Presentation of a life witness by a DHM at the Ignatian Jubilee Celebration.
Lourdes, July 2006

Ⅰ. Introduction:

My name is C. of Portuguese nationality and junior in the Society of the DHM. I am 32 years old and I live in L.City. I qualified in chemistry and I work for a large multinational Portuguese chemical company.

Being a religious, how did I become a factory employee?

Since the year 2000, I have had the responsibility to develop within the factory and in collaboration with the staff, a project that could prove that cement is produced through an environmentally friendly method. To be part of this project is a very interesting challenge since everything that helps to protect "mother earth" is a subject very dear to me.

I do my work not only as a daily job carried out with all the necessary acquired technical skills, like my colleagues, but also I see it as a mission, which has been given me through obedience. Having been 'sent' makes me more aware of my responsibility and the quality of my presence.

What helps me be faithful to the Charism of the Society of the DHM and what means are available to help me live my consecration in the midst of the world? In what way is the Ignatian spirituality a privileged means?

1. A life of prayer (mental prayer and the examen), the Eucharist, and the Word of God nourish my day and help me to see God in all things, and indeed to present all persons and all things to the Lord.
2. Dialogue with my religious superiors as they accompany me spiritually helps me evaluate real life situations.
3. The Constitutions of the DHM tell us: "Through their efforts at human development, through educational, cultural and social activities, which contribute to the changing of mentalities and attitudes, they will sork to prepare for a more Christian future."( C. 62)
4. The orientations of our last General Chapter asks us to be "a creative force for a new humanity"
5. The support of my community and the prayer and presence of my sisters. "United in the same faith and the same love we know what it is to live with one heart and one soul. Cor Unum et anima una is a distinctive mark of our way of life, as Friends in the Lord was for the first companions of St. Ignatius whom we are celebrating.
6. The spirituality of St. Ignatius leads me to become "a contemplative in action and helps me find God in all things", and from the contemplation and imitation of the Heart of Mary, I draw the grace of being, like her, in the midst of the world, a contemplative in action. (Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. (cf. Luke 2:19)). This way of living like Mary helps me have a contemplative outlook on the happenings of the day, and commit myself with others to the protection of the environment. When I am a creative force, collaborating with God and making others sensitive to the gifts of God and responsible for how they use them, then I am announcing the Gospel.

Ⅱ. How do I live my DHM vocation - on mission - in a cement factory?

In the year 2000 (the Jubilee Year), our factory began a new phase I its existence, when the management decided to comme itself to the protection of the environment. What had originally been a problem of atmospheric pollution and water pollution along with the problem of noise and waste became a challenge to be resolved!

More or less 200 persons work in the factory and the majority of them are men. From that time forward I organized for the entire staff some training on issues relating to the environment.

Getting people interested became the most difficult part of the job because one cannot change mentalities in the same way that one changes the engine of a machine. One has to follow a process that leads to a change of heart and attitude. All this takes time.

Firstly, I dealt with the technical aspects, putting before them the benefits that we and our children, would get from the proposed changes. Now that Portugal is at the receiving end of many immigrants from Eastern Europe, who can neither speak, nor read the Portuguese language, I succeeded in having a practical Working Manual translated into Russian, which would be distributed to all the people.

Each day, in prayer before the Lord, I bring all the challenges facing me, all the obstacles and all the workers and their needs. I try to be a discreet but challenging presence.

To evangelize is to help persons become more human, to be attentive to the sufferings of others, working to build a more fraternal world. One of the challenges that I faced with my colleagues was the excessive amount of time given to the job. Very little time for relaxation with their families, their children or themselves remained at the end of the day. As for me, in this matter, a balance while not always easy is necessary. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, if he were to lose his life?"

To evangelize is to make the world a better and mote just place. Therefore, in my reports I always try to be truthful and not hide anything. The truth always shines through. Justice can be challenging because it is contrary to the values of our world today.

Every day, in one way, or another I find myself being a creative force "in the world without being a creative force "in the world without being of the world", building up a new humanity (General Chapter, 2005)

What difficulties do I meet?

Often we are very busy and need to organize the work. Therefore I have a difficulty in maintaining a healthy rhythm and lifestyle.

To be a bright star in the world is not easy! Being a presence in a world that does not want to receive the Light, being counter cultural while remaining faithful to the values of the Gospel is a difficult task. It is however, a task that fills me with joie de vivre!

Ⅲ. Conclusion:

Each day I start anew and try to be a contemplative in action in my work and in my prayer. And I try to deepen my identity as a DHM...

When I think about my mission in the light of the Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises I realize that to improve the environment is to collaborate with the Creator who is continually creating, and who counts on each one of us to make this world good and beautiful for all God's children, for all human beings created by God the Father/

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