Herewith we present to you the first issue of IGC in 2024, which will inform you about the following:

❖ The Word is a gift

❖ What is the General Chapter

❖ Preparation for the 36th FIC General Chapter 2024

❖ Celebrating the Day of Consecrated Life, Malawi

❖ In Memoriam ❖ Special Birthdays 

The Word is a gift (Pope Francis’ Lenten Message 2017) The Gospel of the rich man and Lazarus helps us to make a good preparation for the approach of Easter. The liturgy of Ash Wednesday invites us to an experience quite similar to that of the rich man. When the priest imposes the ashes on our heads, he repeats the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return". As it turned out, the rich man and the poor man both died, and the greater part of the parable takes place in the afterlife. The two characters suddenly discover that "we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it". We too see what happens in the afterlife. There the rich man speaks at length with Abraham, whom he calls "father", as a sign that he belongs to God's people. This detail makes his life appear all the more contradictory, for until this moment there had been no mention of his relation to God. In fact, there was no place for God in his life. His only god was himself.