Juniors’ winter gathering, Incheon Province, Korea

January 29, 2021

From Jan. 12 to 21, 2021, the Korean Juniors had a gathering under the theme “Kairos – the present filled with life.” The theme was taken from an old Greek word Kairos, a meaningful moment as opposed to Chronos, a time that passes by without any specific significance, in order to focus on how to fill this present time with meaningful life and joy and how to make the present precious moments of bringing life to others. We also thought about the right ways of using various electronic devices.

Our program consisted of the review of the past year based on our own formation plan and lectures and sharing on ‘usage of media and mobile phone’ by Sister Marie Simeon and ‘the present moments filled with life’ by Sister Marie Philippa. These lectures led us to reflect that we are all precious beings with uniqueness, connected to one another in relationships. They helped us see that when we do not deal with our emotions properly or are not in right relationships with those around us, we may tend to use the media and devices for escapism. We then decided to take some steps to become their positive and appropriate users:

1.Making a small bag to put the mobile phone in before going to sleep
2.Using another alarm rather than the mobile phone
3.Turning the mobile phone off at night

Another activity in our program was cleaning Mary Hall, Cana Hall, the Education wing and its hallway. In spite of our previous concern about the gathering due to the rampant pandemic, we were supported and cared for with prayers and love by the sisters of the provincial house. The current circumstances indeed made us look at the things we took for granted but have had to give up in a different perspective. In gratitude to God and the sisters for this wonderful time, each one of us returned to our ministry with renewed mind and strength.