{"id":15103,"date":"2026-06-12T20:18:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T18:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/?p=15103"},"modified":"2026-07-01T20:32:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T18:32:47","slug":"voices-from-the-second-transformational-leadership-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olcgs.org\/es\/voices-from-the-second-transformational-leadership-sessions\/","title":{"rendered":"Transformed from Within: Voices from the Leadership Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"

From May 26 to June 9, 2026, sisters from across the world gathered at the Motherhouse in Angers for the second Sesi\u00f3n de Liderazgo Transformador<\/strong> sessions \u2014 a time of prayer, pilgrimage, and deep interior renewal. What follows are four personal testimonies, each a glimpse into the unique and sacred journey each sister undertook: retracing the footsteps of St. John Eudes in Caen, walking the shores of Noirmoutier in the spirit of St. Mary Euphrasia, entering the stillness of the labyrinth, and passing through the darkness of the tunnel toward new life. Together, these voices form a mosaic of grace \u2014 a witness to what happens when leaders pause, listen, and allow God to work within.<\/em><\/p>\n

A Pilgrimage to Caen<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"The program began in a climate of interiority and communal prayer, setting the tone for all that would follow. For Sr. Margarida from Portugal<\/strong>, the pilgrimage to Caen became a uniquely interior experience. The careful preparation and deepening that marked the formation program made this particular day feel like a moment of liberation, learning, and inner stability.<\/p>\n

As I began the journey, I said to myself: “I am returning to my roots \u2014 what grace! John Eudes, accompany me so that I may grow in the heritage you left us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On arriving in Ri, something stirred and moved me within me as I took the opportunity to see, touch, and enter more deeply into what I already knew about St. John Eudes. I thought: “We know so much about you, because you left us all these steps and the mission you lived. Today, I too will begin to write a memorial to describe the graces of God that I receive each day, and that can illuminate my life.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I looked at the baptismal font, and I thought: “You took your baptism seriously, and that is why you continue to be a living sign in the Church and in the Congregation. Thank you! Help me to lead so that I can better serve the community and mission today. Help me to let go of the less positive stories that no longer serve a purpose.”<\/em><\/p>\n

I took a moment to reflect: What do I think about my own baptism? Am I in full communion with Jesus, the Good Shepherd? Do I allow him to be truly formed in me? What should I let be transformed within me?<\/em><\/p>\n

The testimony of the communities who welcomed us in Caen also enriched me \u2014 their warmth and joy in sharing our spiritual heritage with such depth, conviction, and zeal. <\/em><\/p>\n

Gratitude is the memory of the heart.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>A Sojourn to Self: Noirmoutier<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"From Caen, the sisters moved to the shores of Noirmoutier, where Sr. Myraluna from the Philippines<\/strong> retraced the early life of St. Mary Euphrasia. This pilgrimage, rooted in the landscape and history of Rose Virginie’s childhood, became a deeply personal homecoming \u2014 an invitation to revisit her own story with honesty, acceptance, and profound gratitude.<\/p>\n

The pilgrimage to Noirmoutier brought me joy, encouragement, and hope. Retracing the path of St. Mary Euphrasia invited me to journey back to my own personal roots. It was nostalgic. The experiences of her family during the French Revolution were not easy, and the lives they lived were full of challenges and difficulties. Yet Rose Virginie grew up to be a strong yet carefree girl \u2014 someone who truly cared about her family and about life. Her vision was so wide, perhaps because she had the whole vast ocean in her sight.<\/em><\/p>\n

This pilgrimage allowed me to sojourn back to my past \u2014 no cuts, no rescript, no censoring \u2014 simply to allow and accept. Gratitude was the biggest word for me as I revisited my own history, as a person and as a sister.<\/em><\/p>\n

I believe it is not by chance that I am back at the Motherhouse for the second time. This year is my Silver Jubilee, and coming here is the best gift I have received. Recalling the experiences of these twenty-five years in religious life, and beyond as a child of God, I can only proclaim the goodness of our Shepherd God. Nothing truly happens by chance. Everything is grace and gift. Everything is in the greater plan of God. I recognized the dynamism of my life \u2014 the joys and the excitement were very real, and so too were the challenges and difficulties. All of these invite me to grow and to look toward the future with hope and trust.<\/em><\/p>\n

