I have been going through papers that one of our Religious is leaving behind; some will go to the Archives but many are copies of what we have so I need to destroy them. It makes me want to clear out all my old copies of conferences and letters from the Mother House as I seldom go back to look at any of them. Many have now been published and we have the books in community. However, I owe the reflection for this blog from a paper on Healing Memories. I am sure some people do need to heal memories, but what about celebrating our memories?
Today I am celebrating my memories. Many are of Chile and I have revived them because two of our Religious have just returned from a formation meeting there. It is really one of the most beautiful countries in the world and the people are wonderful. I guess my memories of colorful festivals and dancing, singing, and just being joyful are to be celebrated today and thanked for again. I loved every place I lived and visited in Chile and I did have the great job of traveling spiritual director that kept me visiting the 19 communities that we had after the changes when the Bishops were begging us to live in their towns and do parish work. We had been only four schools and then we suddenly had 19 communities instead of four or five. I guess it just seemed sudden to many of us. I loved working with the communities, giving workshops, teaching communal discernment, and just being with them as I spent about a week in each community from 1974-75 and then I went to live in the poorest region in the north of Chile and was superior for a very holy, hard-working community in Coquimbo. I just have many, many memories to celebrate and I am sure you do too! Let's celebrate!
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