The worldwide family of Ursuline sisters and all who share with them the charism of St. Angela never ceases to amaze. Stretching to every continent, it is rooted in local cultures, engaged in mission, and always seeks to embrace the Gospel with new life and energy.
This was so very evident to me these past 2 weeks as I assisted with the provincial chapter of our Caribbean Province. Coming together from Barbados, Venezuela and Guyana, the sisters met at our community house in Georgetown, at the northeast tip of South America. They serve in schools, have an orphanage for girls, and minister to the poor in all three regions. Centered on the theme of our approaching general chapter, A Global Community Moving Into New Life, and like every other province in our Roman Union Ursulines, they looked together at their life and mission, discerning what to deepen, what to let go of, and what part they play in the global Ursuline family.
Our sisters from Venezuela shared heartbreaking stories of the situation in that country, where people wait in long lines outside grocery stores, only to arrive and find no food left. Concern for justice and peace becomes all-encompassing when it’s friends and neighbors who are starving and leaving their homeland.
There is nothing like the beauty of this region. Calypso music and the cadence of Caribbean accents blend to fill the soul with joy, especially at Christmas time! Orchids in the garden, rain forests and rivers observed from on high—all are gifts of God’s creative genius.
We celebrated the end of chapter with Bajan songs and jokes, rhythmic dancing and a little good wine. The commitment of our Ursuline family in this little province and around the world makes us realize how very blessed we are!