Going back to my own journey also allowed me to recognize the invitation to always grow in my relationships. This sojourn would not have been meaningful without the people who walked with me along the way \u2014 those who contributed, influenced, inspired, challenged, and molded me into who I am today. This pilgrimage now invites me to my own conversion in the way I relate to and lead others, as they too continue their own sojourn in life.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Labyrinth: An Inner Journey<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Back at the Motherhouse, the labyrinth became an unexpected and grace-filled sanctuary for Sr. Mary Virgo from the Philippines<\/strong>. She had arrived carrying the invisible weight of unfinished work, deadlines, and the concerns of mission; what she found in that sacred space was something altogether different.<\/p>\n

I arrived at the Motherhouse like a tired worker from the marketplace. Though I carried one light suitcase, within my mind I carried the extra weight of unfinished things to do: pending tasks, deadlines, newly on-boarded partners-in-mission \u2014 concerns I knew would be sources of distraction in the days ahead.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On my second day, while strolling, I discovered the labyrinth and entered its sacred space.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Let us cross to the other side of the lake” (Mark 4:35) \u2014 Jesus summoned his disciples after a day of heavy load. The “lake” at the Motherhouse was not a body of moving water, but rather a ground bursting with colors, fruits, the sweet scent of flowers, leaves, and grass, and the cool air humming with the sound of birdsong. What an awesome “lake” in which to nestle the labyrinth! It was a much-needed respite with the God of Creation.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I purposefully took my inner journey through it, each step became more purposeful, connecting me to that sacred space within where the Divine Heart resides. My baggage became lighter, my cluttered mind more peaceful, and slowly \u2014 with the grace of the God of the Labyrinth \u2014 I let go of what I had been holding so tightly.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Tunnel: From Darkness to Newness<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The final testimony brings us to perhaps the most striking and symbolic experience of the program: the ritual passage through the tunnel at the Motherhouse. For Sr. Julia Mary from India<\/strong>, who has been on pilgrimage at the Motherhouse since April, this was not her first time entering that space \u2014 but on June 8, the feast of Blessed Maria Droste, it became something entirely new.<\/p>\n

The first time I entered the tunnel, I was filled with wonder, sensing the courage, zeal, and audacity of St. Mary Euphrasia, whose heart burned with compassion for those most in need of the Good Shepherd’s love.<\/em><\/p>\n

Though I had passed through the tunnel many times, the experience on June 8 was different. Participating in the ritual journey from darkness to light, I watched and prayed for my sisters as they entered before me. When my turn came, I carried many intentions in my heart \u2014 yet, standing at the entrance, all of them disappeared. I simply surrendered.<\/em><\/p>\n

Led through the darkness by the gentle hands of the Congregational Leadership Team, I journeyed deep within. Tears filled my eyes as I experienced God’s invitation to embrace renewal, to let go of the need to know, and to welcome the newness emerging within me with the great-hearted courage of St. Mary Euphrasia. The darkness became a sacred place of encounter.<\/em><\/p>\n

In that space, I also came face to face with my own vulnerability. I recognized the tender and sensitive places within me and, perhaps for the first time, embraced them with willingness and peace. I realized that vulnerability is not weakness. Though I am vulnerable, the Shepherd God gives me the strength to move forward with trust, courage, and hope.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I emerged, a blessing for co-responsibility filled me with peace, hope, and renewed energy for mission. I knew I was not the same person who had entered the tunnel.<\/em><\/p>\n

I had chosen<\/em> The Summons as the background hymn for that grace-filled moment. Since then, its words have become a prayer that continually draws me back to that sacred moment of trusting the unknown. The question it asks still echoes in my heart:<\/em><\/p>\n

“Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?<\/em>
\nWill you go where you don’t know and never be the same?”<\/em><\/p>\n

The tunnel became more than a passageway. It became a threshold \u2014 inviting me to trust, surrender, and step forward with hope into the newness God is unfolding within me.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These four testimonies, each distinct in their setting and experience, share a common thread: an openness to being moved, changed, and renewed. The Transformational Leadership Program is not simply a training course \u2014 it is an invitation to encounter. And as these sisters have shown, when that invitation is accepted with a willing heart, transformation follows.<\/p>\n