On our Foundation day, we Sisters of Divine Providence celebrate our life in the Discipleship of Jesus Christ.
In faith we are reminded of the words of our founder Eduard Michelis: „Christ is the key to world history; just as the human being perceives her-/himself and the present only in Christ, so he/she understands the past and the future only in HIM”. (from the Diary of Eduard Michelis 1838)
At this moment, where we celebrate the 176th anniversary of our Congregation and gratefully look back at our life in devotion to God and in the service of the Kingdom of God, we experience an intensive inner and outer movement in our congregation. We know this on a personal level as well as in our community life, and in our Regions and Provinces. We are all searching for an answer in faith to the calls of our time.
The image on the card wants to symbolize the movement of our life. How many ways have we gone already! How many ways would and should we still go to defend life and to care for it!
In the January 2018, at the congregational Council meeting in Indonesia, we started a biblical way with the community in Bethany (Jesus, Maria, Marta and Lazarus) and made fruitful experiences with it. In the Gospel of John 11,1-44, we find an inspiring source for our common way to the General Chapter, in 2020. The gestures, words, and attitudes of Lazarus, Jesus, Marta and Maria invite us to deepen our experience in our personal life and in the community and to act more human in our relations.
We experience the power of God, which is especially noticeable in the life of the community in Bethany, in the faith testimony and the silent devotion of the life of our elder sisters on the way towards the chapters in our provinces and regions, in our daily life and in our mission. With this power, we can enter in our inner-being and perceive the beauty of our human mystery, and thus come into deeper contact with the divine mystery. This experience is the supporting ground and consolidates our relationship with God. It motivates us to rise, go out and encounter life.
Dear Sisters, so we are able to celebrate our anniversary with deep gratitude for the love and care of Divine Providence.
This day lets us recognize also the joy, hope and the challenge, which God gives us in (the) "Today":
JOY for everything that we can do for life in our commitment, beyond our history; joy for the dedication of so many sisters who preceded us and have left their testimony.
HOPE through the initiatives that we plan and perform together with our brothers and sisters in the search for more life.
The CHALLENGE to live in solidarity as Providence Sisters, and thus being living signs of the mystical-prophetic power amidst the conflicts of our world.
Let us celebrate our 176 years with the joy, which rises out of this day in our hearts, and of the certainty that the living presence of God is with us on our ways.
In gratitude, we salute you in sisterly love and remain in prayer,
Yours fellow-sisters (General coordination)