As a young woman from the Vedruna community of Bata, Equatorial Guinea, I was recently able to attend a session of Mater Christi in Gabon, the main theme of which was the formation of young professed sisters. Mater Christi is a sub-commission of the Formation Commission of the Conference of Major Superiors of Gabon (COSMAG).
The objective of this formation is to help the young professed women to become aware of their behavior in the face of obstacles and of their life as consecrated women. During the week-long formation, we worked on 12 units that allowed us to deepen our reflection as young professed women.
For example, in the first unit, we talked about the person and her dynamism: how we can recognize through the person’s behavior her affections, needs and desires. We, as young professed, must have self-control in order to live better in the community. There are times when we suffer because we do not take the time to look inside ourselves to see what my attitude has been towards my sister or situation. We also observe how we react to obstacles: defense, injury and transgression… Faced with this, we need to know how to manage our emotions, letting ourselves be accompanied, shared and forgiven, and this already leads us on the path to maturity, as we learn to relativize things…. Following the example of Christ, who is the value of values, knowing how to make the option in our life of detachment for the kingdom of heaven.
In formation, we also speak of the consecrated person, shaping in our image Christ wherever we are, and witnessing to his presence by living our three vows. The gift of the obedient Christ, always doing the will of his father: we too, as young professed women, must let the will of our leaders be done. Like the chaste and poor Christ, we have been given the human and Christian means that can help us advance in our lives.
We also stress the importance of formation: that is why we must allow ourselves to be educated. This implies forgetting oneself in order to do what the congregation needs, not what we want. And the importance of accompaniment, openness, trust in the person who accompanies us, to conclude.
Sr. Rosette Kazunga, ccv
