Saint John of God Brothers

“Hospitality in a Changing World” – General Chapter 2024

In the following letter to the St. John of God Family, outlining his hopes for the upcoming General Chapter in October 2024,  Brother Jesús, asks us to pray in preparation for the Chapter.  The special prayer for the General Chapter is at the end of the page.

Click here

General Chapter 2024

As you all know, we are in our General Chapter year and our Saint John of God Family is preparing for this event which will take place in Częstochowa (Poland) from 15 October to 8 November. It is a most important event for our beloved Order, in which we are being called to listen to the reality of today’s world and to the plight of those who are suffering, and the state of all of us, as members of this Family, and above all to the voice of the Holy Spirit, to discover what the Lord is asking of us today, true to the charism and mission begun by our Founder, Saint John of God, and especially  true to the Risen Lord, who is sending us out to bear witness to the fact that our Lord’s promise continues to live on.

There are also those among us who occasionally feel despondent, lost, and may even be feeling that perhaps the end is near. There will be times when we feel inclined not to continue driving forward and sustaining the Order’s project, the life consecrated to hospitality… it may feel that there is little future and above all, little hope. These are attitudes that emerge throughout the consecrated life and within the Church, as well as in society as a whole.

The joy of the Risen Lord is a wake-up call for the whole Saint John of God Family that fills us with hope. There is weariness,certainly, there are difficulties, but there is also life, the same life that we receive every day from the Risen One, who urges us to renew our strength and to fill ourselves with His light. We must welcome the General Chapter and experience it as the beginning of something new for the Order, for the Church and for the world. If we listen to everyone, and especially to the Holy Spirit,we will find new ways of responding to the new challenges we face today, even if this means purifying ourselves, leaving behind what is weighing us down and boldly embrace what is new. We will be able to give birth to the dream that Saint John of God began almost five centuries ago.

Hospitality in a Changing World is the theme of the 70th General Chapter. All of us in the Order are called to foster and promote hospitality as a clear expression of the Lord’s Resurrection, making ourselves neighbours to the sick and the most vulnerable people we meet, in order to fill people, the world and all the members of our Hospitaller Family with hope. The Son of God, the Risen Christ, is the foundation upon which we stand and the guarantee that never lets us down.  

I pray to the Lord of Life, the Risen Christ, that the General Chapter may be an occasion to renew the charismatic force of the Order,with the joy and boundless self-giving of Jesus, the Good Samaritan, and of Saint John of God, our Founder. I call on all of you to pray and to prepare properly so that the Chapter will rekindle the spirit and the life of the Order.

Brother Jesús Etayo

Superior General

Lord,

Send Your Holy Spirit upon us as we prepare for our General Chapter

May we be open

To receiving your light and strength and respond faithfully to your will.

May your inspiration

Be present to help us make the right decisions to continue to serve our

brothers and sisters with hospitality in the manner of St. John of God.

Accept our humble prayer

Bless our readiness to continue to build inclusive and safe spaces where

all can benefit from the gift of hospitality

Strengthen our commitment

To developing the charism inspired by St. John of God by continuing to

demonstrate the merciful dimension of God’s love through acts of

welcome and service.

Lord,

In the midst of a changing world, may we boldly proclaim the Good News,

united as brothers and co-workers and may the seeds of hospitality we sow

continue to grow and flourish.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen

 

 

Scroll to Top