Bratislava (Slovakia). From 18 to 20 October 2024, 15 young women met in Bratislava at the headquarters of St. John Bosco Province (SLK) to participate in the first annual meeting of the GPS path, the journey of self-knowledge and the meaning of life, and of deepening the relationship with God to discern one’s vocation, offered by the Province for ten years.
“There was a great atmosphere, a great group. We laughed a lot. The Holy Spirit was always with us. We spent a beautiful and blessed time together,” the girls said at the end of the experience. Here is their story:
“The first evening we didn’t know each other, but the Sisters and the animators had prepared several activities for us and after the Mass, we quickly got to know each other. Sister Hana introduced us to the topic of discernment and we then spent the evening talking about it among ourselves.
On the second day, after morning prayer, meditation, and breakfast, the first guest arrived: Fr. Dušan Vilhan, Salesian of Don Bosco of Mary Help of Christians Province (SLK), who gave valuable advice on what can help and what is an obstacle in finding one’s path. After Holy Mass and a delicious lunch prepared by Sister Hela, led by Sister Jana, we looked into the depths of our hearts. Along the way, we reflected on the important questions of life and tried to get to know ourselves a little better.
In the evening, the Provincial, Sister Jana Kurkinová, came to visit us and we were able to ask her various questions. We concluded the last evening with Eucharistic adoration, where we were able to entrust to the Lord everything we had in our hearts.
On Sunday, we had another guest who introduced interesting topics about acceptance and self-knowledge, self-esteem, one’s limitations… She was very helpful and had the patience to answer all our questions and curiosities.
The first GPS weekend ended with a lunch together and then we returned to our daily realities.”
Some resonances:
“By the end of the weekend I felt like I had known the girls who had been there with me for years, so we weren’t afraid to talk and share our stories.”
“I got to know myself better thanks to the different conversations and conferences I was able to experience during this weekend.”
“I am convinced that only together can we fully know ourself. This was confirmed to me here, when two girls started telling me how they perceived me and I finally began to recognize that my insecurities were not taken into consideration by others at all, that I was quite capable. My view of the Salesian Sisters also changed. I knew that they were very good, cheerful, friendly… But I was surprised by the fact that they were much more joyful, welcoming, open, fun. They also dismantled the prejudices of some of us. We did not know that in the religious order you can have, for example, a driver’s license and so on.”
“It was a truly inspiring and wonderful weekend and we can’t wait for the next one.”
The young women also composed a “GPS hymn”.
