Sr. Carmen Sammut’s introduction to the #UISGPlenary: Dear sisters, In the name of the executive board, the executive secretary, and all the staff of the UISG, I have the joy of welcoming you to this our Plenary Assembly. I also welcome our guests, our speakers, the members of the press, our translators, our listeners and all those who will help us with the liturgy and with various other services so that all will go smoothly during our meeting. We thank each one of them wholeheartedly.
This is a special assembly as it marks our golden jubilee. We are right to want to celebrate as we remember with gratitude all those who have given an active part along the years, with courage, dynamism, vision and perseverance, so that today we can move forward with passion and look to the future with hope, as Pope Francis suggested we do during the year of Consecrated life.
The theme of the 2013 Plenary Assembly was “It shall not be so among you : the service of leadership according to the Gospel.” As we worked through the orientations 2013-2016, we heard the call to co-create global solidarity within religious life, in favor of those who suffer, including our Planet. Indeed we all have our own charisms, yet beyond these, we hear a common call for all of us in apostolic religious life. EG N. 130: «The Holy Spirit also enriches the entire evangelizing Church with different charisms. These gifts are meant to renew and build up the Church. They are not an inheritance, safely secured and entrusted to a small group for safekeeping; rather they are gifts of the Spirit integrated into the body of the Church, drawn to the center, which is Christ and then channelled into an evangelizing impulse. A sure sign of the authenticity of a charism is its ecclesial character, its ability to be integrated harmoniously into the life of God’s holy and faithful people for the good of all.»
Thus the theme of our assembly is “Weaving Global Solidarity for Life : That they may have life and have it to the full”. Each one of these words is important.
Weaving  : We all know what beautiful, complex,  patient, creative, skillful work weaving is. The commitment to global solidarity is also a most beautiful and complex enterprise which needs patience, creativity and skill. And like all weaving, it starts with one stitch and goes on, one stitch after another, growing nearly imperceptibly. Let us make this our assembly one step forward towards global solidarity, by weaving relationships among us. We are here more than 8oo women religious from all over the world, from such different contexts and languages. This is for us an occasion to come to know each other, to know how religious life is lived in the various contexts, to know how our love for the One who calls us leads us always deeper into the waters of life, so as to be light and salt for others. It is a grace-filled time when the weaving can be advanced so that when we are far from each other our network can become more efficient. Let us weave dreams that awaken what is deepest and truest in us, dreams that will lead us to action, to participation, to commitment.
We want to weave global solidarity: Solidarity is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far. On the contrary it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.~ (Pope John Paul II, On Social Concerns, 1987)
“This word solidarity is too often forgotten or silenced, because it is uncomfortable. It almost seems like a bad word … solidarity. I would like to make an appeal to those in possession of greater resources, to public authorities and to all people of good will who are working for social justice: never tire of working for a more just world, marked by greater solidarity! No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world! Everybody, according to his or her particular opportunities and responsibilities, should be able to make a personal contribution to putting an end to so many social injustices. The culture of selfishness and individualism that often prevails in our society is not, I repeat, not what builds up and leads to a more habitable world: rather, it is the culture of solidarity that does so; the culture of solidarity means seeing others not as rivals or statistics, but brothers and sisters. And we are all brothers and sisters!” (Pope Francis 7/25/13, Varginha, Brazil)
In his Encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis invites us to solidarity in favor of the future of our planet and of all peoples, a solidarity from the heart, which shows itself in our actions.
Weaving global solidarity for life : “That they may have life and have it to the full”. This is why we have given our lives as followers of Jesus. That God’s Kingdom may be an everyday reality.
In order to weave a beautiful tapestry, the weaver needs to have the pattern in the head and not to be distracted. For us too we need to come with an open mind, an open heart and an open will. As we listen to each other, we need to suspend our judgments, to redirect our attention, let go of the past, of what is familiar, lean into the future that wants to emerge through us, and let it come.
The speakers will give us food for thought. The quality of our conversation in the group work will allow for creative exploration in our contexts. The prayer times, the silence and the discernment process will call us to an inner exploration of what the Spirit is awakening in us. The whole will hopefully bring us to a personal and group commitment as we face the next three years.
On this our jubilee feast we are right to look to the past with gratitude. Let us also live this present moment with passion so that we can move forward with hope.
I wish us a very fruitful assembly. May it bring us abundant life.
