(Madrid) After more than 20 days of meeting in Ciempozuelos (near Madrid), the postulants returned to their communities with “feelings of gratitude and hope” for all they have lived and experienced. They were intense days, with different themes, they helped the younger members of the congregation to “deepen” its roots as Oblate, and to “drink from our charismatic sources” to “strengthen the love and sense of belonging as new generations of Oblate.”
During this training meeting, very diverse topics were addressed, working with dynamics for social relationships and personal knowledge, and how this relates to religious option, to how social reality can influence lifestyle and how to adapt religious consecration in today’s world.
Particular attention was also paid to the charism and identity of the Oblates, making a journey through their own history, the characteristics that shaped it and the way to practice living in the community in a fraternal way, under this same charism.
Among the activities carried out, there was a visit to the historical archive and museum of the Congregation led by Sr. Ana Maria Barandarian, then the excursion to San Lorenzo del Escorial in the afternoon of 5th January, where we were able to witness the parade of kings.
Lourdes Perramon, the Superior General, attended the meeting on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord to reflect on the contributions of the Postulants in relation to the next General Chapter, to be held between July 19 and August 4 this year. The young women express that, in presenting their contribution to the Chapter, “we are in harmony and we feel like channels of the manifestation of the Spirit”.
At the end of the meeting, they said they felt renewed in “hopes, desires, dreams, and aspirations”, feeling “sent to continue to live from our roots and charismatic sources”.
