We shall be celebrating our general chapter from July 3 – 15, 2023 in the convent hotel ZIN in Vught (the Netherlands).

The following theme has been chosen for this chapter: “dare to create our future together”.

We see our congregation as a living unity, distributed throughout the world, with the same origin and the same source. However, we are getting smaller and smaller and we will have to cooperate more with each other, but also with others outside the Congregation, in order to realize our mission. As equals. The world is changing and we are changing with it. We are open to new ideas that help us to do what society asks of us.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about God's new world. A world without judgment and full of respect, a world in which love plays a major role; love that gives without asking for anything in return. Matthew 7:7 inspires us to create our future together. This text refers to one's own responsibility for reaching God's new world:
Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you shall find; knock and it will be opened to you.

We don't know what the future will bring, but we can take initiatives that lead to a respectful world, individually and together. We have the courage to creatively and openly search for new ways, using our experiences, cultures, gifts and talents.

Let's unite in prayer and move together towards the General Chapter.