INAUGURAL ADDRESS BY SR. DOLORES LAHR Superior General

Good evening!  Let me say first of all, I am so delighted, and truly blessed, to be here with all of you.  And I say, ‘all of you,’ because I firmly believe in the Communion of Saints, both our earthly Communion of Saints, and our heavenly Communion of Saints.  So I count myself blessed to be among all of you, and know that we are all in the presence of the many sisters who have gone before us, who will be praying for us during our time together.

As I was praying and reflecting on what I wanted to share with you today, I was reminded of the liturgical season we are in.  Liturgically, it is ‘ordinary’ time, but for us, it has not been all that ordinary.  As a Congregation, just a few weeks ago, we experienced an Extended Council, which is an extraordinary event.  We are gathered here for a Provincial Chapter, another extraordinary event.  And what feasts have we celebrated in the beginning of November?  All Saints and All Souls, again, two extraordinary celebrations for us. I asked myself, and I ask each of you, what extraordinary call, what extraordinary challenge or challenges, is our God placing in front of us? And will we be open, with open hearts and ears and spirits, to listen to these challenges, these calls, and respond freely?  Let us all pray for the grace of openness, to leave outside the room all the distractions of our ordinary days, our ministries, our many concerns about family and friends, political issues – and I share with you that is one big concern I am trying to leave outside the room, as the elections in the United States were November 5^th.  To use an old adage, ‘Let go, and let God.’ There is a sense of inner freedom when we let go, and let our God fill us with the Spirit.

The Scripture passage I would like to begin with is taken from Matthew, and I have adapted it a little.  Your Provincial Council, who were present at the Extended Council, will recognize this passage.

From the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 21 – 22:

And Jesus came upon some women, mending their nets along the seashore. He called to them – they dropped their nets and followed him.”  “He called to them – they dropped their nets and followed him.”

I think this is another great example of something extraordinary, Jesus calling people from an ordinary everyday task, mending nets in this instance, to do something extraordinary, to follow him.

Throughout the history of our Congregation, there have been many women who ‘left their nets,’ who left the ordinary, left their comfort zones, to follow Jesus.  Think of the foundresses of the group who would come to be known as the Sisters of Saint Joseph, 6 ordinary women who left their ordinary lives to follow the inspiration of Father Médaille. Think of Mother St. John Marcoux, who became the foundress of our branch of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, of Chambéry.  Think of the foundresses who came to India. Did they have any idea of what lay ahead of them?  I don’t think so.  I often think of the first five sisters who came to the United States at the request of a lay woman, a convert to Catholicism.  When they arrived at the place they thought they would be staying, and where they thought all arrangements had been made for them, the pastor would not receive them, so they were brought to another small town, where they were warmly welcomed. The United States Province was birthed out of something extraordinary.

You may be asking yourselves, ‘Why is she talking so much about ordinary and extraordinary times? We are all familiar with our foundation stories. We know these women were extraordinary.”

It is not the times, ordinary or extraordinary, that are most important here.  It is the spirit of these ordinary women, the spirit of Father Médaille, the spirit of our foundresses, all of whom had hearts and minds and spirits open to the calls of the Spirit, who is certainly extraordinary.

Apostolic religious life is changing.  The life I live today is not the life I experienced when I entered our Congregation. This is not to say that life was not authentic – it was – for that time. When I entered, we seemed to have one foot in the old way of living apostolic religious life, which was quite monastic in its model, and one foot just stepping into the water of a new way to see how hot or cold it might be. It was a time of renewal, following Vatican II. 

Our Church was challenged to open her windows, and let the Spirt in. Pope St. John XXIII was extraordinary when he convoked that Council. Our Congregation, along with all congregations, was invited, I might say challenged, to look back at our roots, examine our foundational documents, deepen our understanding and awareness of our charism. I remember sisters asking, “What is a charism?” And, “How will we do this?  Our original documents are all in French.”  But the invitation and the challenge to move into the future was our call. And our Congregation responded. These were extraordinary times. We revised our Constitution from the very old and rigid rule to what I call the ‘green’ Constitution, which reflected an openness to the Spirit and to the times in which we were actually living.

As we examined our lives, we responded to the needs of the times, as Father Médaille asked the first 6 women, 374 years ago.  While many sisters remained in the more traditional ministries of health care and education, others engaged in direct ministries with the poor and most vulnerable, moving out of their comfort zones and into new cultures.

We earned degrees in higher education, health care administration, theology, canon law and pastoral studies to mention only a few.  Our institutions were among the best both in education and health care. Women religious, our Congregation and others, seemed to be everywhere.

We had left our nets.

Fast forward 60 years.  Neither our world nor our Church nor our Congregation is the same. In our world, we are experiencing climate change – a reality not thought of 60 years ago. There are multiple wars and territorial conflicts in places we read about, and in other places that do not make the news.  Migration, both voluntary and forced, is at a high point. AI, artificial intelligence, challenges all of us as humans to use our God-given intelligence to understand what AI is and is not, what it can and cannot do. Does AI have a heart? A soul? Certainly, it can be a tool for good – but a tool for evil as well.

