The signs of this "deconstruction" were:

The change of our place in the Church, since we moved from a place which was privileged and "special" to a place within the People of God and we lacked the clarity to "find ourselves". Add to this the fact that many of us have a serious theological formation which was threatening to some clerics. The change of educational model which was imposed on us, causing us to lose the particular "stamp" of our education and, in some places, to question our educational institutions. In many other places, the State demanded more control, the institutions were enlarged, and our ability to have influence in them diminished. The departure of some sisters from the congregation and from religious life. The loss of visibility as our presence in institutions diminished and as we began to live in more inserted communities.

All of this brought about an institutional crisis, an experience of exile. We lost our supports and our confidence. We were in a strange land.

As Psalm 137 says:"By the rivers of Babylon -- there we sat down and there we wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps."

We did not know our song, we could not sing it in a "strange land".

During the last 10 years, since the approbation of our Constitutions, we have begun to take up our harps again. And the song which we sing today is a new song, still being composed. We are trying out notes which are in harmony with our charism and spirituality so that out of this new melody might come a new song which expresses what is fundamental to live our mission today.

This moment is characterized by two key elements which give a new energy:

Our spirituality has been evolving, and the contributions of different cultural modalities (e.g. Corea, Japan, India, Latin America, Africa ...) are enriching us in the understanding and practice of the fundamental intuition of Madeleine Sophie: contemplation, reparation, adoration, education. We feel a new strength coming from our spirituality, as a movement of the Spirit which springs from the open side of Christ: a dynamism, an inspiration, a fire which can transform and transfigure our lives and give us a prophetic vision of the world. The emphasis on the pierced Heart of Jesus as opening us to the depths of the mystery of God and to the pain of humanity, making us enter into his single movement of adoration of the Father and love for all, especially the poor, is what impels us and gives apostolic energy. We feel the urgency to be women of communion, of compassion, of reconciliation in order to nourish life and help it grow. The reformulation of our mission of discovering and revealing the love of the Heart of Jesus, united to our service of education, inspires us to live our common mission and the demands which flow from it: availability, a sense of corporateness which makes possible a "healthy variety of educational works" and which, at this moment we are exploring deeply as a pathway to discover, a space to announce the love of the Heart of Jesus. (the theme of the next General Chapter which will take place in 2000.)

Beginning in the '70's our educational efforts have shifted toward the poor, and this has supposed new training, mistakes as well as successes, difficulties in understanding between ourselves and local churches. All of this has, at the same time, enriched our mission and spirituality.