CLOSING WORD OF THE VICE-PROVINCIAL CHAPTER MAY/2019

My dear brothers and sisters,

We began our work by asking that God's will be done. Here we are at the end of this great work that we begun together and we thank the Lord God infinitely for allowing us to conclude well today. It is the first step in our journey into the future that we want better for our Vice-Province. We believe that it is the will of the God that has been fulfilled and will continue to be fulfilled in the life of our chapter decisions.  We are very grateful to each of you for the collaboration and the climate of trust and harmony you have demonstrated for the smooth running of this work. It is already a sign that gives us hope. Let us always remember, my brothers, that on the footsteps of Father d'Alzon, we must walk with concrete things, not just ideas. 

To be sincere, the dedication of each one of us and the working climate we have demonstrated reassure us of everyone's determination to be able to work for a better future for our Vice-Province. Our observations, convictions and orientations are proof that we want to live happily in the following of Christ, in an Assumption where, despite the difficulties, the brothers feel loved by one another. It is on and with this love given and received, felt and lived that we want to build the unity of which Christ is the Source so that through our lives our brothers and sisters may be convinced and believe that it is possible to accept each other and be united.

Through our personal or community life, through our exchanges and sharing with others, we have given the image that we are divided among ourselves. The same ways used to give that image of division among us, needs or requires a real conversion to convince those who found us divided that we have changed and give them the joy of seeing us united and living a sincere fraternity. (I mean, as we have led people to know that we are divided, let us also do our best to convince them that we are now united and we love each other with a love that Christ is the Source). As our reflections and discussions during these meetings reflected, it is clear that Christ's absence in our lives is also the absence of unity in our interpersonal and community relationships. Our life of communion is based on our life of faith in Jesus Christ.

My dear brothers and sisters, you will remember that at the launching of our vice-province we were told that the unity of the religious should be our absolute priority, with the ambition to work for evangelization by first making the Kingdom grow in us and then around us. This is the work of God even if the success depends on each of us. As new vice-province, we have just been through the reality of our dear vice-province together. We have discovered our riches and miseries, what honours us and what humiliates us. No one wants to be humiliated. The Assumption in East Africa, we have now established our apostolic priorities; we have seen the urgency to strengthen our community life. Together, we have agreed that we have each the responsibility to live the main orientations of the 33^rd General Chapter. We want to be men of unity in a divided world with a missionary ambition. We saw the necessity to have a plan for the formation of our young brothers which gives answer to their apostolic needs. All this is possible if we allow Jesus Christ to be at the center of our life (R.L 2), if we feel each, a brother in Christ.

Finally, I would like to refer you to Father d'Alzon's 31st meditation, which tells us about the relationships between religious and others, which must be edifying, charitable, respectful and based on helpfulness. We came to the convent to build each other up. And as you know, nothing is good like a community where we love each other (PS. 32,1), but for that to happen, everyone must put their hearts into it (RL. 7). Father d'Alzon also invites us to mutual respect, because we do not expect anything from a community where people do not respect each other. Finally, we must know how to ask and be of service to the brother in community, which reflects the practical spirit. Such relationships in community will help to grow in union and fervor, and will give fruit expected by the Lord (ES. 568-576).  Once again, we ask you to pray for the Vice-Provincial Council that it may not the source of disunity but a uniting agent.

 Our gratitude to Fr. Miguel for the support he has given us before and during the chapter. Our gratitude also goes to the Preparatory Commission, which provided us with all the necessary elements to make our work easier. We recognize the dynamism and sense of doing well of its members. Thank you, dear brothers, may the Lord take care to make you feel our gratitude! I must thank the Secretaries and their helpers, the Kitchen Department and each of you. I hope all of us here we are happy with our experience of work here in Tengeru.

On that note, allow me now to declare the work of this first Vice-Provincial Chapter Closed.

Fr. Kizito VYAMBWERA HENRI a.a.

The Vice-Provincial of the Vice-Province of East Africa