Ongoing Formation: Practical training in group facilitation

Greetings from the beautiful MSC Casa de Encontros Sagrado Coração, in Juiz de Fora, Brazil. August saw the Practicum of the Spanish/Portuguese Language Training in Group Facilitation Practice. Like the English Practicum, it has been an incredibly graceful time. One Lay Chevalier Family (Curitiba Brazil), one MSC Sister (Peru), two FDNSC (Brazil), seven MSC (Guatemala, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Curitiba, São Paolo), including three provincials, three formators, the five members of the Cor America Team, joined the Formators, Raissa Da Vieria, Pablo de O Moura, and Humberto Henrique, during the two weeks of rich and rewarding growth as facilitators. The group moved through their processes and their challenges so beautifully. We sincerely appreciate their work and the guidance of our three new trainers. Congratulations to Raissa, Pablo and Humberto for their incredible work as facilitators of this group through the process, and congratulations to the group for their generous participation. The training programme began online at the end of June, and participants completed five modules of facilitation theory. Following the practicum, they must complete a further three modules of online work to help integrate what they have learned. They will graduate upon completion of the entire course in September. We wish them every blessing.

Some photographs of the internships accompany brief testimonials from three of the participating students. We thank them for their contributions.

Community wisdom, an amazing and challenging missionary style

Participating in the facilitators’ course has helped me to connect with myself, with God, with the group and with nature. It is a processual experience and a holistic development where I am moving from the learned and normalised egosystem to the participatory and co-creative ecosystem.
As an MSC, I feel that community wisdom from the perspective of the spirituality of the heart is not a palliative spiritual and pastoral remedy that cures the ills of this world; it is not. But it is a concrete and surprising missionary style that, by discerning the personal or group reality in tune with the motions of the Spirit of God, heals human wounds from within to serve in the missionary community with tenderness and missionary joy.
Joselito López Osorio, MSC

Beloved be the Sacred Heart of Jesus everywhere!

Juiz de Fora, 23 August 2024. I’m sharing my incredible experience here in Juiz de Fora, an enchanting place. Every day, I am graced by the melodious sound of the birds, a perfect harmony! And the sun’s radiant glow illuminates and emphasises the harmony and beauty of nature around me. It was in this inspiring setting that I took part in the Facilitation course, which gave me an enchanting and transformative experience.
During the course, I learnt that facilitating goes far beyond what we find in the Oxford dictionary, which defines the term as being ready, willing or available. Facilitating is, first and foremost, a sensory and spiritual experience. It means feeling the body in harmony with the mind, using tenderness and creativity to build meaningful processes, opening up to the new with courage and humility, and praying to the Community Wisdom, which guides us at every step towards discernment. In short, it’s about connecting with yourself, with the team and always with the Spirit.
Through facilitation, we get closer to the feelings of the Heart of God, especially when we practise welcoming and deep listening. When we let our charism and spirituality echo, it is spectacular to realise how sensitivity, both of the ears and of the heart, can be a vehicle for the creation of something new and beautiful that is emerging inside and outside of us, of a group, of the community and the Church.
I express my deep gratitude for this opportunity to grow and for everything emerging in me from this learning. May we continue to walk together, exploring new ways of being and creating in the world.
With affection and gratitude,
Ir. Luci Jane Pontes Pereira, fdnsc

The Spirituality of the Heart is our source of prayer and community discernment

From the 11th to the 23rd of August, we lived the on-site part of the ongoing formation course in group facilitation in Juiz de Fora-MG, Brazil. I believe that it has been a time to live, grow, and see ourselves from the path that we, as Chevalier Family, are becoming and doing: simple presence and witness of the love of God revealed in the Heart of Jesus and to ask ourselves what it means to feel, walk, and co-create together, welcoming with tenderness the current challenges and transforming dynamism of our life service.
Julio César Molina Martínez, MSC