The closing of the XXVI General Chapter of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer took place this morning, Thursday, 6 October, with the celebration of the Eucharist at the Church of St Alphonsus, Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Rome.
Presided over by the newly elected Superior General, Father Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R., all the participants in the Chapter concelebrated together with other confreres of the international redemptorist community of St. Alphonsus House, located at Largo Brancaccio 31, formerly Via Merulana, and other members of the Alphonsian Academy.
Father Rogério invited those present to reflect on the conclusions agreed upon by the General Chapter in light of everyone’s commitment: to become Missionaries of Hope.
“The first thing to be a good evangelist, said the Superior General, is to be a disciple. Without this condition, we proclaim ourselves and not the essential: the saving message of the Gospel. The disciple listens with all his heart, with all his soul, to the teaching of the Master. He keeps the word in his heart, and with the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, he proclaims it with joy.”
Then he recalled the words of Pope Francis at the audience with the capitulars: “Leave the comfort zones and go out to go on mission”.
“If we want to be meaningful in this world, we must eliminate some idols that corrode the heart of consecrated life. This thing about idols enchants us, leads us into golden cages and imprisons us. They seduce us into the comfort zone. Pope Francis has asked us to seek in each of us the root of this comfort and has invited us to let go of that which does not let us be free, that which does not make us fly.”
“The Redemptorist has a particular identity, that is, an identity that is always new, because it is renewed every day in the Eucharist, in the profound mystery of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus,” Father Rogério recalled.
At the end of his reflection, he invited us to take the message of this Chapter to the whole world, that is, to every conference, to every unit, and to do so with enthusiasm. Because what was lived during these days of the Chapter, after all, did not end with this celebration but continues with the daily commitment to live as Redemptorists”.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Redemptorist cross was handed over to all the Chapter members as a sign of missionary commitment.
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