GA participants engaged in a collaborative effort to create a fireplace. Photo: St Columban Mission Society.
Greetings to all our supporters, donors and friends,
May the Spirit bless you all as we experience the power of the wind and the fire of Pentecost.
We Columbans are following the progress of our General Assembly 2024, which is taking place in Lima, Peru. It began on Pentecost Sunday, May 19.
Our constitutions describe the General Assembly “as a special moment in the life of the Society (of St Columban). It represents the whole Society, bringing together members serving in administration and elected delegates”. (C.307)
The three members representing our region of Oceania are Peter O’Neill (our regional director), Felisiano Fatu, and Carlo Jung (both based in Fiji).
This Assembly will continue through to June 15. Our constitutions go on to explain that the purpose of this Assembly is to “evaluate the state of the Society and its work”, give expression to the present mission of the Society and plan for the future. (C.308)
It will produce a document that provides a vision for the next six years and spells out the priorities. The statement that came out of the last General Assembly, held in Taipei in 2018, was entitled “Transitioning for Mission.”
During the last week of the Assembly, there will be an election for the new General Council comprising four members, the Society Leader, the Society Vicar, and two other councillors. At present, the members of the General Council reside at our central headquarters, which are located in Hong Kong.
There are some major challenges facing our Society at the present time. One of these is ageing and diminishment. So, this is a particularly important time in the history of our Society. For that reason, we ask for your prayers for all those who are participating in this General Assembly.
Fr Tom Rouse - Regional Councillor of Oceania
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Russell Woodhouse:
May 29, 2024 at 09:25 PM
Ageing and diminishment - these are big kaupapa to actively discuss. My thoughts as I approach my big 65 and getting the pension, is how to be meaningful and continuing to live/work with the tangata whenua indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand - and how to diminish gracefully knowing that I have contributed to the movement of the indigenous people of Aotearoa to stand powerfully in inextinguished sovereignty. We can choose to diminish, yet still burn brightly as we diminish. And as we diminish, this gives more space for God's presence to increase in the life of God's people. I remember Con Power talking about 'ars morendi' (hope I got the spelling right) as he shared about one theologian's wisdom on the 'art of dying', which I take to mean the art of diminishing.