St Arnold’s Day marks the launch of the Year of Transformation for all Missionary Servants of the Holy Spirit around the world. Here we present the letter from our congregational leader Sr Miriam Altenhofen introducing the Year of Transformation. We also invite everyone who participates in some way in our mission to seek together to transform ourselves and the world around us.

Dear Sisters and friends,

New Year greetings!

We have entered a new year, marking a special occasion as the church celebrates the Ordinary Jubilee year. The Holy Father has invited us to pray and prepare ourselves throughout this year so that this Jubilee may “strengthen us in our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our lives and transforming us into pilgrims of Christian hope.”

For us, SSpS, the theme for the year 2025 is “TRANSFORMATION.” We will begin this theme on 15 January, coinciding with the feast of St. Arnold Jansen, who exemplified remarkable transformation as a person, leader, and Founder. Fr. Arnold was open to looking within himself, even when unaware of the shadows, which complicated matters. Let us seek the intercession of our dear Founder, St. Arnold Jansen, and our Blessed Mother, who embraced self-sacrifice to become the individuals God intended them to be.

The 15th General Chapter Direction Nr. 4 says, “The rapidly changing world, new technology, and the diminishing meaning of religious-missionary vocation demand that we cultivate a spirit of discernment as lifelong learners. In the process of holistic formation, we take responsibility for integration and transformation at the personal and community levels.”

Let this year of “Transformation” be an opportunity for us to engage in deeper introspection and reflection, recognizing the areas where we need transformation to be hopeful and committed missionaries.

Sr. Martina Maria Gonzáles García, SSpS from Brazil North Province, wrote a reflection on the theme of transformation at the request of the Congregational Leadership Team. We are grateful to her for this. We are enclosing it for your reflection and sharing.

You are encouraged to take time for personal and community reflection, and we invite you to enhance each one’s experience by sharing insights on the provided material.

Besides, at the onset of the year of transformation, we have the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis, during the opening of the Jubilee year, which resonate deeply with us: “The Jubilee calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of our world, so that this year may truly become a time of jubilation. A jubilee for our mother Earth, disfigured by profiteering; a time of jubilee for the poorer countries burdened beneath unfair debts; a time of jubilee for all those in bondage to forms of slavery old and new”.

We hope that this year of transformation will empower us to respond to the guidance of the General Chapter and the call of the Holy Father to become pilgrims of Christian hope. May the Holy Spirit inspire a more profound desire for transformation toward a sustainable and responsible life, fostering life-giving, creative, and respectful relationships with all creation.

We wish you all a grace-filled New Year 2025. May we all experience the transforming power of the Risen Christ throughout this year of transformation.

United in the love of the Holy Spirit,

Sr. Miriam Altenhofen, SSpS

Reflection article by Sr. Martina Maria Gonzáles García, SSpS: Transformation (PDF)

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Sr. Miriam Altenhofen, from Germany, is the Congregational Leader of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. She studied Pastoral Theology and has a Masters in Psychology. She has worked in Botswana as a missionary, in formation, therapeutic accompaniment and as workshop facilitator.

Sr. Martina Gonzalez, SSpS has a PhD in Religious Sciences and works with Restorative Justice in São Paulo – Brazil (Province Brazil North).