On Saturday, October 31, about 180 of us gathered to continue our journey together as the Vedruna Family, sharing a rich reflection led by Sister Maureen Foltz. Under the title “Experience and Living Out the Charism,” she offered a reflection that interwove the life of Joaquina de Vedruna with her own personal experience, inviting us to discover how the charism takes shape and evolves throughout the different stages of our lives.
The presentation took us through three stages: from childhood and our earliest desires to give of ourselves, to the years of maturity—marked by responsibilities, relationships, and, at times, losses and difficulties—and, finally, the stage in which all those experiences come together and take on a greater meaning. Through various episodes in Joaquina’s life, Maureen showed us how every circumstance can become fertile ground for growing our capacity to love and serve.
This reflection also invited us to look at our own history, recognizing in it the traces of the charism and discovering how our experiences, vocation, and relationships have shaped the way we live it. Drawing on Vedruna spirituality—with its emphasis on the Good Jesus and the importance of prayer, fraternity, and community-building—Maureen reminded us that the charism is not a gift reserved for religious life, but a grace shared by the entire Vedruna Family. It is a gift that we are called to nurture together, accompanying one another and ensuring that no one has to walk their path alone.
Throughout the gathering, we also had moments of silence and personal reflection, which allowed us to connect the stories we shared with our own life journeys and to recognize how the Spirit continues to invite us to bring together all of our life experiences into a common mission of love and service.
The gathering generated a great deal of positive feedback from around the world. Many people who had had the opportunity to spend time with Maureen at other points in their lives thanked her especially for her testimony, highlighting the warmth of her words and expressing how much they identified with the experiences and reflections she shared. These messages of appreciation highlighted the value of her testimony and the richness of continuing to walk the path together as the Vedruna Family.
A recording of the meeting, with interpretation into several languages, is available at the following link. The access code is: 3J#Hgu2C
