Canonization of Mother Marie Eugenie
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FRIENDS OF ASSUMPTION-RWANDA GATHERING
The Friends of Assumption – Rwanda held an informal gathering on the afternoon of Sunday May 7, to thank all those who have contributed to the fund-raising efforts for the projects of our Rwandan Sisters during the past year. These projects include the Centre Marie Eugenie, a brand new meeting and retreat space dedicated to promoting peace and reconciliation in Rwanda, 12 years after the war and ensuing genocide. The Sisters also sponsor two high schools for girls and a training center that helps young men and women -- many of whom were orphaned by the war --discover their abilities for carpentry, sewing, agriculture or computers. The gathering was held at the home of Scott and Ann Reisinger in Worcester. For more information about the work of the Assumption Sisters in Rwanda and how to support them, please contact the Worcester community at
Reprinted here are the introductory remarks made by Sr. Nuala Cotter, R.A. at the May 7th gathering.
Welcome and thank you for coming. I am Sr. Nuala Emmanuel, the local superior of the Worcester community of the Religious of the Assumption – the "R.A." that you see tacked onto our names.
A word about the Assumption –
We're an international congregation of Sisters. That internationality led to our Rwandan Sr. Laetitia Byukusenge's living with us here in Worcester for several years as she finished a degree at Assumption College. It led our Sr. Francis Teresa here to give years of service in Rwanda long ago. It's led to our welcoming two sisters from Vietnam -- Sr. Gam, who's just ending the year that she spent with us, and Sr. Nha Trang, who became an American citizen just a year ago. Our internationality also led to our Sr. Mary Ann's coming here from the Philippines in February 1996 "for three years." Ten years later, we're still hoping that she hasn't figured out that 1999 has come and gone several times over.
Their presence among us today, like Laetitia's, is very much in the Assumption tradition – a tradition that invites us Sisters to share our lives with others in community: "with Christ, for love of the world," as the saying goes. Your presence here today is also very much in the Assumption tradition – a tradition that seeks to build bridges between people and between peoples – and we thank you for it.
More than 160 years ago, our foundress, Blessed Marie Eugenie Milleret, taught the first sisters to keep their gaze "fixed on Jesus Christ." But their "gaze" was not to be some kind of private, "me and Jesus" devotion. It was meant to bring about what she called "the extension of the Kingdom of God." So Assumption Sisters have been called from the very beginning to look around us and see the Christ in others as well as to be Christs ourselves. That's our primary mission as Assumption. And it's a mission that we never accomplish alone –it's always done in partnership with others. Together, we seek to make Jesus better known and loved by building up communities of faith, hope and love. That's what our Sisters in Rwanda have now tasked themselves to do in a special way, to help their people "live again."
As I said a moment ago, your presence here means that you, too, are part of the Assumption tradition – sharing with us "purple nuns" Marie Eugenie's vision of a world where no one was oppressed by another, a world in which each person could freely answer God's call to become all that he or she was meant to be. Such a powerful vision comes at a cost -- sometimes we can become discouraged or weary. But, as she also said: "Love never says, 'I have done enough.'" Thank you for helping us to remember the wisdom and truth of that vision and to renew our desire to live it deeply and well.
How You Can Become A:
Rwandan students
Some Friends of Assumption-Rwanda
Worcester community
Sr. Mary Ann and guest