When I received the information on the training I was going to follow, I was a little reluctant because I imagined receiving classes where there would be few breaks and a lot of reflection. But since I had no valid reasons to refuse, I accepted. So I went to this training “Resilience and Religious Life” with a little apprehension and curiosity. We were 5 from the same congregation and I saw the other enthusiastic sisters. I followed the group. Upon arrival, I saw sisters from other congregations that I knew and those that I did not know. The atmosphere of reunion gave me joy.
From day one we had to answer the question: What helps me when I face a difficult situation? For me it is the meditation on the life of Jesus through the prayer of the rosary: from the Annunciation to the Resurrection. And I ask the Lord for the courage to experience this difficult situation as he would have experienced it.
We had courses on the sources of stress, on how to prevent and manage it, factors that promote resilience. At the end of the module, what is important, the priest told us, is that we must live in faith and hope. The resilience and conflict management module showed us how to manage conflicts constructively.
The news for me is that Jesus, after his resurrection could have chosen other people to entrust the mission to, because the apostles had abandoned him during the passion. But he returned to show them the mark of the nails, his pierced side, and give them the mission to announce the Gospel. God remains faithful and trusts us with our strengths and weaknesses.
Post-traumatic growth has invited us to be grateful in all that we experience as joys and sorrows. For me, it was a confirmation because I had learned to make the rosary of a Thousand Thanks to Jesus for the moments of happiness and trial.
The accompaniment in groups allowed me to share my experiences and to listen to those of others and thus to pray for one another. Even if I can’t find a solution, it made me realize that other people are going through more difficult or complicated situations than mine. And that every human being is sacred ground that I can look upon with humility and respect.
The personal accompaniment revealed to me that I have acquired wisdom through the trials of life. I can always continue my growth at all levels and share it with those around me.
What I take away from this session: to intensify my personal relationship with Christ through daily Eucharist, personal meditation, adoration, prayer of the Rosary, recollections. Live in gratitude, hope, abandonment, benevolence. Practice spiritual and bodily works of mercy.
Clemence Sawadogo
