In 2020, and during the confinement due to the COVID19
virus, I had a strong spiritual experience which made me think about the need
for Spiritual Director to walk along the pathway with me.
The Spiritual Accompaniment helped me rediscover the Loving
Care of our Heavenly Father and His eagerness to establish a personal
relationship with each one of us.
Reconciliation with myself didn’t take long to start, and
still ongoing. Day after day, I feel I am moving forward. It is true that I am
challenged by fear and uncertainty but I know deep in my heart that the road to
maturity and growth takes leaving my comfort zone in the first place.
As St Paul says "When I was a child, I talked like
a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put the ways of
childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11). It is the spiritual accompaniment which
revealed to me the real meaning of this verse.
As I write these words, I realize more and more that
spiritual accompaniment is giving me the power to say "YES to life" a
YES that I say every morning as soon as I wake us.
Very hard to tell in words something that goes beyond words.
It’s me…the me of today is not the me of before neither the me of tomorrow.
Who is me? That’s what I am discovering day after day after day through the path at Metanoia.
It is the same deep inner self trying to BE, but blocked by a lot of myth.Those myths were seen as truth… I was frightened and as a reaction I was struggling to become the best I could with no progress. I felt as if I am a prisoner turning and turning with no seen issue and not knowing where to start, moving around without result, doing and doing and doing and still feeling guilty for not doing enough, that is who me and my friends used to be.
Who I am today after this path? I learned how to be myself in the presence of God with no fear, no guilt, but moving on the spiral of love uniting God with us.
Who I will become? On this process of becoming I share who I am and prepare myself to a new community service where kids, young adolescents, and elderly build each other’s life and joy, and follow THE PATH the path of Jesus... In conclusion Spiritual accompany helped me to find THE meaning of my life, to live each moment as the end and the beginning, the alpha and the omega, discovering my inner self, and planning to contribute in helping others to become who they are born to be, by being an active member in metanoia healthy life project.
I was active in many prayer groups within our parish but I was
still seeking spiritual maturity and inner peace which I felt upon joining “The
Train” Familial Community established by Metania.
I participated in several Spiritual Retreats organized
by the center, in times of spiritual uncertainty I got support through the Spiritual
Accompaniment and I attend regularly the community’s meetings.
The Spiritual retreats helped me grow spiritually, deepen my
connection with God and live this relationship with an open mind and heart. The spiritual accompaniment helped me surpass doubts
on the journey. Our meetings and activities provide continuous supports and
make me feel like we are a family.
Thanks to Metanoia, I am becoming a person who have
reconciled with GOD, with myself and with others.
Metanoia
“a journey of
growth of one’s mind, heart and a way of life”.
An Invitation
to make a spiritual journey made my heart flutter!
That is how my
journey with metanoia started with a 33"
campaign on FB for 28 days.
33"morning reminding myself of the lord's
promise, trusting his love and deciding to find him in everyone and
every day's
event.
33" evening reading his presence during
my whole day and thanking him for all blessings.
Just 33"
was enough to change my static faith and the routine in my relation with God,
myself and others to a dynamic process that transformed my prayer to a life
enjoying God’s presence every single day.
That was a
grain illuminating my way and pushing me to know Him more and more, to enter
into a deeper relationship with Him and like Jesus, to pass from the law
(sharia) to a spirit life.
I went further
more in this journey proposed by Metanoia in participating in spiritual
retreats.
There I
discovered that I lived in the world of doing, forgetting being in my relation
with god’s words.
Every personnel
pause helped me to reevaluate myself, my feelings and emotions, discovering my
talents, potential, freedom and resilience.
This self
consciousness changed my concepts and beliefs about living what was inherited
during my life.
I continued
walking, developing myself to the importance of god’s presence in my life and
focussing how to live a dynamic relationship with God.
The difference
is huge :
I was doing
everything to reach him, to please him. Now knowing that He is within me, transformed me to a new person that permits
Jesus to show.
I was thinking
that I should pray and love, in order to be and stay with him, to please him.
Now understanding that praying and loving are the result, the fruit of his
presence in my life, taught me to discern between aim and means.
That was a key for a new transformation to live
the fullest of love.
The fruit of
the inside change pushed me to share this discovery with friends, meeting
together, praying, searching, sharing our experiences and growing up in a
positive relationship.
That was a step
to live the fullest of life.
My humanity
showed in a better way when I was invited to be one of the family and life
committee in the parish. Single and over sixty, I felt the importance of my
well-being and my belonging to the Christian and human family (Pope Francis'
invitation for everyone to be a part of a family).
From the
committee , I was engaged with the family communities exploring and building
relationships together in the community and society.
That was a hope
to live the fullest of devotion and joy.
Where am I now?
After
experiencing God’s love, living his presence, accepting his invitation to be
Love, Joy and Life, my aim is to challenge myself to transform the words of God
to actions in my own and others life.My mind and my heart are to grow with
faith, knowledge and truth. I believe that every day will offer me a new truth
helping me to be free of any concept ot restriction that prevent me from living
fulfillment.
(Becoming is
not achieving a certain aim, I see it as forward motion, a means of evolving, a
way to reach continuously toward a better self.)
I am in the
journey of growth of my mind, heart and a way of life.
The journey
doesn’t end...
