68 history, deepening the understanding of the charism of a particular congregation and its mission in the Church and the world. At each General Chapter, the Lord asks you as a congregation and as individual members the same question he once asked Adam in Eden: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9), that is: what is your state of mind, what is your fidelity to the charism from which the congregation was born and is constantly being reborn? Thus: “Where are you...” This question will often recur during your Chapter. ... But the current General Chapter is special because it takes place in the context of the 350th anniversary of your Congregation. You return, not without emotion, to that December 11, 1670, when St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczyński made an act of oblation, that is, a total offering of himself to Christ and the Immaculata within the framework of the new congregation, which he actually founded with this act. This is how the Holy Spirit works, who often surprises us by choosing the method of a mustard seed, the smallest among seeds, which has the power to develop into a sizeable tree. This has been confirmed by your history – and the history of so many other religious congregations! So, you have rightly recognized this act of oblation and the date of December 11, 1670 as the date of the founding of your congregation. So, you are experiencing, as a Congregation, a special Kairos, that is, a time of grace of the 350th Jubilee. In this time of Jubilee grace, your General Chapter is inscribed. ... And here the question arises: how to live this Jubilee Kairos so as not to waste it?... 2. St. John Paul II, on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of 2000, taught us how to live all jubilees in the Church (cf. Novo millennio ineunte, n.l). When experiencing a jubilee, one cannot stop at the surface, one must go into the depths, and this requires spiritual effort. He said that the grace of jubilee presupposes – first – a grateful remembrance of the beginnings, of the path already traveled. Next, it requires passion and commitment to the present moment. And finally, it generates renewed hope in looking to the future. So, the jubilee of the congregation, properly lived, is first of all a grateful remembrance of the beginnings and the path already traveled. ... There is much to be thankful for! After 350 years, you lean with gratitude and a sense of responsibility on the founding charism of the congregation, which expressed itself in the act of oblation of St. Stanislaus of Jesus
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