Our vision for the future is to be 'more than ever before' authentic women of the Gospel witnessing to "union of hearts". Open joyful and prophetic communities for mission committed to honouring diversity of cultures as a true gift. Women of great love, compassion, justice and peace promoting the preferential love of Jesus for the least of our society. Contemplative women reaching out in response to current, critical and unmet needs with renewed hope.

Sr Concetta Coppe fdcc
Canossian Sisters

It has become clearer to members of Religious Congregations in the Western world over the past 5-10 years that Religious Life as understood and interpreted by the Church and as embodied in our congregations is being severely pruned. One by one the familiar branches of familiar ways of seeing ourselves and of certainties long held have been cut away. Members of most Religious Congregations in the western world can no longer ignore the pain and the fear of this pruning. Just as the pruned plant often looks dead for a period of time before new shoots begin to appear, we are called to live our religious vocation with passion and trust in a fallow time when all seems dead and where we cannot predict what newness will emerge or when. Sandra Schneiders says:

The intersection of Religious Life with culture, both ecclesiastical and secular, is precipitating some kind of profound change in the life itself. Whatever happens, it cannot stay the same and it will not return to its preconciliar state … the experience of Religious Life today, from a purely sociological point of view, is indistinguishable from the death of an institution that has lost its social niche and leverage. But it is also possible that what is occurring is a spiritual passage, a deep transformation in the life itself.

Sandra M Schneiders, Finding the Treasure, pg 205

The Presentation Sisters in Queensland are experiencing the pain of this pruning and they are trying to enter into the evolutionary and organic process of pruning in order to encounter there God’s grace. What has not changed in spite of ageing and diminished numbers is the primary vocation of each Presentation Sister - a single-minded quest for God through celibate solitude lived within the communal structure of a Religious Congregation. Nor has the commitment of each Presentation Sister to work with and on behalf of the most vulnerable people in society been lessened by ageing and diminished numbers. These challenges remain the same and, like most human beings, Presentation Sisters live these challenges at times with great energy and commitment and at times in ways that require them to seek forgiveness.

The experience of severe pruning, of fallowness, need not be one of hopelessness and despair. This is especially true if we believe that God’s creative Spirit is at work in every aspect of our lives, inviting us to fullness of life. Our movement as Queensland Presentation Sisters into an uncertain future is a journey into mystery. It is a challenge to remain true to the search for God as our primary commitment and to our mission to work with and on behalf of the most vulnerable members of society in the spirit of our foundress, Nano Nagle. We learn the future by walking into it one step at a time, guided by the desires of our hearts and trust in the One Who Is Always Faithful.

Marlette Black pbvm
Presentation Sisters Queensland