During the months of November and December 2020, the General Government has held several online meetings, with the common purpose of accompanying the sisters of the Congregation, strengthening our fraternal bonds in this special time that we all live, transmit hope and share life with the different groups and communities called together. We note some of these encounters:
- The meeting of the General Government with the Demarcation Government Teams took place from 16 to 18 November, with the participation of 35 sisters. In addition to the above, it was a privileged moment to present concerns and initiatives that emerged during the year 2020, glimpsing together concrete actions for the future. The nuclei emphasized especially revolved around the pandemic, the formation, the accompaniment of communities and sisters, the economy, the reality of the apostolic works, the celebration of the chapters and renewal of the relevant services, the socio-political situation in the countries and its repercussions, also pointing out, among all, some clues that lead us to continue looking for and making way, for which no one has elaborated recipes. We must stay awake, reading the concrete signs that are appearing, trying to give new, risky answers of shared solidarity, not from the usual schemes, but from a new way of understanding life, to which the pandemic continues to push us.
The evaluation of the meeting by the sisters was very positive, although with the feeling that many things had remained «in the inkwell», because time is always short.
- On November 19 and 20, the General Government met with the Formators of the postulancy, novitiate and juniorate stages of the Congregation, with the participation of 17 Masters from four continents. The reunion of some of the formators who already knew each other and the knowledge of others who have subsequently assumed this mission or who did not know each other, already justified this fraternal space, but also, according to the proposed objective, shared concerns and experiences lived by each in the different stages, around the accompaniment of the processes of young women, the discernment and the application of the contents and evaluation guidelines «ad experimentum» that we are managing in the Congregation until the celebration of the next General Chapter.
The meeting was of great wealth and mutual support, detecting many common realities, despite the different cultures and specific situations of each country or continent. Some points to be taken into account by the formators themselves and also the communities were clarified.
The evaluation of the formation sisters was highly positive and we hope to be able to repeat this type of encounter.
- The General Government also organized a meeting with the novices of the single Spanish-speaking Novitiate in Guatemala (6 November) and the formation team of the same (24 November). Changing stages, 3 meetings were held with the juniors of the Congregation: in Spanish and English (25 November at different times ) and in French (29 November). On November 21, the meeting took place with the 12 communities of Asia, of the Viceprovince General «Santa Clara». And up to and including December 17, there have been meetings with various communities from all continents, having prioritized the homes of elderly and sick sisters, as well as the small fraternities, located in more distant places, which are multiplied in some countries, sometimes with only one or two presences. It has been a great joy for the General Team to be able to enter these warm, open corners of our houses, to share with simplicity the life of the sisters, their fears and joys, the reality that they are assuming on a personal level and of the apostolic and pastoral presences, accompanying people, serving the poor, children, listening to those who suffer…
A beautiful opportunity also, to congratulate each other with some Christmas of this year 2020, so different from other occasions and at the same time so faithful to reality, around the Family of Nazareth, our patroness, contemplating Jesus in the center, together with Mary and Joseph.