 
 

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 
FOR THE 50th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
Communication and Mercy: A Fruitful Encounter
 
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Holy Year of Mercy invites all of us to reflect on the relationship between communication and mercy. The Church, in union with Christ, the living incarnation of the Father of Mercies, is called to practise mercy as the distinctive trait of all that she is and does. What we say and how we say it, our every word and gesture, ought to express God’s compassion, tenderness and forgiveness for all. Love, by its nature, is communication; it leads to openness and sharing. If our hearts and actions are inspired by charity, by divine love, then our communication will be touched by God’s own power.
As sons and daughters of God, we are called to communicate with everyone, without exception. In a particular way, the Church’s words and actions are all meant to convey mercy, to touch people’s hearts and to sustain them on their journey to that fullness of life which Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to bring to all. This means that we ourselves must be willing to accept the warmth of Mother Church and to share that warmth with others, so that Jesus may be known and loved. That warmth is what gives substance to the word of faith; by our preaching and witness, it ignites the “spark” which gives them life.
Communication has the power to build bridges, to enable encounter and inclusion, and thus to enrich society. How beautiful it is when people select their words and actions with care, in the effort to avoid misunderstandings, to heal wounded memories and to build peace and harmony. Words can build bridges between individuals and within families, social groups and peoples. This is possible both in the material world and the digital world. Our words and actions should be such as to help us all escape the vicious circles of condemnation and vengeance, which continue to ensnare individuals and nations, encouraging expressions of hatred. The words of Christians ought to be a constant encouragement to communion and, even in those cases where they must firmly condemn evil, they should never try to rupture relationships and communication.
For this reason, I would like to invite all people of good will to rediscover the power of mercy to heal wounded relationships and to restore peace and harmony to families and communities. All of us know how many ways ancient wounds and lingering resentments can entrap individuals and stand in the way of communication and reconciliation. The same holds true for relationships between peoples. In every case, mercy is able to create a new kind of speech and dialogue. Shakespeare put it eloquently when he said: “The quality of mercy is not strained. It dropped as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives and him that takes” (The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I).
Our political and diplomatic language would do well to be inspired by mercy, which never loses hope. I ask those with institutional and political responsibility, and those charged with forming public opinion, to remain especially attentive to the way they speak of those who think or act differently or those who may have made mistakes. It is easy to yield to the temptation to exploit such situations to stoke the flames of mistrust, fear and hatred. Instead, courage is needed to guide people towards processes of reconciliation. It is precisely such positive and creative boldness which offers real solutions to ancient conflicts and the opportunity to build lasting peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt 5:7-9)
How I wish that our own way of communicating, as well as our service as pastors of the Church, may never suggest a prideful and triumphant superiority over an enemy, or demean those whom the world considers lost and easily discarded. Mercy can help mitigate life’s troubles and offer warmth to those who have known only the coldness of judgment. May our way of communicating help to overcome the mindset that neatly separates sinners from the righteous. We can and we must judge situations of sin – such as violence, corruption and exploitation – but we may not judge individuals, since only God can see into the depths of their hearts. It is our task to admonish those who err and to denounce the evil and injustice of certain ways of acting, for the sake of setting victims free and raising up those who have fallen. The Gospel of John tells us that “the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32). The truth is ultimately Christ himself, whose gentle mercy is the yardstick for measuring the way we proclaim the truth and condemn injustice. Our primary task is to uphold the truth with love (cf. Eph 4:15). Only words spoken with love and accompanied by meekness and mercy can touch our sinful hearts. Harsh and moralistic words and actions risk further alienating those whom we wish to lead to conversion and freedom, reinforcing their sense of rejection and defensiveness.
Some feel that a vision of society rooted in mercy is hopelessly idealistic or excessively indulgent. But let us try and recall our first experience of relationships, within our families. Our parents loved us and valued us for who we are more than for our abilities and achievements. Parents naturally want the best for their children, but that love is never dependent on their meeting certain conditions. The family home is one place where we are always welcome (cf. Lk 15:11-32). I would like to encourage everyone to see society not as a forum where strangers compete and try to come out on top, but above all as a home or a family, where the door is always open and where everyone feels welcome.
For this to happen, we must first listen. Communicating means sharing, and sharing demands listening and acceptance. Listening is much more than simply hearing. Hearing is about receiving information, while listening is about communication, and calls for closeness. Listening allows us to get things right, and not simply to be passive onlookers, users or consumers. Listening also means being able to share questions and doubts, to journey side by side, to banish all claims to absolute power and to put our abilities and gifts at the service of the common good.
