Tuesday, April 5
Spiritual Exercises Continue: The first part of the morning
was dedicated to the meditation of the Chapter motto: “Brothers in Christ the Priest, contemplatives in the world,
witnesses of mercy.”
Sister Mercedes led us through her simple but profound interpretation the motto.
Her understanding of it showed us a different angle to this triple statement.
She then presented us with the elements
that are needed in order to live according to it:- a well-disposed heart,
- adequate discernment of the best practices for the REM (Restructuring the Exercise of our Mission),
- delve into, explore and embody the guidelines received from the General Chapter, taking care to preserve the provincial identity and the fruitfulness of the Congregation.
Four
dynamic lines came into light to be analyzed:
- give new life to our experience of God,
- mature in our human condition,
- rebuild the practice of our mission,
- practice discernment.
This
analysis made us aware of how important it is to live our life from a
Trinitarian perspective. Learning from our Founding Fathers, Felix de Jesus and
Conchita, they lived this way and taught: “God, God, God…” In the words of St Paul: “in Him we
live, and move and have our being.”
After a
short break we delved into the second meditation: Our consecrated life cannot
be conceived outside of the most Holy Trinity, it must be a reflection of the
Trinity.
The
afternoon took us to reflect on: “giving new life to our own experience of God.” Sister
Mercedes reflection was through the Trinitarian lens. For this the “kaleidoscope” exercise
led us to the conclusion that sometimes our reality looks fragmented and so we
need to take a second look: searching for the divine presence in that reality
so we can see its beauty more clearly and work towards unifying it. For this reason,
we need to strive to achieve “human maturity”, which is a necessary requirement to live a better life. We need
to live it with a spirit of communion (cf. LG#4 and VC #21) so that the
consecrated life may be a manifestation of the Trinity.
Our
Eucharist was presided by the current Provincial Council. During their homily
they shared some of the difficulties and joys they have lived these last six
years, all tinted with a spirit of thankfulness to God for His abundant
blessings.
