The Chapter Sisters arrived on the evening of December 10 at the heart of Ignatian Spirituality, Loyola, a very significant place for us Religious of Mary Immaculate.
On the 11th at 8:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Conversion, the Chapter began with the Eucharist of the Holy Spirit, presided over by Fr. Juan José Etxeberria SJ, advisor of the Chapter, who invited us to live this time in three keys: Attentive listening, like that of the disciples that day when, gathered in prayer, they received the Holy Spirit. Openness to novelty, the Lord not only transforms them in that Pentecost, he unsettles them, pushes them, surprises and challenges them. He sends them, not in any way but with peace, Jesus transforms their fears into confidence and does not send them alone, but with the Holy Spirit, a great companion at this moment.
Juan José SJ., who introduced discernment from what the Jesuits call the Deliberations of 1539, when St. Ignatius and his companions were deciding what steps to take to respond to the call they had received. He also spoke about the importance of prayer, contact with reality and a lot of sharing. He proposed 4 attitudes necessary for a person of discernment: Grateful for life, Reconciled with his history, Compassionate and Hopeful and in a second moment, he spoke of spiritual conversation, as a matter of substance, where the Spirit is present in the midst of our communications, where the conversation is not only an exchange of expressions or opinions but where Someone is incarnated in it and becomes present.
On the 12th, with the welcoming words of the Provincial Superior, Marta Menéndez, to all the sisters who make up this new province, constituted barely two years ago, the XVI Provincial Chapter began and with it the work carried out by the communities.
We pray for the days that they will be together, in prayer, spiritual conversation and intense work, so that the Spirit may enlighten this large group of 66 sisters, that the Virgin and St. Vicenta Maria, who presides over the room together with the Word and the light, may accompany them to find the greater glory of God in all things.