Listening is never easy. Many times it is easier to play deaf. Listening means paying attention, wanting to understand, to value, to respect and to ponder what the other person says. It involves a sort of martyrdom or self-sacrifice, as we try to imitate Moses before the burning bush: we have to remove our sandals when standing on the “holy ground” of our encounter with the one who speaks to me (cf. Ex 3:5). Knowing how to listen is an immense grace, it is a gift which we need to ask for and then make every effort to practice.
Emails, text messages, social networks and chats can also be fully human forms of communication. It is not technology which determines whether or not communication is authentic, but rather the human heart and our capacity to use wisely the means at our disposal. Social networks can facilitate relationships and promote the good of society, but they can also lead to further polarization and division between individuals and groups. The digital world is a public square, a meeting-place where we can either encourage or demean one another, engage in a meaningful discussion or unfair attacks. I pray that this Jubilee Year, lived in mercy, “may open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know and understand one another better; and that it may eliminate every form of closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and discrimination” (Misericordiae Vultus, 23). The internet can help us to be better citizens. Access to digital networks entails a responsibility for our neighbour whom we do not see but who is nonetheless real and has a dignity which must be respected. The internet can be used wisely to build a society which is healthy and open to sharing.
Communication, wherever and however it takes place, has opened up broader horizons for many people. This is a gift of God which involves a great responsibility. I like to refer to this power of communication as “closeness”. The encounter between communication and mercy will be fruitful to the degree that it generates a closeness which cares, comforts, heals, accompanies and celebrates. In a broken, fragmented and polarized world, to communicate with mercy means to help create a healthy, free and fraternal closeness between the children of God and all our brothers and sisters in the one human family.
From the Vatican, 24 January 2016
Francis

Gender parity within- Understanding ‘the woman’
The theme for Women’s International Day 2016 declared by the United Nations, stirred me a lot and I wish, we all reflect on the underlying urgency for declaring such a theme. The theme is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality”. This is geared towards accelerating the 2030 Agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals. (http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day#sthash.zDy1p3sx.dpuf)
The World Economic Forum predicted in 2014 that it would take until 2095 to achieve global gender parity. Then one year later in 2015, they estimated that a slowdown in the already glacial pace of progress meant the gender gap wouldn’t close entirely until 2133. This portrays the situation not of the women alone, but in particular of the in Sri Lanka world, which is struggling to be a healthy and harmonious entity
Knowing the numerous injustices and sufferings inflicted upon women by outside factors and actors that needs to be addressed for gender parity, I also believe that it is the woman, who is the enemy of herself  most of the time, who never knows the ‘freedom’ with which she was created.  Freedom needs to be enjoyed from within and nothing else could bring it or give it.
Understanding women- there is an old saying that, ‘It is easy to know the depth of an ocean, but the heart of a woman’. Having accompanied the Lay Associates who mostly are women; working with women from the North to the South in Sri Lanka with different organizations; supporting empowerment programmes among the war victims and having moved with women of different levels and more over being a woman myself, I am seriously pondering on the ‘status’ of women, which is shared for your scrutiny with your own experiences.
The story of Martha and Mary of Bethany, is an eye opener to vividly understand the characteristics of many a woman and two women in particular in this narration. Consider the scene: Jesus visiting their house; Martha is stressed and working hard to prepare the right meal for the guest; Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, carefree but focused. Martha even complained at Mary’s behavior to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!’ The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.”(Luke 10:40-41)
Here, Martha is definitely doing the right thing of showing her hospitality to the guests. She was preparing ‘for’ Jesus, while Mary is ‘with’ Jesus, building a relationship beyond Martha’s understanding. Jesus’s reply too, validated the action of Mary who has surrendered herself in her entirety to Jesus. This episode has always given the connotation that choosing to become a religious is worthier than being ‘in the world and may be getting married……..but my point here is ‘making a decision for herself within the given context by any woman; is it happening or not.’
In the culture of the Jewish society at that time and even now in most of our communities, there are specified gender roles and especially, women had spatial, social and other boundaries. When men are around, the women are not supposed to be seated among them, but to wait on them. They could be in the kitchen or inner chambers and may listen to the conversation but not customary to give opinions. Yet Mary made her own choice amidst the restrictions, that quenched her thirst for new knowledge and to embrace the truth.
But most of the times I feel, the boundaries the women have forced on themselves, are worse than the patriarchal enforcements. For example, if we take the Lay Associates which has a major component of women, a member would always worry about the routine activities, the household chores and may find enough excuses not to attend a meeting or any other celebration. However much you try to convince, the mental barrier she has forced on herself, restricts her from making a turn, to decide on, what is essential and enjoyable for her. She easily hides behind cultures and customs forgetting about her own ‘identity’ as a ‘soul that is free’ and a ‘creation with a purpose’.
