The management teams of the educational centers, accompanied by the country’s management team, met from February 5 to 7 at the retreat house of the Sisters of Consolation to present, learn about, work on and plan the latest chapter document “To be born again”.
We began with the dynamic “SHARING LIFE”. The invitation of Pope Francis in the Educational Pact is to put the person at the center in order to humanize the bond, empower, value, inspire, listen, recognize, empower, care for, respect and accompany people. Each participant, from their own reality, shared their life, what they do, their family… It was an invitation to put patient listening into practice.
Once we have shared who we are, we move on to “LOOK AT OURSELVES”, because our institutions and the ENP are centered on the person and favor his or her integral development. To this end, we are called upon to generate healthy, safe and respectful environments that are defined by our own style that revolves around the axis of ‘valuing the person and interpersonal relationships’. From this point of view, in a familiar, simple, close and joyful atmosphere as a fundamental educational experience, we had a few hours of personal work to review and project ourselves in our pastoral pedagogical work.
From the experience of RECEIVING THE LEGACY, what was the General Chapter “BORN AGAIN” (Chapt. XXVIII, year 2023), from the chapter history with the change of “CHAPTER DOCUMENTS” (Chapt. XX, year 1975) to “OPEN DOOR HOUSE” (Chapt. XXVII, year 2017) was presented. In prayer, with the song ‘Make me born again’, and the biblical reading Jn, 3:1-5, we lived this experience of water and fire as an invitation to be born again.
Each center was given the chapter document, with a specific commitment to each center present, highlighting the sections on healing mission, liberating mission, educational mission, commitment to youth, identity and charism. We ended by reading together the commitment to accept and practice this beautiful document.
Our meeting ended with NEW BEGINNINGSMario Herrera, OSA, under the guidance of being born again as a guiding thread through all the growth, care, pruning and flowering that we have been evoking. From there, the deep conviction that Life precedes us and that God will make us be born again has been strengthened in us. It is necessary to strengthen cooperation in order to provide dignified, familiar, close, simple and joyful living conditions.
We ended our meeting with the EUCHARIST by giving thanks to God and placing our commitment at the shared table so that the Lord may strengthen us and that we may be born again.
We appreciate the efforts of each center for their participation.
We wish to have a global view of reality in order to act locally and promote a path of shared stories that strengthen our Vedruna roots in every center of the country!
Professor Giclis Santamaria
