On February 2, the opening of the Last Probation took place at the Curia in Rome. The last stage of initial formation before perpetual vows.
The Last Probation group: Anna, Esther, Lucia y Rosa together with Instructor Raquel , Magda who will collaborate in the translation and the community of the house met in a simple, intimate, family-like and emotional act.
The meeting began with the greeting of our Superior General, Graciela Francovig FI sent from Argentina. Sonia Regina Rosa FI Councilor in charge of Formation, continued with some opening words to situate the experience. After sharing the feelings of all those present, he ended by encouraging:
“to make this journey of grace with generosity and dedication… attentive and open to the movements of the Spirit and the passage of the Lord in this concrete moment of our lives, to discover what he is arousing, clarifying and confirming in our journey and vocation as Daughters of Jesus“.
We spoke with Raquel Amigot about her role as an instructor, as a companion between the theoretical and the existential.
What does it mean to you to be an instructor?
When Graciela asked me, the first feeling I had was “no”, because that meant that for six months I had to leave Cuba, a place of great need. I wrote a letter explaining it which I left on my computer and went to sleep. In the middle of the night I woke up, something that never happens to me, with a question in my head: why not? and when I woke up, during morning prayer, I wondered why God kept me awake with that question. Then I thought: if I am available, if I live it with so much passion in a country like Cuba, where I help to form leaders, to be possible in their own country, how can I say no? How can I not collaborate with the good service of our Constitutions? I can be a sister to help in the existential doubts that these sisters may have when it comes to making the definitive option and then I said:
The Lord opened me in readiness to say Yes.
Besides, it is the right time because none of us has to be indispensable where we are. It is an asset for Cuba and I hope to be an asset in the mediation.
How do you deal with it?
I face it as a challenge, I live it as a challenge and I am very grateful for the trust they have placed in me. I live it as mediation.
How have you prepared yourself for this challenge?
I have consulted with people in the Congregation who have had the same responsibility as me so that they could give me some clues: what is important in this service, in this last stage of formation, where should I place the emphasis .
I also contacted Benjamín González Vuelta a Jesuit who was in Cuba and is now in the Dominican Republic, so that he could give me the essential clues from his 11 years of experience as an instructor as to where I had to put the accent. It helped me a lot and confirmed intuitions I had .
Because of the profile of the junior women I have also delved into the history of Vietnam, because what I have perceived coming out of our own culture is that. the history of our countries marks us much more than we think and they are cultural cues very important to interpret also in vocational processes. In this regard, I am fortunate to have Magda as my translator. So I will be with my senses open to understand what they live without judging it from my western mentality.
What do you expect from this process?
I hope to be a mediator. It is clear to me that the one who does the work is God and I would love what St. Ignatius says: that at least I am not an interference for them, but that I am a help for this stage, the confirmation of being Hijas de Jesús.