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived a simple family life at Nazareth, thereby sanctifying the ordinary and give it meaning”. (Way of Life, Art.47) Jesus, Mary and Joseph has shown that the ordinary life could become meaningful by ‘Trusting in God’s providence and recognizing His presence in all the joys and sufferings of life’ (Art.54) and the Article continues to emphasize Our Call, ‘ to restore the world to its created purpose, establishing God’s kingdom of justice and peace on earth.’ Justice and peace will not be offered to anyone in a gold platter but need to be fought for, and the women need to fight with themselves to break themselves from the clutter of their own folly, to make the ordinary become extra ordinary in their lives.
The scenario in Martha’s life also changed when Lazarus, their brother died. When she heard that Jesus is approaching Bethany, she ran out to him and confessed that ‘If you had been here, Lord my brother would not have died.’(John 11:21) Mary waited at home and was looking after those who have come to mourn with them. When Martha informed Mary, ’The Teacher is here and he is asking for you. Mary got up and hurried out to meet him.” (John11:28-29) Mary fell in Jesus’ feet and cried. ‘His heart was touched and he was deeply moved’ (John11:33)
The impact a person can make at a given situation differs from person to person. Martha and Mary are good examples of the same; Jesus had to confirm from Martha two times whether she believes in him before he brings Lazarus back to life but he has been touched by Mary’s weeping.
Coming to the point of the barriers the women are forcing on themselves, I also would like to take the war victims, especially the women with whom I have journeyed at different times, as another example. They are mostly at the verge of giving up their identity. They feel they are a ‘nobody’- no feelings for themselves; physically visible but mentally elsewhere; have to drag on for the sake of their children etc. A good percentage of the women, both young and old have lost their own identity which they even do not understand
Empowerment of women, is the hue and cry of the UN, the Governments and even the Non-Governmental Organizations for decades and decades but I am frustrated that everyone mostly is looking at the periphery, providing livelihood support, shelters( for which one of the beneficiary women told that she had to draw 1500 buckets of water from the well to evade paying for labour), savings and credit programmes etc. which are basic necessities for life,  yet there is much  more that needs to be done in the ‘making of a woman- in creating the space for her to understand and enjoy her own identity.’
Even in the Church and its Institutions, where the boundaries are clearly defined and functional, women seem to be the multitude of obedient devotees and play tertiary and may be secondary roles in the ‘building of the kingdom of God’.
 The problem that confronts us today, and which the nearest future need to solve is, how to be one’s self and yet in oneness with others, to feel deeply with all human beings and still retain one’s own characteristic qualities.
 ‘Emancipation of women, as stated in Emma Goldman’s Anarchism and Other Essays, should make it possible for woman to be human in the truest sense. Everything within her that craves assertion and activity should reach its fullest expression; all artificial barriers should be broken, and the road towards greater freedom cleared of every trace of centuries of submission and slavery.’

Having celebrated the ‘Resurrection’ of Jesus, I am fascinated by the commercialization of it with the Easter Eggs and Bunnies. The egg, a symbol of life consists of the yolk and the albumin. I am imagining Martha as the albumen and Mary as the yolk. Two different characteristics, closely knit, yet distinct in their roles and choices. Are the women Marthas or Marys? Whom do we prefer a woman to be?
Regina Ramalingam
Continental Leader-Asia

In the summer of 2015, when I had just arrived in my new home in Woodford Green, I attended a meeting of Religious to celebrate The Year of Consecrated life. Alan Williams, the Bishop of our Diocese of Brentwood and himself a Religious, was also there. To my surprise – probably because he saw a new face – he approached me and started a long conversation. By the end of the conversation, he had invited me to join a new Team of Sisters, which he was hoping to start soon after Christmas to respond to the urgent needs of migrants in the Diocese. I was very happy to accept the invitation and, in January, five of us had our first meeting as a Team with Bishop Alan.
Our focus is to co-ordinate and network with others who work on behalf of refugees, asylum seekers and all kinds of vulnerable migrants, especially those with no other means of support. The next meeting – our third – will take place in the French Church in London (run by the Marist Fathers, the Bishop’s Religious Congregation) where we will have an opportunity to meet some of the migrants who use the Parish Centre there. As part of this Diocesan project, I work as a volunteer at the Cardinal Heenan Centre in Ilford where asylum seekers and refugees, many of them homeless, come for various kinds of support and help.
