Reus (Tarragona-Spain), 10/28/2017, Srs. Ana Isabel Pérez and Conchi García.- The 21st of October we held the charisma gathering in the school La Presentación from Reus. It was a wonderful day to remember and also to be proud of the people that work with and among us, since they showed us dedication, willing and gave themselves to the mission entrusted to them.
The day began with the presentation of the agenda and with a short speech about our commitment as teachers, who we are, why we are here and the strength we obtain when we work together in order to achieve something. The director and former student of the school, Antonia García, introduced Sister Carmen Solé, head of the center. Although many of the teachers had known her for many years, others were participating in this gathering for the first time, since they had been in the school for a short time. Sister Carmen invited them to feel the values of Thew Presentation as their own, since giving themselves to the students and the families is something that should be noticed in each one of us. We are not only a school, because we also represent the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation and this must not only be felt, but also shown.
Participants in the Meeting
After that, she also introduced the speaker of the day, Sister Gemma Morató, who talked to the teachers about a topic related to the motto of this course "look even further" and related it to the person of Marie Poussepin. It was centered on the figure and the way she looked at things, a look that took her to worry for the poor and to train the girls without resources. It led her to go out of her confort zone. Marie Poussepin knew how to look even further.
Sister Gemma said that "looking even further means to leave what I know behind, to make the effort to understand others, to feel sorry, to be with others and right now it is not something that is trendy. Maybe there are not many Dominicans of the Presentation left here,m but there is still plenty of life and that is why global actions are important and local ones necessary in order to continue with what the Dominicans of the Presentation love: the way Marie Poussepin behaves, that is something innovative right now.
At the same time she also talked about how it is possible that Marie Poussepin can be so real today, and presented four elements related to today’s world: knowing how to get out of each other's comfort zone (the passage from Dourdan to Sainville) ; being resilient or having the ability of living in adverse situations and grow as a person; being solidary, since giving love let her be nearer others. The last factor that is related to the situation we live nowadays is her relationship with children and young people. Marie Poussepin offered her love to children and young people to embrace, listen and help them getting an education.
Each participant was given an image of Marie Poussepin with the prayer and we prayed together at the end of the charisma gathering. The conference was very well received by the teachers who helped them to find out a little bit more about who we are, to value us and what we want to become in the world. Then, they worked in teams and were asked to think about how the figure of Marie Poussepin could be presented to others. You must believe us when we say it was worthy! Awesome! Different videos, some of them really cute, presented the charisma in a modern and understandable way.
At the end of the morning, we had a mass celebrated by the chaplain of the school, Fr. Marcus Vinicius, in a fraternal and participative atmosphere. Then we shared a festive meal, where we had time to share and find ourselves in a more relaxed atmosphere that helped us bond. In the afternoon e shared our projects and we could see the love that the participants have for the Congregation and the sisters. The activity was full of gestures of fraternity, collaboration and commitment. We ended the session with a short prayer as a reminder of the mission each of us has..
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The videos that each group made presented in an original way the Charisma of Marie Poussepin.