Back to News

SECOND PROVINCIAL CHAPTER OF INDIA
FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICO: PROPHETS OF PROXIMITY

December 2022

“Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37) We the Teaching sisters of St Dorothy Daughters of the Sacred Hearts in India celebrated our Second Provincial Chapter from 22nd to 30th December 2022. It began with a six-day preparatory study and spiritual retreat. The theme of the Chapter is: From Jerusalem to Jericho: Prophets of Proximity.

It is officially inaugurated on 22nd December with the presence of Rev Sr. Annarita Benetti Economa General of the Congregation along with 31 capitulars. The solemn votive Mass of the Holy Spirit presided by Rev. Fr. Rector Joy Kaipananickal SDB. He highlighted the figure of the Good Samaritan and also added that the road from Jerusalem to Jericho passes through all the convents of our Indian Province and also passes through the heart of every chapter member and every sister in the Province. He urged us to be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit that can come even through the most insignificant event of the day or through the youngest or eldest chapter members.

The opening ceremony of the chapter began with an introductory prayer and the singing of Vieni Creator and the Rev. Provincial Superior Sr. Biji Mulackal declared the chapter opens. Followed by Rev. Provincial Superior introduced the procedures of the chapter and read the authorsation letter of Rev. Mother General Maria Teresa Peña to delegate Sr. Annarita Benetti to participate in the chapter in her absence. Then Sr Annarita Benetti read the message of Rev. Mother General.

The provincial chapter is celebrated in a fraternal atmosphere of reflection and prayer, in order to seek God’s will and to give positive response to the expectations of the church and of the congregation. The chapter days offered the members a serious time of study, discussion, reflection on the theme: Radical renewal in the community life and mission according to the vision of our father founder St. John Antony Farina in the light of the parable of Good Samaritan.

At the phase of the reading of the reality of the Indian province which arouses in all the members a feeling of gratitude to God, to the Church and to our Congregation. The positivity we experience in our daily lives motivates us to move forward with confidence. While certain challenges that hinder the growth of the seeds of life that exist in the province create both uncertainty and courage. The various resources we possess inspire us and make us more responsible to manage them wisely. God's dream for the province over the next six years has given us a sense of commitment and authentic religious life.

On 30th evening during the Holy Mass our Provincial Superior Sr. Biji Mulackal expressed her sincere gratitude to God for his constant guidance throughout the chapter and all the members of the Province for their prayerful support and sincere help. Subsequently she announced the closure of the second provincial chapter. The excess of charity what our beloved father Founder possessed and wants his daughters to be, identified in the person of Good Samaritan during the celebration of the 2nd Provincial chapter, certainly induced the province to live more fervently in community and in mission. At the end of the mass all the capitulars are gifted with perfumed oil as a symbolic expression of the Good Samaritan; for healing the wounds of those who we meet on our daily journeys from Jerusalem to Jericho.