Monterrey (Mexico). On 10 April 10 2022, Palm Sunday, 16 young people of various ages, from different states of the Mexican Republic: Sonora, Jalisco, Nuevo León, and a young woman from Ecuador, lived the experience of Holy Week in the Provincial House of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians Mother of the Church (MMO) in Mexico, City of Guadalupe.
Among the young participants were some volunteers, aspirants to the religious life, and young people in the process of vocational discernment of the Archdiocese of Monterrey. The goal was to meet with Jesus, with oneself, and with others to be a gift and witness of faith in carrying out the activities of Holy Week.
In the typically Salesian style, characterized by joy, enthusiasm, love for Jesus and Mary, the young women, accompanied by some Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Province Vocation Animator, and some Sisters of the Holy Family community, prepared various materials for catechesis for children and teenagers connected online and other people who had the opportunity to experience the events of Holy Week in person. The presence of Mary was visible through the testimony of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who guided the experience with attention and care.
One of the encounters they had was with a community of migrants with whom they shared the Easter experience through catechesis, songs, dances, and reflections on the Word of God.
The young women were also able to internalize the Word of God during the Easter celebrations, the shared prayer with the community of the Provincial House, the times of personal prayer, letting themselves be transformed by the Word to seek what God wants for each one.
On Holy Thursday, they had the opportunity to go to the Spirituality Center in Arteaga Coahuila, where they met the Provincial Sr. Leonor Salazar and the sisters participating in the Spiritual Exercises. From there they went to the nursing home and rest home of St. Mary of Nazareth. “It was beautiful to meet the older sisters who have dedicated their lives to educating children, adolescents, and young people; they are a beautiful testimony of life.” They then went to the Pepita de Valle Arizpe children’s orphanage in Saltillo, to share a moment of celebration with them. Some of the young women have already volunteered in this center, and it was uplifting to see the bonds that have been created between the girls, the Sisters, and them. After these experiences, they returned to Monterrey, concluding the day with the Eucharist and the Holy Hour.
On Good Friday, they accompanied the adolescents to experience the Easter Triduum in the Excelsior Institute of Monterrey, a moment of silence and reflection that ended with the participation in the celebration of the Via Crucis.
The experience ended on Sunday 17 April 2022 with the Easter Eucharist of the Resurrection together with the parents, chaplains of the different communities of Monterrey, missionaries of the different works. At the end of the Mass, there was a time of conviviality between the young women and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, with the greeting that Christ lives and wants us alive!
