Yesterday's audacity, today's commitment for tomorrow. Charism sails on waves of Charity

on 14 Apr, 2023
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Manizales (Colombia), 04/14/2023, Interprovincial Novitiate.- The sisters, being a few meters from the hospital, got out of the cars. There, the president of the Republic Manuel Murillo Toro with all doctors and hospital administrators. Also a priest sent by the Archbishop and some parishioners with whom they went to the hospital facilities were presents.

DISCUSSION ON SOME ANECDOTES OF THE SISTERS WHO COME TO COLOMBIA

What riches left by the sisters! It is their testimony of courage, of openness to novelty that allows today to have a story. The story also helps us to live the experience of the disciples of Emmaus, to feel that it burns our hearts by reminding us how the Lord was present during the 3 centuries of the Congregation and more particularly in the Colombian lands in the service of charity.

It is marvelous what can be found in the anecdotes that the sisters experienced. For example, the welcome they gave them in Medellín, Colombian style, all “pompous”. It happened after circling the river called Magdalena and spending the night in a cabin. It is admirable that despite the fatigue they appreciated all this welcome. But the sisters not only enjoyed a welcoming atmosphere, they also faced a context Politics that required starting relations with them. One day they were told they were from the Liberal Party and another that they were from the Conservative Party. To cut short these assumptions, they told everyone that their policy as nuns was charity.

Another important anecdote is the experience of the arrival of the sisters in Barranquilla, which was an orientation for them because in less than a week a lady made them understand how much the community thirsted for God: The children did not receive their first communion and the sick died without the sacraments. The lady pointed out that in 13 years there had been no Eucharistic celebration. The sisters appropriated this reality and had their first experience with a 25-year-old indigenous boy who suffered from a terminal illness, they succeeded in doing so baptized before his death.

Besides all that has been mentioned and the sacrifice of the sisters, there is an anecdote that describes the desire to fulfill their mission despite the difficulties: like the two sisters who were in Nare, about 4 days. They think, not only about the risk of yellow fever which was rife at that time, but they were also housed in a room with precarious conditions: the walls were made of palisades and the ceiling was so primitive that during the night they were forced to take refuge under their umbrellas.
 

It is interesting to delve into the history of the Congregation and to underline the attitude of the sisters who brought the charism to the country. And how does all this motivate us to know, incarnate and live the charism of the Congregation?

The testimonies that have been shared and many others that have been read and heard motivate us to recognize that the Congregation is the work of God because it survives thanks to the risk of so many sisters.

A first motivation is to walk in the footsteps of the Master, as did Marie Poussepin, who knew how to see what was right in the eyes of God and accomplished it. The sisters followed this example, which is why they were bold women, ready to give everything for Jesus.
 
Charisma is a wealth that launches and guides; this can be seen in the sisters who have arrived in our country. Their generosity, their composure, their confidence in the One who called them, is what encouraged them to continue.
 
Today the charism animates and is committed to soaking up the reality that surrounds us. The charism also motivates to strengthen the spirit of each sister to be available: like the sisters who courageously left their country to go to unknown lands.
 
The testimony of the first sisters strengthens the formation process on the way to the future, to say YES every day, from the community and in daily life, with joyful determination to announce the Kingdom.

It is satisfying to know that the marks of the sisters who have spread the charism outside of France have been a motivation for everyone. But in the present, the charism continues to sail through the testimony of many sisters like Sister Mary Plata, from the province of Santafé.
 

INTERVIEW WITH SISTER MARY PLATA

Mère du Calvaire was characterized by being a close superior and concerned about her sisters; This is how we noticed it in the letters that she sent to the first sisters who arrived in Colombia, always reminding them of Marie Poussepin's heritage, as she, for example, wrote to them:

  • "Be above all religious... work, work, under the gaze of God"
  • "Do not let yourselves be dazzled by the sympathy shown to you, as this proves that your dedication is counted on"
  • "Be very careful and austere, so that there is only one spirit among you for good, one heart to love God and to help each other"
  • “Love each other, support each other and have the courage to rebuke each other”
  • "Be simple, love poverty... if you distance yourself from it, your heart will become attached to trifles"
     
We know that the Charism has been present in Colombia for 150 years and at some point during these time you have been a participant in this richness from the different missions you have experienced. If Mère du Calvaire had written to you some advice to encourage you in your mission as she did with her sisters, what would she have answered? Do you think those words from Mère du Calvaire are still valid for us today, in the restructuring process?
 

INTERVENTION

What a great testimony, Sister Mary has brought to life her consecration to follow Christ in the total gift of her being "to live and die at the service of the Church in the exercise of charity." Her experience is a sign of simplicity, work, poverty. Simply, it is an announcement of the Word.