The London Borough of Redbridge, in which Woodford Green is situated, has agreed to host four Syrian families in the very near future. TELCO (The East London Communities Organisation) which has a membership of 6,500 people in the Redbridge Borough is co-operating in this project. I attend TELCO meetings regularly and on 20 March took part in one of their training days on welcoming and providing a safe environment for these families. It was a very powerful and life-giving experience. As part of our preparation to receive the families, 16 members who participated in that day formed five Research Teams so that, among other things, we would be able to answer any questions raised by the Police, Home Office or Social Services. These five Teams deal with Education, Housing, Health, General Needs and Liaising with other important people such as MPs, the Bishop and some Anglican Vicars.
I am a member of the Education Team and have the responsibility of contacting the Principals and Staff of the Redbridge Secondary Schools to inform them about the situation and to ask them to open their schools to the children of these Syrian families. I have also been asked to liaise with the Bishop and with the Vicar of the Anglican Church in Woodford Green on behalf of TELCO. I am very happy to be the link person between these groups and to see the support we are able to give one another in working towards our common aim – the welfare of migrants.
It is a great opportunity for me to get to know deeply the situation of migrants and the policies of the Government and various organisations in their regard. It is wonderful to be able to work with different Congregations of Religious and other groups and put our Provincial Chapter Recommendation into practice by taking action on behalf of people who are obliged to be on the move. It is very enriching for me also to share in the commitment and enthusiasm of Lay People, different Faith Groups, Young People and, of course, our own Bishop Alan.
 
Celine Nanayakkara.
Woodford Green Community
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Sisters from Generalate participated in the Stations of the Cross on Palm Sunday organized by JPIC Commission of USG-UISG Rome. Christ’s journey to crucifixion, based on the reflections taken from Lauda­to Si, each station acknowledged a significant breaking of the covenant with the entire family of God’s creation. The trees, the plants, the rocks, the soil, the water, the birds, and the wind taught about the broken relationships among the universe. In each station offered a prayer for the healing of the dreadful rifts in the covenant with God and all that God has made. May everyone find the courage and the power to become agents of healing and care of the common home.

Washing of the Feet – a Gesture of Love
As a result of a direct intervention by Pope Francis, the situation regarding the Washing of the Feet has been clarified. On 20 December 2014 he wrote to Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and in January it was announced that the rubrics in the Roman Missal for the Holy Thursday service have been revised. The group chosen to participate in the ceremony will now represent the variety of individuals that make up the one People of God. It should include men and women, and, if possible, young and old, the healthy and the sick, lay people and clerics and those in the consecrated life.
Significantly, the decree does not simply permit women to be among those whose feet are to be washed, but states that this group should visibly reflect the gathering’s make-up. Moreover, by citing the Gospels three times, it gives a clear steer on how foot washing can be understood: an experience of how Christians ought to relate to one another.
Foot washing has come to be seen in recent centuries as either a piece of theatre, a showy demonstration of humility by those in power, or as an act of obedience to the command to love the poor (hence “Maundy Money” could replace a royal foot washing). But the text of John is quite explicit: the purpose of foot washing is to help everyone in the community discover how they are to relate to one another as disciples. Each must be prepared to wash the feet of the other. It enacts the mutual relationship of service that constitutes our distinctive community and is the practical face of the love we should have for one another.
Foot washing has to move from being a quaint ritual – that can be dodged when inconvenient – to being a fulfilment of the Lord’s will for our behaviour when we gather together. It models what it is to be Church.
Extracts from an article by Thomas O’Loughlin 
The Tablet, The way of discipleship
17 March 2016 

An image that came to me most powerfully recently was the image of Jesus crying. We find several instances of Jesus crying in the Gospels. Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem and wept:”O Jerusalem, Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but you would not have me.” (Luke 19:41) He wept over his friend Lazarus’ death and the pain that death brought to Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha. (John 11:35). He wept at Judas’ betrayal: “Judas, do you betray me with a kiss, a kiss of friendship?” (Luke 22:48).
There is no doubt that he continues to weep over our world where hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, fleeing from war, destruction and death; where little children are abused and starved and will grow up without ever having experienced a safe and secure childhood; where bombs rain down daily on innocent populations, destroying their homes and massacring their loved ones. Surely, Jesus weeps. Do we weep? How can we not? As we see the terrible images on our television screens and read harrowing accounts in the newspapers, we cry out: “What can we do?” Jesus’ answer to the young man in the Gospel, who asked that same question was “Go sell what you have, give to the poor and come follow me.” (Matthew 19:21). What do we need to “sell” in order to follow Jesus and build communion among ourselves and among those around us? What have we to let go off to stop the violence?
