Ongoing formation is a privilege offered to us by the Congregation, with the certainty that we need to rekindle the gift we have received in order to communicate it to others with genuine passion.
A time to reconnect with the depth of our being, asking ourselves about the motivations that move us to live our vocation as consecrated women, Capuchin Tertiaries.
During this time of renewal, the 25 participating sisters were able to revisit the core themes of the Final Document of the XXIII General Chapter, helping them to continue deepening them in an environment conducive to prayer and contemplation as an exercise of the heart, discovering the beauty that dwells in the deepest part of oneself, allowing themselves to be “shaken free” from everything that causes inertia and prevents living and serving the world with passion—a world that bleeds from violence and wars, torn apart by poverty and injustice, and walking in confusion amid great darkness.
Two sisters share what this opportunity has meant to them:
Sr. Alicia Vásquez Torres:
Being in Montiel has meant for me an authentic experience of renewal.
First, visiting the sources, the origins, confirming the steadfast faith of our first sisters, their fortitude, strength, and determination in responding to the call, even when circumstances were not the most favorable and demanded from them much work and sacrifice.
On the other hand, sharing with sisters from such diverse nationalities and cultures has been immensely enriching, as it confirms that the congregational body is multiple and diverse, yet united in the Gospel and in one charism.
Furthermore, the journey that began in Rome has been, more than informative, deeply moving.
Moving because it touches those intimate fibers that shape us as consecrated women, because it recounts the radical experience of Saint Francis and Father Luis in following Our Lord.
Moving because, from our very depths, it calls us to renew our commitments. Walking through these places is a challenge to walk through our own places with prophetic courage, without compromise.
I carry all of this with me together with a profound sense of gratitude toward the Congregation and the Demarcation to which I belong for these efforts of renewal that they promote among us.
Sr. Mariela Giraldo Urrea:
Gratitude to the Lord and to the Congregation for everything received up to this moment.
Gratitude for allowing me to drink from the sources in an experiential way; to touch and contemplate the spirit of sobriety, sacrifice, and self-giving of Saint Francis, of our Father Luis, and of the first sisters, which for me constitutes a very great commitment and responsibility.
My heart has been filled by the richness of sharing with so many cultures and by the joy of seeing how we, the Capuchin Tertiaries, are present in every culture and place where the poor need us.
Something that has deeply moved me is Saint Francis’ encounter with the wound of the leper, which led him to reflect on his own wounds. This encounter brought Francis to a profound renewal. For me, it is an invitation to embrace my own wounds and heal them so that I may welcome my sisters and brothers as a gift from God.
The human person is sacred and stands above any norm.
It also invites me to encounter my own poverty with greater openness and flexibility toward change.
To risk one’s life for the Gospel, fraternity, and the poor.