In our Church, Pope Francis called for a Synod on Synodality. The response in some parts of the universal Church was enthusiastic, in others, lukewarm; in others, this Synod on Synodality, a time for renewal in our church, was met with total indifference.

In our Provinces, Regions and Missions, many of our institutions have transitioned their administration to associations; others have competent lay people as the leaders.  Others continue and struggle under great pressure from government regulations and interference. Still others have closed their doors. As a Congregation we have terminated missions and seen Provinces diminish in numbers. At the same time, we do see growth in different places.

Let’s stop and take a deep breath.

Let us ask ourselves where God is in all of this?  What is God asking of us today, as God asked Father Médaille, our first six women, our respective foundresses, and the thousands of women in our heavenly communion of saints? For one thing, we saw the need to revise our Constitution, once again, to reflect who we are as apostolic women religious in this time. This is the ‘blue’ Constitution, promulgated in 2017.  It is a very profound and challenging means for us, as Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chambéry, to live the Gospel.

The canon lawyer we engaged for the Extended Council, Sister Kelly Connors, reminded us more than once, that this is our proper law, particular to us. It is the way of life we have freely chosen to follow.  Each of us asked to be a part of the Congregation.  We freely responded, made our vows and said yes. On page 63 of our Constitution, it is written that “We assume with joy and responsibility, our Constitution” . . . joy and responsibility.

 

I think we sometimes focus on the responsibility part and forget about the joy part. True joy cannot be contained. It is contagious. Joy-filled people attract others.  Who does not want to be with someone who loves her life, is filled with joy and spreads love, laughter and compassion?

I’d like to share a prayer with you that was written by the late Archbishop Desmund Tutu. It is taken from his book entitled The Book of Joy.

I invite you to make yourselves comfortable, close your eyes and open your ears and hearts to the words of Archbishop Tutu.  What do the words say to you?

 

Abiding in God’s Joy and Peace

Dear Child of God,

you are loved with a love that nothing can shake,

a love that loved you long before you were created,

a love that will be there long

after everything has disappeared.

 

You are precious, with a preciousness

that is totally quite immeasurable.

 

And God wants you to be like God.

Filled with life and goodness and laughter—and joy.

 

God, who is forever pouring out

God’s whole being from all eternity,

wants you to flourish.

 

God wants you to be filled with joy and excitement

and ever longing to be able to find

what is so beautiful in God’s creation:

the compassion of so many, the caring, the sharing.

 

And God says, Please, my child, help me.

Help me to spread love and laughter

and joy and compassion.

 

And you know what, my child?

As you do this—hey, presto—you discover joy.

 

Joy, which you had not sought, comes as the gift,

as almost the reward for this non-self-regarding caring for others.

 

(From The Book of Joy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1931-2021)

 

Do you see yourself in this prayer?  Do you see the Sisters of the Province of Nagpur? I ask myself if I see our Congregation in this prayer. If yes, great.  If not, why not?

I have often spoken of my favorite Scripture passage from Jeremiah, Chapter 29, verse 11: “For I know well the plans I have I store for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future filled with hope.”  A future filled with hope. But my dear sisters, we must step into that future filled with hope. 

The logo and theme you have chosen for your Chapter reflects this passage from Jeremiah.  You have as your theme, “Called to be Intercultural, Spirit-filled, Pilgrims of Hope.”  What a challenge you have set before yourselves!  You are calling yourselves to be intercultural, to be spirit-filled and to be pilgrims of hope!  This is not easy. But your logo also includes the anchor, the symbol of hope, and as it encircles our world, expresses communion with all creation.

Our God calls us, but just as Jesus called the disciples and the women from their nets, he did not force them to follow him. Our God does not drag us into this future filled with hope.  We must freely respond.  Together with one another, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, knowing we are in the company of Mary and our protector Saint Joseph, we must hear the call of Jesus, and leave our nets once again.

As I bring my opening remarks to a close, I would like to say a few words about Chapter Delegates.  As we open this session of your 10^th Provincial Chapter, held in November of 2024, I remind you that you said ‘Yes’ to be delegates for this Chapter. You said ‘Yes’ to the call to be Intercultural.  You said ‘Yes’ to be Spirit-Filled.  And you said ‘Yes’ to being Pilgrims of Hope. 

So my dear sisters, you are the ones called to be here, now, in this sacred time, in this extraordinary time. You are the ones called to have open hearts, open minds, open spirits, to be attentive to the whispers of the Spirit in yourselves and in the Chapter body. You are the ones called to deep discernment in making decisions, and electing leadership. 

Saint Benedict has a famous saying.  He says, ‘Listen with the ears of your heart;’ Wise advice for any time in our lives, but especially at this sacred time of Chapter. 

Let us move forward, then, stepping into that future filled with hope. I do not know what that future will look like, but I know that as a Congregation, we must look to the needs of these times, leave our nets and journey forward, together.

Amen+  Let the journey begin, in hope and celebration of who we are and who we are called to be.

 

Sister Dolores Lahr, CSJ           Nagpur Provincial Chapter        

Superior General                       November 9, 2024

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