Congregational forum, Mary Immaculate opens us to joy and hope

The year of the celebration of the centenary of the unified Institute has been an opportunity to deepen our congregational history, as well as the reality in which we are immersed and the desires for projection that always accompany us.

Certainly, this year’s celebration will go down in history for the impact that the pandemic caused by Covid-19 has had on the life of humanity, the consequences of which are increasingly felt but, for the most part, are still unknown.

Within this framework, we have invited and encouraged each other to reflect together, so that the suffering, the confusion and the intuitions and initiatives of this time may be transformed little by little into opportunities and we may live it as a visit from the God of history. Even if it is difficult to reason… we hope that it will be kept and treasured as strong faith in that God who is the rock and the salvation of humanity.

We have chosen this time of preparation for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, specifically Sunday, December 6, to share some of these intuitions and experiences that have come to us from sisters and communities throughout this time. We listened to simple words, human words. Words that made the meeting possible and allowed us to touch a little the reality that our communities are living. What aspirations move us, what approaches emerge. Words that, in order to touch us, need a prayerful welcome, further reflection and assimilation. Words that confirm and invite us to renew what we are. We are Claretians sisters…. who walk together… who set out and make this same path easy for others. From the closeness of Christ, we place ourselves at the side of the one who suffers… with his gestures and words.

In listening to each other, we have confirmed the importance of not letting go of the intuitions and experiences that have marked the life and mission of our communities during this time, finding in this history of ours, signs and reasons of faith and hope, which impel our missionary being to an ever more joyful and helpful dedication in favour of the most needy.