The monastery where Sister Katharina lives is being renovated, as is the Catholic Church. Sister Katharina believes that the synagogue is a symbol of this exciting reconstruction of the church.
We have been renovating our parent company for almost two years. We make the house fit for the future. Inaugurated in 1966, it was able to accommodate a convent of 80 sisters and 120 guest sisters. In 1995 the rooms were modernized and in 2012 the two floors were redesigned to administer our plants. And now it’s your turn again.
Keeping the small convent in a suitable environment and making the big house suitable and useful for the work started by our sisters. Always take a fresh look at how it deals with church building, the main mission of the Franciscan people since Francis of Assisi.
We celebrated him with a church service and then with soup and bread. And we really enjoyed this wonderful evening together. Sisters and fellow travelers from various monasteries from our fellowship. The food was not together in the refectory, it is no longer made for so many people, but in the hallway directly in front of the church.
The sisters have yet to find a suitable name for this room, which is now separated by doors. “Aisle in front of the church”, “foyer” or “meeting room”? We don’t know yet. There is something of a “transition” in this space from “not yet finished” to “being in the process of being”. And there is hardly anything more fitting to say about our entire church in the world. We are under renewal.
We are founded by Jesus and continue to grow, we are messengers of his gospel and can be heard all over the world. We are busy renovating, as other rooms are necessary and must be moved out of confinement and isolation, out of stuck structures and closed doors, delimitation and condemnation of groups, genders and differently-abled thinkers.
The synagogue route, which was reunited last weekend, very clearly shows it “under renewal”. The struggle for content and how, for how the conversion should go, remains exciting and exciting and harrowing and enjoyable. Hope this continues to be the meeting place for all who are moving forward in the name of Jesus and who wish to build the church on his behalf.
Sister Katharina Hartleibo
