In his circular dated 01.08.2018 in SG-AB-22, Fr. Abraham Vettuvelil, MSFS, our Superior General brings out the significance of General Chapter in our congregation. Citing our Constitutions and the message of Pope Paul VI, he says “General Chapter of a Religious Congregation is one of the principal means of RENEWAL”. He emphasizes that this renewal “depends on our fidelity to the spiritual heritage of our Congregation, fidelity to our Founder and his vision, and fidelity to our CHARISM”. This charism according to him is “the SOUL OF THE CONGREGATION” and “is the source of its vitality, inspiration, and motivation”.

Citing the call of the Vatican Council II document ‘Perfectae Caritatis’ for the renewal of each religious institute, he states that our upcoming 20 th General Chapter has the theme “MSFS, Wake up to the Basics”,

In his circular, he also observes that there is “an imbalance between our primordial apostolate and our present apostolates …There is an imbalance between the number of confreres engaged in Parish Mission Preaching, Pioneering Overseas Evangelization, and the number of confreres engaged in Education and other apostolates”. He further states that “We cannot hold on to institutionalized apostolates, without a serious regard for fidelity to the charism of the Founder, while all the time declaring that we want something new to happen in our consecrated life or renewal to take place”.

In conclusion, he states that our General Chapter is a time of discerning and various factors “compel us to discern how to renew our apostolates and our life in fidelity to our charism”.

(Superior General’s Circular dated 01.08.2018 in SG-AB-22 is already circulated to all of you. Kindly read and reflect)