On March 29th as a part of the Ongoing Formation Project, began the online biblical course organized by the Congregation and directed to all the sisters. The theme of the course is: «The Gospel of Mark»; it will be developed in seven sessions that will take place every fortnight and it will end on June 21st. The lecturer of the course is Sr. Estela Aldave Medrano, Capuchin Tertiary Sister, doctor in Biblical Theology. In the first session, she presented an “Introduction to Mark’s Gospel”.
The course responds to a suggestion made by many sisters that required online biblical and charismatic formation. We were expecting that it would be well welcomed by the sisters but its reception far exceeded our predictions. We joined in the participation, connecting from many communities of the Congregation presents in different places of the world and the course was also a moment to share communion in our quest and desire that God’s Word be the constant reference in our life.
The presentation of Sr. Estela has been clear, simple and carried on according to a good didactics in the transmission of the contents and it contributed to introduce us into the subject, opening our horizon to know the general framework in which the different sessions of the course will progressively be developed. She instilled in us her love for the Word and invited us to receive this Gospel, being surprised by the agile story it tells and its attractive reading that always keeps attentive the reader, generates experiences of transformation, puts into evidence the Twelve’s clumsiness as well the Jesus’ paradoxical experience of failure and death; Mark’s Gospel lets us discover the great expressiveness of Jesus, his feelings and emotions …
Neither Jesus, nor the Gospels, nor the theologians … no one can give us “recipes” that we can apply in our journey as Jesus’ followers, but undoubtedly, as Sr. Estela pointed out, the evangelist Mark offers us some signs of discernment that we can discover through an attentive and prayerful reading of God’s Word, with a thoughtful and contemplative spirit.
The first session of the course was on Holy Monday and it was a good chance to open our hearts and prepare ourselves to the events that, once concluded the ascent to Jerusalem, together with the Church we were going to live once again this year, celebrating the Passion and Death of Jesus. May we embrace that Cross of the Lord that Mark, in his Gospel, presents without any adornment, the Cross of Christ that, in his Resurrection, became a Tree of Life.