In her message to the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), ahead of their Feast Day which is celebrated by the Church every 7th October, the Congregational Leader, Sr. Franca Onyibor, has called upon the Sisters to be ecologically conscious and remain united, amidst current realities.
This call came just a few days after the close of the Season of Creation which was launched on September 1, celebrated as World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and ended on October 4, 2026, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
In her message, the Leader shared with the Sisters a documentary she had watched during the Season of Creation, featuring Joanna Macy, who described this time as the ‘Great Turning’. She was inspired by the message as it filled her with the realisation and hope that humanity is slowly awakening to a new way of relating to one another, the earth, and the whole universe.
The MSHR Leader celebrated the fact that such awakening was already happening in a quiet way in many places, even among the Holy Rosary Sisters, especially evident in their little gardens, in how they care for one another, and in the simple choices they make to be truly present with each other, and to those they are privileged to serve.
“As I look from my window at our little organic garden, lovingly started by one of us, I am filled with gratitude as I watch the variety of vegetables flourishing through love, care, patience, and hope. These thriving vegetables remind me each morning to slow down, give thanks, and cherish the gift of my sisters and our common home,” she celebrated.
Further inspired by stories from the Laudato Si Movement, with young Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo cleaning their communities, protecting water, planting trees, and tackling plastic waste, and how young people from 40 Parishes in Kampala, Uganda learned about integral ecology and shared it in their communities, Sr. Franca expressed the wish that such stories may also emerge from the countries where Holy Rosary Sisters work with young people, creating opportunities for them to join this growing movement of hope to heal our common home, which in turn cares for the poor and most vulnerable.
The Congregational Leader in her message further drew the awareness of the Sisters to the interconnectedness of all of life. “We are part of one web of life; what happens to one affects us all. When I pray the ‘Our Father’” I am reminded that ‘our’ embraces everyone and all creation-the people I meet on the streets, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians, my sisters in community, and our Common Home,” She buttressed.
Alluding to the Lord’s Prayer “that they may all be one,” Sr. Franca called on the Sisters and on all, to awaken to oneness and let the awareness open their hearts to one another as sisters and brothers of the human family, beyond the boundaries of tribe and ethnicity, race, culture, nationality, or religion.
She also referenced Richard Rohr, who in his recent reflection on nonviolent resistance reminded all that living interconnectedness, inclusion, and unity in diversity is itself a form of nonviolent resistance in a world that often divides and excludes, based on country, tribe, race, culture, generation or religion. To live as Jesus did, he said, requires hearts deeply rooted in the universal God of all peoples, from which space they could then cherish their tribes, culture, countries and religion, while at the same time learning to become bridges of unity and communion.
For Sr. Franca, the annual Season of Creation was another sign of the human awakening as Christians around the world united in prayer and action for the Common Home, recognising that the wellbeing of the earth is deeply connected with theirs, especially that of the poor.
“During the Season of Creation, I chose to slow down, feast my eyes on the many shades of green around our compound, and pause to notice the uniqueness of each human face. This simple practice has helped me to encounter the God who delights in diversity – in nature, in our faces, cultures, languages and traditions,” she testified.
The Leader further drew the attention of the Sisters to Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which reminds humanity that their differences are gifts that can enrich communion and that their futures are deeply interconnected. She called on the Sisters to become more intentional about nurturing inclusion and unity in the rich MSHR diversity. Also, following the call in Pope Leo’s Encyclical, she invited all to join the growing voices bidding for a slowdown to further development of Artificial Intelligence, until safeguarding legislation is in place.
Sr. Franca encouraged the Sisters to work towards building a Congregation where their differences become a gift rather than a source of division, upholding that unity in diversity is one of the most powerful ways to live and witness the Gospel in recent times.
In the Spirit of the Holy Rosary Feast, she invited the Sisters to draw close to Mary of Nazareth, “our sister and mother… a woman with an open and inclusive heart; one whose love mirrors the tender heart of her Son,” she expressed, maintaining that Mary is ever present in their joys and struggles. “With Jesus, she is close to us in the fears and uncertainties of these times—in the pain of wars, political turmoil, the fear of kidnapping and displacement, natural disasters, our personal aches and pains, and in the ordinary moments that make up our lives. She walks with us as a mother who understands”.
Resonating with Pope Francis’ call for a ‘revolution of tenderness,’ Sr. Franca prayed that all MSHR Communities and places of ministry may be filled with an abundance of tenderness – towards themselves, toward one another, and toward those they serve, especially as they mark this year’s Feast.
The Congregational Leader, in deep gratitude to God, celebrated the growing diversity of the MSHR family, especially noted in this year, 2026: 14 young women from Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Togo, Benin Republic and Nigeria began their formation in the East and West African Candidacies, 5 Candidates entered the Novitiate, 6 Novices will make First Profession this October, 5 Sisters have made Final Profession, and 13 Sisters are celebrating various Jubilees.
She also prayed for the eternal repose of 6 MSHR who have departed from this world since the last Feast Day, and for Divine consolation on all who grieve.
At the end of her Feast Day Message, the MSHR Congregational Leader extended a blessing of their Founder, Bishop Joseph Ignatius Shanahan, CSSp upon the Sisters which read thus:
“May God grant you the grace, the great missionary grace of being so united by love to Him, that you may be in His Divine hands, the means of ever bringing nearer to Himself all those that come near to you. God grant that every human being who meets you may also meet God living in you”. (Inspirational extracts, p. 21).
Author: Sr Sylvie Lum Cho, MSHR.
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