On Saturday 26 April the community of Chillan welcomed forty Associates who had come from from Santiago, Tucapel and Huepil to meet together in the parish rooms of the Church of the Holy Spirit. There were some new faces : the pre-associates. What joy to meet up again!

The day passed in an ambiance of fraternity and joy. The highlights were :

• A better knowledge of how to share
• A tightening of the links of fraternity which unite us around a common charism, that of following Jesus in making the places where we live and work more human.

Father Raoul Manriquez accompanied the group and the sisters of the sector. He has known the charism of the Daughters of Jesus for a very long time and appreciates it enormously. Our charism is a great gift for the diocese of Chillan.

The meeting prepared by a team of Daughters of Jesus and Associates from each place developed like a long EUCHARIST, integrating moments of listening with reflection and sharing. In this way we passed from a time of welcome with songs to a group reflection, to asking to be pardoned, to a reading of the Word of God on the theme of the Resurrection and so to the sharing together of a meal at table.

In the afternoon, there was group work. We drew up an organisation to provide better coordination in the future. The fruit of this work was offered to the Lord in the Eucharistic celebration in the chapel which was the culminating point of the day. The disposition of the group in a circle with a “way” in the middle, our way of following Christ, created a warm ambiance.

And so we finished our « liturgy-day » with Communion and the sending of our sister Jacqueline Dionne to her new mission in Canada. It was a beautiful and encouraging experience of fraternity and seeking to be faithful to Jesus; an experience appreciated by one and all.

Sr. Margaret Westwood, f.j.