On the bright and sunny morning of the 12th of March, the EGC Assembly entered its fourth day. Since the beginning of the EGC, we have been working every day, for many hours, with sessions and presentations about different topics. On this day, everyone was eagerly looking forward to the four o’clock session, so all were in their seats well before time, with the microphones connected.
It was a pleasure to see the warm and smiling face of Sr. Mariola Lopez, RSCJ appear on the screen. After Sr. Maria Teresa introduced her to the group, Sr. Mariola reciprocated, expressing her joy to be with the Vedruna sisters on this special occasion of the Bicentenary year.
The reflection can be watched in full on our YouTube channel:
Her talk was simple, clear, profound and heart touching. The topic was: “Consecrated Life: Hope That Transforms”. She said:
Every life that begins is woven from that “cord” that united us to our mother’s body and is made up of two intertwined strings. In them was all our hope of coming to be.
With these introductory words, she presented her reflection using the imagery of a chord as a symbol of Hope:
The First Cord: The One Extended Between Naomi and Ruth
Answering for each other, Companions of hope in times of loss
Hope encompasses not only the future but also the restoration of the past. Remembering how God has guided us (Deut 8) is a guarantee that He will continue to do so in His way and that He goes before us at every step we take (Exod 13:21–22)
The Second Cord: The One that Jesus Extends to a Woman with a Fever
Squeezing a hand The Hope in Small Gestures. Experts say that the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, and relationships. Jesus, too, had held a woman’s hand for a long time to lift her from a fever that had kept her confined (Mk 1:29–39) and he took the hand of a teenager who had lost the will to live, like many of our young people who are disheartened and deprived of meaning (cf. Mk 5:41). The importance of small gestures to convey love, hope and compassion.
The Third Cord: The One Thrown by a Foreigner to Jesus
Bearing the gaze and the meaning. Faces that bring hope to our lives.
We need to know that someone is there, but we also need someone who is there to see us. Feeling seen is feeling loved. But if our days pass with our faces glued to screens, if we look at each other without truly seeing one another, something deeply human will be lost. God calls us to go out to those places of exclusion, to remain there, bent, on our knees, because this bowing is the beginning of every process of hope: a face that becomes a friend and someone to care for.
The Fourth Cord: The One Woven by Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Loving each other is letting ourselves be. Where there is care, there is hope.
In a world of fractured relationships, healthy relationships between us are today our greatest challenge. If we do not work on them, we will not have communities to offer to the young women who come to us.
How can we improve the bonds in our communities? How does the way we communicate influence this? How can we express our discomfort without hurting others? How much hostility can we bear before we become sick? How can we weave such care among us, and with others, to create communities of hope, communities that yearn for a horizon of a good life for all?
The Fifth Cord: With Which Jesus Draws Each of Us Today
Making a home of the wound. Women fragilely happy.
Jesus, from the cross, binds Mary and John, offering them the possibility to make a home in the very place where they have felt wounded by their loss (Jn 19:25–27). He also ties us together, offering us connections. From now on, Mary will be wherever we are, the first pilgrim of hope, so that no one will ever again have to weep alone. Our hope is knowing that Jesus will not stop trusting us with his talents, over and over again, to alleviate suffering, to help increase the amount of love in this world, to encourage life…
The impact of Sr. Mariola’s talk was felt in the silence that prevailed in the hall after she had finished. The Assembly met in groups to work on the questions she had given. The day ended with a shared prayer on these questions.
