Last September 4, the Augustinian Recollect Missionary Augustinian Recollect (MAR) Wenderlyng Reyes professed her perpetual vows after several years of intense and profound preparation. The young missionary and current pastoral coordinator in Maracaibo (Venezuela), has shared with us the most relevant milestones of this process, which has allowed her to discern her vocation. She also told us about her experience of mission in her own country and the challenges that it entails. Finally, he explained his way of living his faith and expressed his dreams and hopes for the MARs.
From remoteness to a personal encounter with God
Her vocation was not always clear to this religious. During her childhood and youth, spirituality occupied a distant place in her life. As she pointed out, “Before I was 13, I wasn’t close to church things. I felt that was in conflict with God because he did not understand many things.
Everything changed when, in his third year of high school, he agreed to attend confirmation catechesis at his mother’s insistence: “The first few months were forced and difficult, but it all made sense in a living together in preparation for the sacrament. The lyrics of a song marked my heart: Christ wants to do a new work in you’.. Sentí que Dios tocaba mi vida profundamente” he recalled.
From that moment on, his life took a radical turn. He became a catechist and, little by little, left behind old habits, “like Santeria stuff,” to embrace a faith that connected him to something greater: “I was a catechist, an altar boy and joined the youth movement of the JAR . Siento que allí terminé de descubrir esa vocación que Dios había sembrado en mi corazón desde pequeña y que no fue hasta mi adolescencia cuando me di cuenta” .
In this sense, he added that in life “not everything is as one thinks but , when we allow God to really touch our hearta foundational experience with Him, things take on a different meaning. a different meaning. I understood that God was asking me for something more: to follow him. That experience allowed me to find my vocation and to give a different meaning to my life”.
People and experiences that illuminated his path
Reflecting on the people who have marked his mission, he recalled Fr. Hugo Sanchezher spiritual director since she was 13 years old. It was he who guided her at key moments, such as her first mission in Atapirire, a village in the state of Anzoátegui: ” I was only 16 years old when I went for the first time. I remember, as I set foot on the mission, I thought: ‘This is my place. It was a before and after. There I understood that I wanted to be a missionary, that my vocation was to serve others. my vocation was to serve others like those sisters who gave their lives daily.
The experience of that Holy Week in Atapirire and of the subsequent missions, both in December and at other times of the year, reaffirmed his call: “To see the face of Jesus, to see the face of the Lord. face of Jesus in people in need transformed me profoundly. It was there that God showed me clearly where to steer my boat.
The challenge of being a religious in today’s world
In a context of changes and transformations within religious life, he recognized that congregations face important challenges, especially in Venezuela: “Religious life is active, but there are fewer and fewer of us. However, those of us who are here give everything with love and hope, from what we are, from what God himself is giving us. I find religious life with eyes of hope, with hands full of love, with a heart full of names and, above all, with feet on the road to synodality.“.
In this sense, she emphasized the importance of walking together, of the synodality of which Pope Francis speaks. Wenderlyng added that synodality strengthens the mission in times of social fragmentation . to live in fraternity and unity even in a world so divided. In Venezuela, young religious life is a sign of hope, a journey together and towards the same goal”.
Stories of pain and hope in Venezuela
Likewise, he said that One of the most impactful moments of his mission occurred during his novitiate in Atapirire in 2017. It was a particularly critical year for Venezuela. There he met a mother who, due to the extreme poverty in which she found herself, had to give away her children to guarantee them a better future: “It was devastating. That experience deeply questioned me: what are we doing as a congregation to respond to these realities?”.
This experience led to the creation of feeding programs in collaboration with the organization ARCORES. ARCORESorganization, which today benefit many children in vulnerable communities in the country.It is not enough to remain with the difficulties that arise, it is not enough to remain complaining or lamenting about those different situations that may touch me… The important thing in all this is to ask ourselves, what am I going to do with what God is inviting me to do? This precedent set a different future and now there are many children who benefit from food in our towns.
The meaning of being an Augustinian Recollect Missionary Augustinian Recollect Sister
For her, being a MAR is more than a vocation; it is a lifestyle based on compassion, humility and total dedication: “We were founded to live in mission, in fraternity, in prayer, but also as spiritual mothers. It is to accompany the other from love, not from what we want them to be, but from what they are.
With humility, he emphasized that his mission does not seek grand gestures or public recognition, but that “… it is a mission that is not about the public.It’s about giving everything in small, simple ways. Like little ants, we work in silence, but with the conviction that our actions lead others to an encounter with God.” .
“Like you, Lord. Like you, Jesus.”
When asked how he nourishes his spirituality in the face of the challenges he encounters on a daily basis, he answered that he does so through two elements: “The first, obviously, is prayer and facilitating spaces of encounter with God, whether prolonged or minimal through the sacraments, such as the Eucharist or reconciliation, which illuminate my life in the light of God, in the light of his Word, in the light of the encounter that I have with Him in the simple, in the small things”.
As a second point, he stressed that spiritual accompaniment on a personal level is very significant. Therefore, “There are two things, prayer and spiritual accompaniment, which on a personal level go hand in hand, they do not let go of each other. When we walk alone it is very easy to fall”.
He also wanted to share that the phrases ‘All things pass, all things pass. Trust and I am with you’. encourage and motivate him in his mission. One in particular, ‘Like you, Lord. Like you, Jesus’, serves him to respond to all life situations (I have a difficulty: Like you, Lord; I have a joy: Like you, Jesus.): “This phrase has become an ejaculatory that gives me strength, hope, encouragement and courage”.
Personal and SEA-related dreams
After having made her final vows on September 4 in Cali (Colombia), due to the situation in which Venezuela found itself at the time, her greatest desire is to be faithful to God until the last moment of her life: “My goal is to give all that I am, with my weaknesses and humanity, but with the certainty of being loved by Him”.
Regarding her wishes for her congregation, for the MARs, Sr. Wenderlyng confessed that she aspires to have more young people know and live the Augustinian Recollect charism: “Our founder, Bishop Francisco Javier Ochoa, dreamed of women who were true missionaries, true daughters of Mary. I want our congregation to grow, to be more human, more dedicated and that, regardless of our ages, we can reflect the face of God in all that we do. reflect the face of God in all that we do.“.
A message to young women:“Do not be afraid to listen to your heart and to give your life”.
Sr. Wenderlyng encouraged the young women to listen to their hearts and not to fear God’s call: “Do not be afraid to listen to your heart and to surrender your life. When God touches the heart, the mind, the fibers…. it is very difficult to hide. He gives us freedom, yes, but there comes a time when one begins to feel empty, that something is missing and, undoubtedly, that something is Himself who wants us to give our lives to what He is asking of us”.
Finally, she added that “if at this moment you are feeling the desire to give your life from a total consecration, do not hesitate to approach us, so that from this response that you are giving to God, you can feel like a missionary, an Augustinian Recollect and an Augustinian Recollect . to feel like a missionary, Augustinian Recollect and Recollect. Being MAR is one of the most beautiful experiences or opportunities that God gives us. To be a MAR for God is to be MAR in all that we do, in all that we think and in all that we feel, for therein lies our purpose and our charismatic origin.for therein lies our purpose and our charismatic origin”.
