BURNING HEARTS AND FEET ON THE JOURNEY

A theme that touches our daily lives and runs through the entire structure of being a woman, consecrated, and missionary. Profound questions have spurred us into action: to stop, to question ourselves, to confront ourselves, to awaken and become aware of the quality of the conversations we have had along life’s journey and the time we dedicate to what is essential.

At this stage of life, it is opportune to awaken our hearts and feet toward transformation; woe to me if nothing moves! Years pass, and there are questions that resonate within us because they are of the present: What is most important to me? What truly captivates me and makes me vibrate?

During the reflection, everything challenged us. Sister Geraldina encouraged us to listen to that silent voice that dwells within us. Everything centered on our priorities: On what page of our lives is what is essential inscribed? Knowing that the formation process is continuous and dynamic, we ask ourselves how we feel and experience this dynamism. Is it a dynamism that keeps our hearts burning and our feet moving? It is worth remembering that we are the result of the dynamism of a man—Ramón Zubieta—and a woman—Ascensin Nicol—who made history. We are in a favorable stage; we believe in the power of the treasure we carry within, which impels us to open new horizons. The path is ours; it is now or never!

We feel Jesus’ call ever more concretely: to let ourselves fall in love with mission and theology. It is time to expend spiritual energy and resources to transform formation into an opportunity for conversion and transformation. Because the world cries out for witness and demands new styles of community and mission from us. It is urgent to center our lives on what is essential, to nurture our interiority and identity as consecrated women; to revitalize our missionary dreams, to have the audacity to set out on the journey, to discover the thirst that leads us to the source. We no longer live solely on what others have told us or what we have heard, but we experience and contemplate, and no one can take that away. We transmit to others, as we continue on our path, what was once revealed to us in secret.

In the working groups, the “sixth sense” spoke loudest: care. Our lives, our relationships need quality and humane attention. A care that arises from the profound experience of feeling cared for by our first love. We need to examine how we care for each pillar of our lives, to discover at what levels the Spirit calls out to us.

A gift has been revealed to us: that of being women leaders, called to a synodal leadership that inspires, nurtures, gathers, and transforms. This spirit is urgent in our communities. After all, we are part of the bridge generation, with the power to create bonds, connect, unite, and win. But this identity must be fueled by the flame of interdependence, as was evident in our founders. Our hearts were in harmony during this formation, burning with the same ideals that motivated us to dream together. A dream that leads us to cling to what gives us vitality, to what makes our life and mission fruitful, and enriches our sisterly relationships. The disciples of Emmaus, after recognizing Jesus, felt their hearts burning within them and decided to leave to share this experience with others; now it is our turn, here and now. We want to make this missionary dream a reality, a commitment to “itinerant preaching,” in which we will share our Dominican spirituality and the exhortations “Laudato Si'” by Pope Francis and “Dilexi Te” by Pope Leo XIV, in the existential, cultural, and geographical peripheries of our diocese.

We carry a deep gratitude to God for the good news that came to us through Sister Geraldina, the fact that we are women of our time and our conviction is stronger, our thirst is certain, which keeps our hearts burning and our feet on the path… So we do not fear because He lives, He remains with us, and we can believe in our dreams, believe in tomorrow…

Sisters Beleza, Antónia, Clara, Juleca, Rafaela, and Saquina

Quelimane, Mozambique