What motivated and characterised their participation in this experience was their shared age, between 45 and 55 years (with some “beyond the range”, up to 58 years of age). The experience, promoted and organised jointly by SSM and SMX, develops throughout an entire year and is divided into three significant stages, the first of which was the one carried out in the first days of July in the small but welcoming residence of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (RSCJ, in Spanish), in Miraflores de la Sierra, in the province of Madrid.
The animators of the experience were three members of the Confederation of Religious of Spain (CONFER) psychological team who, simultaneously or in succession, led the sessions and shared time with all the participants.
The course content consisted of a personal and group experience of knowing and reviewing oneself and one's life at this specific stage of one's journey, from a human and personal growth perspective.
At the end of the experience, during the Eucharist led by the two Salesian Provincials, Fr Fernando García (SSM) and Fr Fernando Miranda (SMX), some of the participants showed what these days of deep personal and group work have meant for them: “Thank you for the opportunity to listen to me and for me to listen to you, to know me and for me to know you....”; “It was a gift to live these days and to be able to share so many personal moments, finding similar resonances in others”; “I had the opportunity to discover my wounds and my fragility and to understand that through them I can and must continue to grow and do good to others.”
Participants in this experience are now called to carry out the second part of the project, practising the "Spiritual Exercises in daily life" individually and day by day during this year; and they will all meet together in a year's time, on the same dates in the Holy Land, to complete the journey in the renewal of the personal encounter with Jesus in the places where He Himself lived and worked.
