we began to realize that we are learning a lot from this crisis. We are praying more. We are reflecting and reading more and sharing our vulnerabilities and hopes. We are helping each other. We are more aware of our interdependence and connectivity ”...“ We miss visiting each other, meeting each other personally, to know how our Sisters are doing, if they need anything ... We talked more and were interested in knowing how sisters of our congregation are in their different realities... ” “ We started to appreciate the little things… We are becoming simpler and convinced that we don\´t need so many things to live… we are less individualistic and we consume less ” “… Yes, the pandemic is demanding that we reinvent ourselves, that we look outside and cultivate inside of ourselves because the world, after all this has passed, will require us to be more creative, generous and open to walk with other people…, “we are all in the same boat, as Pope Francis says, and together we need to row the boat in the right direction ”.

It was a meeting of twenty days, marked by a lot of positive energy. We learned many lessons which will certainly motivate us to follow a path of conversion. A path that will be marked by the conviction that the healthiest way out, of this complex and painful crisis, accentuated by the pandemic is to think and act together, in collaboration and solidarity. It is thinking and acting that allows us to move forward, to be carriers of hope and to meet the needs of the “dear neighbour” and the screams of our hurt world, with joy.

The lessons of the pandemic are helping our Sisters in Brazil to see and adopt good practices for a more harmonious community living, the need to prioritize a simpler lifestyle, to cultivate a deeper spirituality and to be open to the new realities of material and spiritual poverty.  And what about you, what are the pandemic crisis and the consequent economic crisis teaching you?

Sr. Ieda Tomazini Rome