continents, cultures and languages;

The General Chapter decides that:

1º) - The General Council will accompany and encourage all efforts at collaboration among Provinces/Regions, whether by continents or at the interprovincial level beyond continents.

2º) - At each Council of the Congregation, a day will be set aside for Provincial/Regional Superiors to meet by continents, with the coordination of the Superior General or General Councilors, to evaluate actions already in place, and to plan other initiatives to be worked out according to needs and possibilities.

3º) - Provincial and Regional Superiors may have meetings and/or dialogue, through initiatives in the area of formation or mission, taking advantage of modern means of communication.

4º

) - FOLLOWING UP on these meetings, if the Provincial/Regional Superiors or the Superior General consider it necessary, they can convoke a meeting of the Superiors concerned and their respective Councils, setting a clear date, venue and agenda for the meeting.

Decision n. 13

COLLABORATION WITH LA SALETTE SISTERS

With respect and joy the General Chapter welcomes the joint declaration by the General Councils of the Missionaries and the Sisters of La Salette for mutual relations and cooperation, and in particular at the Shrine of La Salette.

Recognizing the independence of both,

The General Chapter recommends to the General Council:

1. to continue dialogue and strengthen cooperation in some areas which could further unite us:
   1. common work at the Shrine of La Salette
   2. common celebrations of the Anniversary of the Apparition and other events
   3. vocational promotion and formation in particular the PPP
   4. communication between General Councils
   5. formation of formators and growth in the understanding of the charism.
2. To affirm that clarity of terms, conditions and agreements should lead us to understand better how to fulfill our mission
3. To explore the possibility of having appropriate representation of the La Salette Sisters in our Theological Commission.

Decision n. 14

«LA SALETTE LAITY» AND OTHER LAY MOVEMENTS

The General Chapter rejoices with «La Salette Laity» who have expressed a genuine desire to share and live with us the same charism of reconciliation, and rejoices with other lay movements inspired by the charism of La Salette.

With a view to the appropriate development of both our Congregation and lay movements sharing the La Salette charism, the General Chapter recommends to the General Council:

1       –to task our Theological Commission with preparing texts to serve as formation material to help both the «La Salette Laity» and other lay groups inspired by the charism of La Salette;

2       To appoint a La Salette Missionary who will accompany the International Coordination of «La Salette Laity», preferably a member of the General Council;

3       To organize international meetings of «La Salette Laity» at the Shrine of La Salette, France, every six years.

Decision n. 15

JUSTICE & PEACE

• Inspired by the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette who looked upon the suffering of humanity,

• Taking into account the real and intolerable situation of migrants and refugees and those who live in different situations of poverty, who knock at the doors, first of our consciences, and then of our communities,

• In the light of the Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette, who reminded Maximin of the words of his father, “Here, my child, eat some bread while we still have it this year; because I don’t know who will eat any next year if the wheat keeps up like that”.

The General Chapter, desiring «in the grace of La Salette» to be in a concrete way «Prophets for a reconciled world,» encourages the new General Administration, in collaboration with the provinces and regions, to:

1)        Create opportunities in our communities and places we work to discuss, share and evaluate pastoral activities in the light of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.

2)        Respond to this urgency with appropriate action.

3)        Urge the International Commission for Justice and Peace to draw up a plan to create a new Solidarity Fund which will support social projects (MS) approved by the JPIC Commission (Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation), according to specific criteria.

Decision n. 16

Finance 1

Having in mind the report of the Superior General to the general chapter 2018, number 8 (Finances and the Administration of Goods) and the Vatican orientation regarding ecclesiastical goods, and for the good of the congregation;

The General Chapter oblige that the General council with the help of the Finance Commission:

• Create a General Administrative-Economic Program, to be accompanied by a manual with clear criteria proposed and shared by the provinces and regions.

• The manual will help the provincial, regional and local treasurers to better administer the goods of the Congregation.

Decision n. 17

Finance 2

• To be the prophets in the administration of temporal goods and in the spirit of Rule of Life concerning finance,

• to better know the financial situation of the Provinces and Regions, by meeting the financial commission and local treasurers,

• to give suggestions and recommendations on various financial issues of the Provinces and Regions,

• to share the situation of the Provinces and Regions with the Finance Commission of the Congregation,

• to accompany Provinces and Regions in the awareness of managing temporal goods,

• to help Provinces and Regions in the use of the Congregational accounting system,

The General Chapter recommends that the General Council, once in a mandate,  sends the General Treasurer to visit the

Brother, Sister, Mother
(Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Genesis 3:9-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13—15:1; Mark 3:20-35)
We have a strange Gospel today. Jesus’ relatives thought he was out of his mind. The Scribes said he was possessed. Jesus responded with a mysterious saying about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Then his relatives showed up to ‘seize’ him—accompanied by his mother!
This is the context in which Jesus utters a seemingly dismissive saying about his mother: “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
The answer actually echoes Luke’s account of the Annunciation, where Mary says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Whoever does the will of God is Jesus’ brother, sister, mother. This is high praise.
Our reading from Genesis also dovetails with this idea. As early as 100 A.D., Church authors began to compare Eve and Mary, noting the fruits of the disobedience of the one and the obedience of the other. As Jesus was the new Adam, they saw Mary as the new Eve. This parallels Romans 5:12-19, where St. Paul contrasts Adam and Jesus.
When Mary at La Salette calls her people to submit, she is inviting us to be like her. It was through her humble submission that she received the privilege of being the mother of the Savior. Can we not humble ourselves before the Lord, trusting in his grace and favor? Can we not accept the sufferings we experience in our ‘earthly dwelling, a tent’ while hoping for ‘a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven’?
But there is more here than the matter of submission and acceptance. Jesus calls ‘brother, sister, and mother’ those who do the will of God who is his Father, “from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,” as St. Paul writes in Ephesians 3:15.
God seeks a relationship with us. The Beautiful Lady weeps because her people have not responded, have not recognized and desired the wonder of intimacy with God.
Mystics and saints may have found the words to express this experience, but it is accessible to all those who do the will of God. We have Jesus’ word for that.