Dear people of God, on behalf of the entire family of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Reparatrix – Ggogonya (IHMR) and on my own behalf, I welcome you to our Institute. I thank God who in his loving mercy called us and consecrated us as His own.
We are grateful to God who enable us to hold the 11th Ordinary General Chapter of our Institute. I am glad to introduce to you the new leadership team that was elected on 15th October 2019 for a period of six years.
Sr. Maria Speranza Namusisi – Superior General
Sr. Maria Rita Namayanja – 1st Councilor/Vicaress
Sr. Maria Lawrence Namata – 2nd Councilor
Sr. Maria Nabakka – 3rd Councilor
Sr. Maria Josephine Victoria Sserabidde – 4th Councilor
It is our prayer that the Almighty who chose us in this service of authority will guide us to the end. We are committed to this service of our sisters and the people of God in the spirit of Reparation/Restitution.
In the Gospel of Luke 4: 18-19 Jesus declares, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”. This is an important statement of Our Lord to us the Sisters of IHMR. It is the reason of our consecration: to bring good news to the poor.
Following the inspiration of our founders, Archbishop Henry Streicher, Sr. Maria Majella Nambi and Bishop Louis Joseph Cabana, our spirituality of Reparation centers on Restitution. The purpose of my consecration as IHMR is to restore the dignity of those who lost it yet they are entitled to it right from creation and confirmed at Baptism (for those who are Christians). God deigned that human beings be dignified by creating us in his own image as seen in the book of Genesis.
Every human being we meet is created in His image! This is the soul – the spirit of God in every person. It is the Godliness in us; the treasure that makes us different from any other creatures. It is what human beings should never lose; the reason why the dignity of a human being has to be upheld.
At baptism, we all become sons and daughters of God and of the church. We are all equal before God and hence should be equal before fellow human beings. We have the
capacity to transcendence and consecration. We are entitled to live a dignified life as God wills. But what happens to God’s people? Sin taints the image of God in us! Our human frailty leads us to act contrary to God’s will and hence we lose the favour we are entitled to have before God. However, God who is all merciful forgives us and we regain our place in His house.
Because of his great love for us, God sent His only begotten Son to redeem humanity, to restore His image which had been tainted by sin. Jesus makes clear his purpose on earth when he becomes man to proclaim good news to the poor. And who are the poor? These are the people who have lost their dignity which was theirs from creation and from baptism. These are those who lost what belonged to them. They no longer have what was theirs and hence need the good news to regain what they lost. Jesus comes so that we may have life to the full.
As an IHMR sister, I am consecrated to share in the mission of Christ; to bring the Good News to the poor. That is, to return to the people of God what is rightly theirs; to restore their dignity so that they can enjoy the favour of the Lord. In the spirit of restitution, I live my life for the poor to see that they are lifted up. My prayer life should bear fruits that touch the livelihood of my neighbor and all people in the mission. I share all that I have (material, spiritual, moral, etc) with the people of God. It is a call to live a little poorer so that others can have a better life. To support those who are sick, who are lonely, who have lost their faith, who are displaced, who are abused, etc… those who are where they should not have been but are there because their dignity has been destroyed! What is theirs has been taken away! I stand for the weak, speak for the voiceless, and clean the dirty with my life. I remember always that my consecration is a lifting up to the dignified state of the people of God. God does not choose us to have us to live a luxurious life. He chooses us to be instruments in his vineyard. Even when we give excuses as ‘I am too young’, God strengthens us and tells us not to be afraid of anything for he is always with us to rescue us.
Therefore, in our contemplative prayer, daily adoration of the exposed Blessed Sacrament, daily ministries in different fields with women, children and all people of God, we live the life of restitution. Christ in the Eucharist is the pillar of our living. In union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we meet Christ the Reparator per excellence!
Our call is thus not an easy one, it demands that we surrender ourselves daily to Christ so that he uses us as he wills. We are called to leave our comfort zones to open our hearts to Him so that we can participate in His mission of bringing Good News to the poor. His poor must regain their dignity through our consecration. It is a daily self-offering and I must say “here I am Lord, I come to do your Will” Heb. 10.10. We do this mission in love, humility and obedience with Mother Mary as our model.
My dear brothers and sisters, let us heed to the message of Jesus calling us to restore the dignity of His people. Let us serve those in need and live a life worth our calling so that at the evening of our time he will say “Well-done good and faithful servant”.
May God’s will be done in our lives!
Sr. Maria Speranza Namusisi
Superior General
