Renewal gathering 쇄신 모임

Times fly away quickly. Times flow like the wind, the cloud, the water, and the seagulls. As times pass away, we also grow and become mature little by little.

Recently I had some quality time with my companions in religious life during a renewal gathering celebrating the 15th anniversary of the perpetual profession. We entered the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul in 1992, got the first profession in 1997 and the final (perpetual) profession in 2002. In the beginning, we were twenty but now only nine of us remain to wholly live the consecrated life.

Meeting one another after a long time, the moment was so fresh and precious that we appreciated all the presences as they are.

We renewed our vows through praying, reading "I was created to love God," the spiritual diary of our Founder Alberione and the letter to the Romans in the New Testament, sharing our lives and times in communion, eating with joy and friendship, walking by the seashore, climbing Ohdae Mountain through the birch forest, drinking coffee, and so on.

On weekends, we also invited some friends who were no longer part of the Congregation to have some time together. We couldn't see the traces of hurt anymore. We were so happy to see and share one another. I could appreciate more of my sisters' love and care with sympathy, joy, and simplicity.

Each path and step we have walked so far has not been easy at all. Nevertheless, we have walked on and on, tossed by the various waves of life such as difficulties in human relationships, hardships of adjusting the self to a new task, misunderstanding and the lack of communication. The waves that we had to face were sometimes so tough and desperate that we lost our smiles and energy from time to time. Almost in tears, we shared some bits and parts of our lives.

Looking back always invites me to have much gratitude for the gifts that I have received for free. I'm not deserved at all to accept the abundant graces, but the most merciful and generous Lord constantly bestows on me the grace in abundance.

 

The wings of God

 

Higher than the mountains,

wider than the sea,

God gave each of us the wings

so that we can fly over the sky of the Gospels

beyond the mountains,

crossing the sea.

 

When the wings are wet and dampen

due to the weight of life

and the difficulties from the relationship,

we can't fly anymore

and we have to just flap the wings.

We can't spread out the wings as we want.

 

As the breeze blows from afar

and the sun shines,

the wings are lightened and refreshed.

Then, the wings fly again

toward the lofty sky.

The wing runs freely.

 

With greater wings,

God lets the breeze blow

and the sunshine spread out.

So we can fly again.

Because we are together,

we can fly further away more lively.

 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2017/12/162_240379.html

The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ December 6, 2017/ Wednesday