We can do little to stop the bombs raining down on innocent populations but by following Jesus and modelling our lives on his, we can stop the violence that can creep into our own hearts. We can put an end to the small but hurtful ways that we can cause pain to one another. We can make a commitment to refuse to add to the suffering that is
already in our world. This we can do. The image of Jesus weeping reminds us that He loves each one of us. He suffers when we betray our call to live and promote communion; when we fail to “practice the joyful giving of ourselves, unconditional acceptance, attentiveness, dialogue, forgiveness and genuine relationships” (Ana Maria’s letter: February 2016).
Perhaps if we contemplate the weeping Jesus, we will turn away from all that is destroying communion among us. May Jesus’ tears melt our hearts and move us to be more merciful to ourselves and to each other. If we contemplate the weeping Jesus, we can change during and we can rise with Jesus to a new way of life, with a renewed commitment to live “as visible and prophetic witnesses of God’s mercy in the Church and world contexts in which we live” (Ana Maria’s letter).
Gemma (Unit leader Britain & Ireland)

I know a girl who aspired to become a classical pianist. She had natural talent. She spent hours in practice. Then one night a man broke into her house and attacked her with a knife, badly disfiguring her hands. Today her piano sits silent.
I know a man who had a promising career in publishing. He had a gift for words. He was rising through the ranks. Then a religious cult persuaded him to quit his job to preach in the streets because the world would soon end. The world didn’t end. And the publishing world never opened to him again.
I know men and women who dream of marrying but remain single. A friend of mine dreamed of her brother’s recovery from cancer, but that dream was laid to rest last August. To dream is to be human, but to be human in this world is to experience a dream broken. And as the years stretch on with our dreams unfulfilled, it can feel like we’re lost in the wilderness.
Broken Dreams in the Wilderness
During this season of Lent we remember Jesus’ 40 days in the desert – itself a re-enactment of the Jews’ 40 years in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-7; Deuteronomy 8:1-9). Both experiences hold a profound lesson about recovering from broken dreams with God.
To the Jews the wilderness was a place of trial – a wasteland of confusion where one walked in circles, a desert of frustration where one’s dream was denied.
After their momentous liberation from Egyptian slavery and their divine encounter on Mount Sinai, the Jews had set out for a Promised Land of plenty. But what started as adventure soon became adversity, with an 11-day trek becoming 40 years of wandering (Exodus 12:31-20:21; Numbers 10-36).
The Jews felt vulnerable in the wilderness. It was a place of dry stones and fruitless ground, blazing sun and weariness. It was a place of wild animals, circling vultures and shadowy forces that whispered in the winds. It was a place of seeking and searching, ever on the move and never content. The wilderness was a place of restlessness.
The Jews felt tempted in the wilderness – tempted to renounce their God, or at least question his goodness; tempted to scuttle back to the world that enslaved them. When Jesus the Jew had his own wilderness experience he too heard the Tempter’s voice – to turn the stones around him into tasty bread, misusing his power to fulfil hunger; to leap from the temple and be caught by angels, proving his ‘specialness’ to others, and to bow to the Devil and gain worldly power, avoiding the pain of his future.
But the Wilderness is a Place of New Beginnings
The wilderness feels like a place of desertion. Our souls are dry, there’s sand in our eyes and we feel vulnerable, tempted and restless. But as the Jews reflected on their wilderness wanderings they saw more in the experience than suffering:
As much as the wilderness was a place of vulnerability, it was also a place of provision – with manna and quail and clothes that didn’t wear out coming from God’s hand for their need (Deuteronomy 8:3-4).
As much as it was a place of temptation, it was also a place of testing – God testing their hearts to reveal their devotion and teaching their hearts to trust him (Deuteronomy 8:2).
And while they felt restless and insecure in the desert place, they end up becoming someone new – God revealing himself as a ‘father’ to them there for the very first time, and describing them as his ‘children’ (Deuteronomy 1:31; 8:5).
For as much as the wilderness is a place of trial, it is also a place of transition (Deuteronomy 8:7-9) – where slavery becomes freedom and immaturity becomes wisdom, where our proud demands are humbled and our insecure selves become children of God. In the wilderness we become people we could never have become, and move into the next phase of our lives.
After 40 years in the wilderness, the Jews entered their Promised Land.
After 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus launched his world-changing mission.
