In this beginning of Lent of 2025, the Holy Year of Hope, we wanted to publish a Special Issue of the Bulletin, in which we present a single text, extracted from the book of Sr. Ma. Rosaura Gonzalez Casas, STJ, La Casa se llenó del olor del perfume: Hacia una afectividad integrada.

The text could be used as a theme for a Lenten retreat.

As the author herself writes about her book: “It is an instrument that addresses the
theme of affective and sexual maturity in consecrated feminine life. To read and enter into the proposal made in this book implies a commitment to personal work, and for those who are willing and able, a community exercise that will help to “walk together” in this process of growth towards an integrated affectivity.

It seems to me that we all perceive the “centrality” of this theme, insofar as it is the natural source, so to speak, of what can become, with the help of grace, the vital force of our consecrated life: the passionate and self-giving love for Jesus, “our only love” and for our sisters and brothers.

In order to have a clearer vision of the implications of this integration process, I will use a biblical image: Mary of Bethany. I will try to enter into her heart, into her affections, to follow in her footsteps and identify the emotional and affective characteristics that she experienced as a woman in love with Christ.”

Happy Lent, happy journey towards Easter!