Infant Jesus Sisters
22 Hexham Close,West Sussex

Worth, Crawley
RH10 7TZ

UKPentecost 2020
Peace be with you !
This year, we are celebrating Pentecost at a very challenging time. ThePandemic continues to cause havoc, particularly among the mostfragile people and the poorest populations, who are living throughmoments of great distress and disharmony. Our Institute has been inmourning. Our plans are on hold… Many of you have shared messages of suffering, courage, hope, andgraces received during this ordeal.
How can we not think about the confinement of the apostles following the death of Jesus? They werephysically confined, but were also locked inside themselves through fear, sadness, disappointment andthe disruption of their plans… And it is exactly there that the Risen Jesus came to meet them, wishingthem peace, arousing joy and doubt at the same time. And it is there that He promises to send His Spirit.
Easter and Pentecost historically occurred during a time of unrest.
I will not comment on what this crisis is putting us through and is teaching us. We have received
messages from our parishes, our dioceses, from Pope Francis, from our leaders, our friends and variousorganizations… We have sometimes been overwhelmed by what we read on social media. Let us
treasure the messages which have touched us, challenged us or invited us to conversion and use themto enrich our lives.
This Pentecost is the first
we are celebrating since our General
Chapter. This year, thedate coincides with the day Nicolas
Barré definitively met withHis God. What a coincidence! A few
hours before his death, hehad promised to call upon the Holy
Spirit to inspire, teach and lead us. I invite those of you who have the time and are interested toexplore in the New Testament how these verbs (inspire, teach and lead) speak about the Holy Spirit’s
action in our lives. As we call on Him, let us ask Him for these graces for ourselves and our whole
Institute. “The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you allthings and will remind you of everything I have said to you” John 14, 25-26. (NIV) Only He can make theGospel take flesh in our lives, in the way our founderwanted for us. On its journey before and during theGeneral Chapter and our local chapters, the whole
Institute opened its doors to the Holy Spirit so that wemight become more authentic witnesses of God’s love
for each person and for the whole of creation. His breathhas pushed us forward on a road we walk together toreinforce our links beyond our borders, to share ourcharism with lay people who wish to journey with us, totake care of creation and hear the cry of the earth and the cry of thepoor. The landscape of these new paths is currently, and perhapspermanently, transformed by this pandemic. Let us not lose our way!
Pentecost is not just a one-day event which only leaves a memory,albeit an energizing one. Its richness continues to unfold all through theActs of the Apostles. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit entered our history
and, from then on, our lives were inhabited by the Risen Lord. The
account in the Acts of the Apostles shows us that this history is thesource of deep joy and creativity but also of tension as the emerging
community developed. Let us think about the difficulty of welcoming
people from elsewhere. Their religion, their culture and their traditions
challenged Jesus’ disciples. They had disagreements and it was only
together, through prayer and dialogue, that they were able to move
forward. They learned to make themselves available to the unknown and the unforeseen so that themessage of Christ would be welcomed by all as good news.
What about ourselves? We are also called to walk together on the road the Holy Spirit has opened up
before us. His action continues and is unpredictable: “You can hear its sound,but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” (John 3, 8). Let
us listen to his voice, let us not lock our doors in fear of what is new. Let us
find our responses together, let us humbly welcome the truth of others anddare to express our own without imposing it; let us be challenged bydiversity; let our decisions mature in prayer and open and selfless dialogue. Then, we can be sure thatthe Holy Spirit will be alongside us so that together, Sisters and lay people, we may go forward on a newpath, where the mission entrusted to us from the beginning will take shape. It is also the Holy Spirit whowill give us the strength and courage to accomplish it as He did for Peter after Pentecost.
May the Holy Spirit teach us, lead us and inspire us so that by going forward on the road opened up for
us at our Chapter, we may together “do good to all creation and thus cooperate in its redemption”(Laudato Si). This is our wish from Jane, Felicia, Marina and myself, for this feast of Pentecost. It is
accompanied by much affection. And may the power of the Holy Spirit who “heals what is wounded”
reach out to our sick sisters and friends as well as throughout the whole world.
Sr Brigitte

Our sisters of Providence invite us to enter a jubilee year with them, from 21st October 2020, to celebrate
the 400th anniversary of the birth of Nicolas Barré the following year. We will look for opportunities to do
this in each of our countries.
Emilie Papaix, our young archivist, who is concerned about what we will pass on to future generations, hasmade the proposal to gather our testimonies and our stories of everyday life during this period of thepandemic. This initiative is one of the many forms of partnership we have with our lay collaborators.