As previously announced, a meeting is being held in the House of Prayer in Jiutepec by the General Staff and the Provincials for the purpose of continuing work on the Constitutions.  In the afternoon of the 19^th, the sisters who had not yet come, began arriving, and then joined the groups.  Coming from different countries the sisters had gotten to Mexico that same day or on previous days.  Suffice it to say that the proverbial welcome, generosity and warmth of the sisters from different communities of the D. F. helped everyone to enjoy their short stay with family gatherings and continuous attention, impossible to give detail but definitely appreciated.  We felt like real “Sisters” and real “Welcome to our home”.

After all the greetings and welcomes, we gathered in the Chapel for the Evening Prayer.  There we remembered once more what we all have felt so many times before “If the Lord does not build the house in vain do the builders labor”.
This morning, Fr. Alvaro Olivares, a Teresian Missionary, presided over our Eucharistic celebration.  In it, we offered our meeting, our work and our life on the “altar of the world”.  Once we were in the Meeting Room, Sr. Carmen Bartolome addressed the group with words of welcome.

Both morning and afternoon sessions were dedicated to the work on the Spirituality of the Society by a group of sisters in the CIT.  The presentation of the work was done by Sr. Josefina Valdes, a member of the group that had worked on the topic.  We all received a copy of the book containing their work which was interesting and challenging in their contents as well as in their presentation.  A CD accompanied the book.
Sr. Josefina, in her characteristic graciousness, began by introducing us pedagogically into the parable of the “tree”, and in the diverse components of its structure and its life through its sap which flows through its veins, applying this to the Society.
After a moment of prayer, each one of us, holding a small pine cone in our hands, worked in small groups, which resulted enormously interesting.

At mid-afternoon, once the summary of the main points had been presented by the group, Sr. Josefina concluded her presentation with emotion-filled words.  We thank her for her presence, her work, her vivaciousness and for having shared everything with us.
A brief pause provided an opportunity for Sr. Gerogina Zubiria, a Sacred Heart religious who had joined our group, to direct the work on the constitutions.  She presented a reflection that will help us focus our work during the next few days.