The Chronicles of Salamanca : Wednesday, August 3, 2022

For me the most interesting part of this day in Salamanca was the reflection proposed by Isabelle Le Bourgeois on what could guide religious women in the restructuring of religious life today. She gave us three insights.
1. We are women. The role of women has changed significantly and we need to take advantage of that. The religious life of women is not the same as the religious life of men. The world needs to hear our perspective. We have a different voice and that difference could make, and already has made, a significant impact in today’s world. We need to speak with one voice and not be afraid to say that we will no longer tolerate an authority in the church or elsewhere that is exclusive.
2. Religious life has always been at the service of creating community, within our congregations and within our ministries. We cannot lose sight of that.
3. Our dilemma, however, is that we find ourselves in a quandary between short term and long-term realizations. The perfect community will never exist in our lifetime. What gives meaning to our lives is eschatological hope. God keeps his promise . We are there, we create community, we incarnate love now in the hope of a better world to come. We are there for the long run. The Kingdom is within us but its fullness is yet to come. Religious life is based on that hope and we need to share that hope with the world today.

Today was a very full day, framed by the prayer times created by our sisters from Canada, Clarisse Madimba and Catherine Aubin. We celebrated the birthdays of sisters Anne-Marie Guénégo and Espérance Toklo. We also felt the incoming of a new heat wave.

Sr Jacqueline Provencher

And the photo of the day... will you be able to find Sr Ysabel Le Bourgeois, a true sister among sisters...