Province Assembly, Canoas, Brazil

“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just” Pope Francis

“ May the God grant us this great and infinite mercy, lest we be treated like that barren tree which our Lord said it should be cut down and thrown into the fire ” (Saint Julie, Letter 218).

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On June 18, 2016 about 80 sisters from 16 communities of Our Lady Aparecida Province, who live in southern Brazil, were present in the Province Assembly, Canoas.

The meeting began at 9 a.m. with a beautiful moment of prayer. Sister Vania, our Provincial Superior, welcomed us and talked about the theme of our meeting: to celebrate the Holy Year of Mercy and the 200 years of the spiritual legacy of St. Julie Billiart, our Spiritual Mother. The regional assembly is the conclusion of the weekly community meetings on the subject of mercy. For the weekly meeting studies, we used the documents Dives in Misericordiae, John Paul II (1980), Misericordiae Vultus, Pope Francisco, and the letters of St. Julie which refer to Mercy.

The sisters of each community were invited to share meaningful ideas or thoughts from these documents, as well as how they lived and are living the essence of these documents for the Holy Year of Mercy.

At 11 a.m. we had the Eucharistic celebration. We remembered especially the life and the legacy of Saint Julie and all the Sisters of Notre Dame who preceded us and introduced us to the spirit and charism of Julie.

At noon around the table, we had time for being together and sharing our life and journey.

In the afternoon we worked in small groups. Each sister shared the actions that the community committed to do as a result of the studies. At the end of the day everyone felt the common call to be transformed and touched by mercy and to be a door of mercy for others with whom we live and work in the mission.

We all returned home with the joy of having experienced a bit of the goodness and provident care of God and to be sent to proclaim by our life that God’s mercy is boundless.