St. John Bosco said: “Never postpone until tomorrow the good you can do today. For you don’t know if tomorrow will exist for you”
The idea of a pilgrimage in a General Council team was born from a question:
– How will we mark in an exceptional way the jubilees of Religious Life for some of us?
– And for our life as a Council, as we move towards the end of our term in office, what means will we take to live an extraordinary high point and review our experiences together?
– How can we give thanks to God for the gift of each one, for the mutual support and collaboration over the past six and four years?
At the end of our search and discernment, we opted for a pilgrimage to Italy.
This experience was a great joy for me and for all of us! It rekindled our faith and reinvigorated us as a team. She made us live in wonder and thanksgiving: “And God saw all that he had done; and behold, it was very good.” Gn 1, 31
A first stage of our pilgrimage took place in Rome – from 08-11 October -, full of encounters, exchanges, discoveries and wonder…
Everything started well as soon as we arrived around 4 pm in the host community of the FMM (Franciscan Missionaries of Mary), where we were warmly welcomed and housed for the time of our stay in Rome. Sister Arlette, general councillor of the MMF, showed us around the big house and gave us a place to stay. During our stay, we prayed and ate with the community when the program allowed it. It was a great opportunity to get to know each other and discuss the mission and organization of the Council. During our stay in Rome, we also had the privilege of interacting with two members of DIVCSVA (Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life) and a member of the Dicastery for Communication, who is at the same time Deputy Secretary of the Synod of Bishops. We seized the opportunity and asked our questions. We also took advantage of the stay in Rome to visit some historical places of the Roman city.
The second part of our pilgrimage took place in Assisi, from 12-15 October, where we were welcomed by another community of Franciscans. This stage was much more contemplative, recollecting and praying. “Everything is created by Him and for Him…” Col 1:16.
Starting with the Cathedral of St. Ruffin, we walked in the footsteps of many saints from the locality of Assisi, including Saint Francis, Saint Clare, Saint Damien, Saint Carlos Accutis and we finished on the hill of the hermitage of Saint Francis of Assisi “Carceri”, where he lived with his companions eight hundred years ago. It was very impressive, as the places have kept alive the memory of the Saint.
Following in the footsteps of Saint Francis led us to partake of his famous Canticle of the Creatures: “Praised be you, My Lord, with all your creatures, especially Brother Sun… for Sister Moon and the Stars… For Brother Wind… For our Mother Earth…” By saying “brother and sister”, Francis tells us the essential: Each Creature has a dignity, an identity of its own, an irreplaceable place willed by the Creator.
This is what Pope Francis also reminded us forcefully in his Encyclical Laudato-Si, in other words. For the fire Holy Father, each creature has a reason to exist and plays a specific role in the universe of the living. “Every creature has a function and none is superfluous…” L.S 77,84. Indeed, we have experienced in an authentic way that “Everything is created by Love and everything bears the mark of Love…”
To marvel, therefore, is not to escape. It is the beginning of respect. Wonder engages us. He makes us responsible, called to cultivate and guard the garden of the Congregation as children to whom the Father has entrusted the wonders of his love.
Finally, we expressed our thanksgiving and presented our intentions for the Congregation, for each Unit and for each Daughter of the Holy Spirit.
Judith MBOUNGHOUL, General Councilor. Published October 23, 2026.
