Union of Our Lady of Charity

Chapter of the Union of Our Lady of Charity

Carrollton – 2007

7th July

A very busy day for the delegates

The morning was spent on the Common Fund.
We already know the basics of the Common Fund text; we have modified and improved it as the meetings of the Solidarity, Justice and Peace Commission and the Management Committee have been held. It is a basis for a way of sharing in the Union and opens the way for new relations between us; not only in the case of assets (goods) but also in the way we live the mission. If we are fully committed to this, it may become a prophetic sign for the world.

The Common fund has three principles: interdependence, trust and co-responsibility. A theological reflection, prepared by Anne-Marie Klopstein and Annick Egu, together with the assistance of Elena Lasida, who has accompanied the Commission since 2003, helped the delegates to deepen their understanding of these three principles by making a link with the vows.

Interdependence means accepting differences and is an invitation to build our lives together, making the community prevail over the individual and valuing non-material wealth.
Using two biblical texts (Luke.1, 26-38: the Annunciation and Acts 5, 17-26: the liberation of Peter) a link is made with the Common Fund – a liberating relation is created, because everybody gives and receives. Interdependence gives rise to the openness that permits the creation of a new kind of relation, in which everybody accepts the projects of others as their own.
As for the vow of poverty, it is not so much an issue of “not having” but rather “pooling what we have”. When we relinquish total control of our property and when riches are pooled and administered in common, we gain freedom from those riches. And that is when we discover that others represent riches for me.

Trust is a principle which comes from joining the common project. People accept their differences and promise to build together from those differences. This requires having faith in the other person, believing in their possibilities and daring to do things together.
We can find a biblical echo in the tale of God’s Covenant with Noah (Gen. 9, 8-17), a Covenant which makes human beings co-creators with God, who trusts the creative abilities of human beings and accepts with humankind the risks of creation.
If we apply this to the Common Fund it is a matter of relinquishing together to then become wealthy together, to build together something which as yet is unknown.
Trust can be related to the vow of chastity: renouncing an exclusive relationship to establish more universal ones in community life or apostolic projects with people whom we do not chose. This is an invitation to build trusting, covenant relationships, where strength and domination are the name of the game.

Co-responsibility entails the ability to decide and be accountable in a group, to carry out a task which has been jointly accepted, with both its positive and negative consequences. That reflection was supported by a biblical text (Gen. 1, 1-31). God’s creation consisted in separating confusion in chaos. A separation that raises new relations and the establishing of
new means of co-ordination between different elements. Co-responsibility is creative since it renews the relations between the different parts of a whole – and these relations are circular rather than vertical.
As for the vow of obedience -something that we experience in our relationship with authority- co-responsibility tells us something new about that relationship, since it is an obedience that is shared by everyone and for which everybody depends upon others and is responsible for others. This dependence releases a creative force. Each one of us is a co-creator and not simply an executor. And so authority becomes the inter-member co-ordination of a group people who accept a common project.

In the afternoon, the groups of life put forward those issues that they felt were currently vital for the Union. The facilitator asked those people who felt more attracted to a specific subject to write it on the blackboard and subsequently those sisters also interested in the subject added their names

And so after a few initial moments of indecision, eight different-sized groups were set up. They worked quite freely for an hour with a view to producing guidelines for the next 6 years. A very positive atmosphere was floating in the Chapter room when the groups returned for afternoon prayer – a clear indication that there had been a very enriching exchange of ideas!!



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