As 2017 ends, the Young European Sisters invite us to reflect back on their meeting in Vranov in August and to say YES to the future.
The "YES" group, "Young European Sisters“, is an initiative that started a few years ago. It grew out of a small gathering of young sisters from different European countries that was held in Vranov, a minim cloister near Brno, Czech Republic, in 2012. The purpose was simple: to get to know and support each other and to better understand each other’s reality.
Since then our awareness, that we have to collaborate in shaping our European future, has been growing. We have learnt that it is not enough merely to have good will and open hearts, but that we also have to support this process by each one’s effort, especially to work on our language abilities in order to be able to really share with each other. This first meeting was followed by another, three years later, in Cercedilla, Spain, with much higher participation from different countries. Again, this meeting deepened out mutual relationships and helped us to search for possibilities of staying in touch, e.g. through regular Skype meetings.
In August 2017, two years after the meeting in Cercedilla, 20 of us met again in Vranov. The five days that we spent together was a time of sharing about our lives and our missions, as well as our hopes and fears for the future. Together we tried to reach some practical conclusions that would help us to further develop the whole idea. True, not all of the participants were young in age, but all have a young spirit and the courage to search together for new ways to respond to God’s call in our changing times.
What stays with me from this experience? Gratitude - especially for this opportunity and for personal encounters on a deeper level. I know that we are few, but that God is with us and leading us. I pray that we will be open to the Holy Spirit, the God of Surprises.
Klára Maliňáková klara.malinakova@gmail.com
30 December 2017