An Easter Reflection
So, what if this wilderness season of ours – with its silent pianos and lost careers, with its sadness, singleness and loneliness; with its crushing diagnoses and hospital wards and its doubts and tears and brokenness – was leading us to become someone we couldn’t become without its trials and testings? What if God was using it to test our faithfulness to him, and through it affirm us as his ‘child’? What if it was the transition point to a new Promised Land, a new phase of life, a new mission?
God has a habit of making the wilderness a place of new beginnings.
Sheridan Voysey, Christian Today, 15 March 2016

10 TPs from Lesotho, Rwanda and Uganda re-united at a workshop in South Africa.
This was a wonderful moment for us to meet together, as for most of us we had shared good time in novitiate, whereas some were seeing each other for the first time in their lives as Holy Family members. This was the time that we all had been longing for and we were indeed very happy when at last, came and we met at this workshop. Our facilitators Srs. Breda who formed all of us in the Novitiate in South Africa, Colleen, Priscilla and Mme Elianora from Lesotho led us through this process of being enriched by the workshop.
The purpose for the workshop was:
Together as new holy family members in Africa
To grow in enthusiasm for mission realizing that if we don’t dare now then when?
To be transformed by the emerging world view
Deepening commitment to our vowed life and grow in co-responsibility.
During the workshop, we had a time for personal and group reflections. In group reflections we used the method called, “the corporate reflection process.” The corporate reflection process enabled us to work together in a way that the wisdom of the group was heard through shared reflection and listening. Attentive to the Holy Spirit within and among us was essential for this quality of listening and relating.
During this time we awakened that indeed if we don’t dare now then when? This came out of the reflections we did some based on the reality we watched on DVD clips, our holy family document “vowed for mission and corporate commitment of 2014 chapter”, the pope’s message to Africa when he visited Kenya, Uganda and Central Africa in November 2015 shortly before our workshop. All this opened our eyes to a new world view to be daring young sisters ready to bring about Communion. Our visit to Maropeng (the origin of Humanity) in Gauteng was a great moment for us, moved with wonder and surprises to see from history up to the present our interconnectedness with the “whole” that has life forming one big family of God. This visit connected very well with the reflections our facilitators had been leading us through and we appreciated the wonder of our creative God at work even today.
We realized how our Human selfish actions have degraded the rest of creation and the effects we see today in climate change, diminishing of some animal species, natural disasters and so on. We saw that change is possible and our each one’s little contribution will make a difference. We committed ourselves as young sisters still burning with the fire of zeal, to go to our communities, our areas of apostolate, and schools for those who are students and parishes to start now and share this good news of the change of mind set. Start where we are to be agents of change, to evangelize with new world view, inclusive and attentive to the signs of the time as we go out to live our vowed for mission.
 If we don’t dare now, then when? Let us go forward, passionately, enthusiastic with openness to build communion in Africa.
7th-19th December 2015

In a hotel set amidst an olive grove on the Greek island of Lesvos, refugees fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other war zones share their traumatic experiences and mourn the loss of their past lives.
A Syrian woman is haunted by the memory of her husband dying from a cardiac arrest as they tried to cross the Turkish border with their four children. An Iraqi woman is traumatised by her encounter with “The Biter”, a metal tool used by the so-called Islamic State to clip off the skin of women dressed immodestly. And Hayat, another Syrian refugee, arrives on Lesvos to find that her hands are paralysed – a psychosomatic effect associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
They will only remain on the island for a few days before continuing their journeys to northern Europe, making the provision of clinical therapy for their trauma impossible. A psychosocial support team from an Israeli NGO, IsraAid, offers some short-term coping strategies to help them accept their past and prepare for the future.
“When they come to us destroyed, we tell them, ‘Look, you have brought your family to safety; you can continue onwards in your journey,’” said Warda Alkrenawy, who heads the team of volunteer psychologists and counsellors, many of them Arabic speakers.
Lesvos has received 60 percent of the nearly 130,000 refugees and migrants who have arrived in Greece since the beginning of the year. Here, as in other locations on the frontlines of Europe’s refugee crisis, the urgent need to provide new arrivals with basics such as food and shelter means that mental healthcare needs go largely unmet.
While there is no data available for how many refugees living in Europe are suffering from psychological trauma resulting from the conflicts they have fled, a study published by the German Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists last September estimated that as many as half of the refugees living in Germany – the final destination for many of those arriving on Lesvos – have mental health issues. Besides depression, the most common problem is PTSD. But according to the study, only four percent of PTSD sufferers are receiving treatment.
To treat or not to treat?
