A Visit from our General Councilors

In the last month, weve enjoyed the canonical visitation from two members of the General Council of the Religious of the Assumption: Sister Katrin Goris and Sister Martine Tapsoba. Arriving in mid-August, they faced a multi-faceted task: visit each community in order to know the sisters and their many lay friends and collaborators, to understand the desires and problems of those communities, and to encourage, support and challenge each community as well. In this case, the time was particularly encouraging and challenging for both sides, since this was the first visit to the United States for Martine and Katrin.

They visited all four of the communities, enjoying the desert beauty of Chaparral (and experiencing a march at the Border as well as the magical world of White Sands National Park), the novelty of the matriculation ceremony for the new freshmen at Assumption College in Worcester, the energy and commitment of the spirituality groups in West Philadelphia and the sheer joy of the celebrations for Sister Clem's 100th birthday (as well as her 75th jubilee and Ann Teresa's 50th!) They were also able to visit Washington, D.C. on their day off, where they enjoyed the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum and the Native American Museum in addition to posing for photos in front of the White House and the Lincoln Memorial.

The visit concluded at our semi-annual Provincial Assembly, held at Daylesford Abbey, Paoli, PA, September 12-14. (At that meeting we were also fortunate to have Sister Diana Wauters, our Superior General, with us; Diana had been visiting family and taking a course in the U.S. during the visitation.) They offered us some initial feedback from their visit, encouraged us to consider how we could incorporate the goals of our Provincial Project into our local projects, and in general encouraged us to keep on with what were doing in a spirit of thanksgiving and faith. We are very grateful for the renewal we all felt from their presence, their interest and their enthusiasm for our country and our province. Our message to them is simple: "Come on back soon! We'll leave the light on!"