On the weekend of May 9 and 10, representatives of all the projects that make up the SEL mission network gathered in Vic to continue our journey as a network. The celebration of the Vedruna Bicentenary was the perfect reason to travel to the geographical, sentimental and charismatic origin of our family.
The common thread of the meeting was the construction of a house. From the foundations that support it to the roof that protects it; from the walls that shelter, to the windows that open to let in air and light, and to the doors through which one goes out and receives…
Saturday was a day of going back to the past. To live the present with meaning and to project a possible future we need to know where we come from, what has brought us here. We went back to the roots, to the foundations of this house of open doors, built on rock, which wants to be our Vedruna Charismatic Family. A house that has withstood the passage of time and the storms of winter and that 200 years later continues to harbor a charism for the world.
We began by enjoying the reflection offered by Teo Corral, from the Provincial Team of the Vedruna Europe Province (PVE), on the social face of Joaquina: the face of one who participates in the woundedness of the world but also in the unstoppable vigor of life; the face of a woman who in the ordinary of life is capable of illuminating the extraordinary and who feels the call of God to transform the suffering reality of her time, conjugating three verbs: Heal, Educate and Liberate.
Having prepared our hearts with this foundation and accompanied by Alba Company, teacher in charge of the area of charismatic identity in the Management Team of the Fundació Vedruna Cataluña Educació, we set out for the church of the Divina Pastora .
There, where the chance meeting of Joaquina and Father Esteban began to illuminate a new reality of religious life and where years later, on February 26, Joaquina and her first companions became the first Vedruna community, we gather in an atmosphere of prayer and celebration to share what we are grateful for the work done in each of the projects.
Alba, with contagious emotion and passion, and with a lot of humor, was leading us through the streets of Vic and bringing us closer to those beginnings. Facing the rain, the route finally took us to the Manso Escorial, recently converted into a museum space and interpretation center Vedruna. Mamen Barrena and Ramón Rial, both members of the Manso Space Commission, gave us a guided tour of this new space. The visit ended in the kitchen, where in the warmth of home, Mamen and Sisita Fiol encouraged us to be a charismatic family. This first day ended in a party: special dinner, birthday cake, solidarity cava, music and dancing. Everything helps to strengthen ties and encourage belonging.
On Sunday morning, we returned to the present by taking a tour of the different projects through different workshops.
After this tour of the different projects, Sisita Fiol made a historical review of how the EVP came toconfigure our current functioning in mission networks and the coordinating team recalled what steps have been taken as a Network, with our Action Plan as a compass, and where we are now.
Inma Gala, from the Provincial Team, offered us a reflection on the social impact of the SEL Network and Carmen Lleyda presented what is being done from the JPIC Axis, especially focused this Bicentennial year on the problem of the lack of decent housing.
Finally, and thinking about the future, Mª José Fenández Cantalejo, with extensive experience in project management, explained how the Network will try to generate a technical tool to measure this impact and continue to move forward in each project, and as a Network, in line of transformation and response to reality.
A heartfelt gesture of sending us back to our realities, led by María José Meira, of the General Team, brought our weekend meeting to a close.
We thank the sisters of Casa Mare for their welcome, the coordinating team and all the collaborators for their work, the enormous effort of preparation, reflection, love, details and everything invested to make us feel at ease and as a family.
SEL Network, Vedruna Europa Province