In most contexts, delving into traumatic memories forms part of the healing process. But Talya Feldman, a volunteer with IsraAid’s psychosocial team, explained that working with refugees in such short timeframes meant that alleviating the symptoms of PTSD was often the best they could hope for.
“Living in denial is not a good coping method, but if you’re still in [a potentially traumatic situation], and we don’t have the resources to really open the wound and treat it, it can be the best way,” she told IRIN.
Hayat, the Syrian refugee with the paralysed hands, recovered quickly once medical tests showed that the cause was high levels of stress preventing oxygen from reaching her muscles, rather than any physiological problem. “Just to know that, with all the uncertainty around her, that there was a cause and solution to this one thing, helped her to immediately relax,” recalled Mira Atzil, a clinical psychologist with IsraAid. 
Atzil encouraged the woman, whose husband had died as they crossed into Turkey, to view the tragedy as an event over which she had no control, in contrast to her future.
Part of this looking forward to the future involves preparing the refugees for what they will need in the weeks to come, from information on requesting asylum, to the available routes, as well as warnings against the dangers of continuing onwards with smugglers.
Last chance
For many of the refugees, Lesvos may be their first and last opportunity to receive psychological treatment. There is currently no mental healthcare network in place to connect refugees with further treatment in other countries along the western Balkans route, although some psychosocial support is available in Serbia, through Atina, an NGO based in Belgrade.
Rima Alshami, a cultural mediator with the organisation, who moved to Serbia three years ago after narrowly escaping a car bomb that exploded near her home in the Syrian capital of Damascus, noted that refugees in transit have emotional coping mechanisms that allow them to continue onward.
“When you make the decision to fight, you’re strong,” she said of the refugees she has met. “It’s when you settle that you need to collapse.” 
Originally a stockbroker, Alshami spent much of her first year in Serbia in a deep depression that made it difficult for her to get out of bed, let alone process any of her emotions. She said she didn’t seek psychological care because she was too busy finding employment and navigating her new country’s bureaucracy. 
Limited help
The final destination for more than one million asylum seekers in 2015 and a further 153,000 in the first two months of 2016 has been Germany, according to government figures. 
The Berlin Centre for Torture Victims (BZFO) – one of only two organisations in the city that offers trauma care free of charge to refugees – is providing short-term intervention to more than 180 refugees and long-term counselling and psychosocial support to more than 700. But BZFO is only able to help about 20 percent of the refugees who request its trauma treatment services. 
The only other option for most refugees is to seek help through the public healthcare system – a bureaucratic process that can take months and where interpreters are not guaranteed during therapy sessions.
A star is born
Syrian filmmaker and anti-regime activist Firas Alshater, 24, first started receiving therapy at the BZFO when he arrived in Germany in 2013 and was having flashbacks and nightmares about the torture he experienced in a Syrian jail.
“When I first arrived, I had to start from zero in this new place where I didn’t speak the language. I wanted to talk to someone; still, I need to talk to someone. It’s not over,” he told IRIN.
While he still suffers from occasional nightmares, Alshater has reinvented himself as one of Germany’s most sought-after YouTube stars. His web series “Sugar”, which has gone viral since launching last month, comically muses on German society and culture from his perspective as a refugee. 
Alshater’s experience of accessing long-term psychological care is rare. He said a number of his friends suffer from sleepless nights, flashbacks and other symptoms associated with PTSD, but that few have sought help. While some are deterred by the stigma still attached to mental health problems in many cultures, others are intimidated by the prospect of divulging their darkest memories to not one but two strangers: a psychologist and a translator.
The simple approach
BZFO’s psychologists say they’ve seen positive results from the use of relatively new methods like Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), first used to treat Sudanese child soldiers. Patients recall their experiences chronologically in order to crystallise the trauma as a past event and prevent it from haunting them in the present. The method’s relative simplicity means it can be administered by professionals with only basic training.
“It’s a really promising approach for patients here in Germany, especially since we have a shortage of Arabic-speaking therapists,” said Maria Boettche, head of BZFO’s research department.
BZFO press officer Meltem Arsu said that treating refugees for their trauma is critical for their integration into German society, and that there is an urgent need for the government to provide more support to mental healthcare services.
“Even short-term support through a social worker and some level of psychotherapy could be enough to stabilise the person so that they can go on with their lives,” she told IRIN.
Alshater said a big part of recovering from his own trauma has been getting back into filmmaking and “giving a message that all of us refugees are just people”.
“The most important thing for me was to realise that all that I had before was now gone, and I’m in a new life now.”
By Shira Rubin, IRIN Contributor, 9 March 2016