Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Acts of Chapter 2007



Deepening Communion
Sacred Mystery
embraces us in unifying love and we
know Communion.
The heart of God—a Trinity of Relationship—
holds together all that exists in a communion of relationships
that constitutes the web of life.
We breathe in that Communion and with it the hopes,
yearnings, pains and struggles of creation, each other,
the Dear Neighbor and the Church.
Urgency to respond to the groaning
of a disconnected world fills us.
In the rhythm of breathing in and breathing out
God’s unifying love—
our gift, our charism, our mission—
we participate in the
Mystery of Transformation.



With Creation
The sacredness of all of life and creation motivates our urgent concern for
Earth and the survival of its life systems.
Destructive aspects of globalization, the unequal distribution and
use of resources and other human behaviors affect those who
are economically poor and marginalized most immediately and
intensely.
We acknowledge our own complicity and call ourselves to
radical choices in order to be just with, not abusive of,
Earth’s resources.
Recognizing the urgency of working to protect and
restore Earth’s healthy living systems in these next
years, we are challenged to express unifying love by
becoming stronger leaders and joining with others in
working for systemic change that will enable all to
live in right relationship with Earth.

With/Within the Church
The gift of unifying love calls us to join with the
People of God in keeping the mission of Jesus alive in
the Church.
Impelled by the urgent desire to be true to our mission,
we will join with the People of God in fully assuming the
priesthood of our baptismal call.
Recognizing that our silence and inaction has often perpetuated
injustice, we choose to be prophetic and pro-active voices and
agents of healing and life-giving change.
To strengthen unity in the Church and among ourselves, we will engage
in honest conversations about those issues which often divide us.

With the Dear Neighbor
Our call to unifying love impels us to manifest Jesus in our world today as we
work for right relationships with and among the Dear Neighbor.
We choose to act for justice and to walk with suffering people,
especially in times of conflict.
As a Congregation we will use the power of our collective
voice for systemic change.
We will join with other groups in addressing issues,
especially those which demean or deny human dignity
and those which force the economically poor and
marginalized to bear the burden of unjust economic
systems.
We will view the implications of all issues from
local, national, and global perspectives.

With Each Other
The Gospel calls us to enter into union with
Jesus in the life-death-resurrection mystery of
being a human community, with joys and tensions,
in and for the world.
Our commitment to community challenges us to
share our hearts and to deepen the quality of our
life together.
We affirm the distinct forms through which we live
the mission.
Communion with each other impels us to strengthen
mutuality through intra-congregational sharing, gatherings
and celebrations among all who share our mission.
In order to witness what we ask of the world, we will look for
ways to grow in our multicultural identity, acknowledging and
confronting the racism that exists among us.
Together we will seek ways to integrate our diverse cultures into deeper
Understanding and expression of our gift of unifying love.

How are you or your group living out the Acts of Chapter?