As in previous days, we began the seventh day of the Chapter with the celebration of the Eucharist, presided over today by Fr. Martín Areta, accompanied at the altar by Frs. Romualdo Almeida and Philip Blandford and Deacon José Enrique García Rizo.
At 9:30 we gathered in the chapter hall for the beginning of the working session. Today it is moderated by Fr. Manuel Arroba.
The opening prayer consists of the reading of a text from the book of Acts and a number from the Missionary Sumus declaration and the prayer of the Hail Mary.
Fr. General shares the long list of major superiors who have sent messages of support for the work of the chapter and the new provincial government. Without being exhaustive, he mentioned the Major Superiors of Chennai, Mexico, Brazil, Sanctus Paulus, Peru-Bolivia, West Nigeria, Germany, Poland, East Asia, Indonesia, Colombia-Venezuela, Bangalore, Santo Tomas… He also shared with us his dreams for our Province, explaining his ideal of a Spirit-filled and missionary Province.
The moderator then pointed out some themes that were offered to the reflection of the Chapter by some brothers of the Province:
The Local Superior and his role in the mission of the community.
Some aspects of initial formation.
The residences for the elderly: their own management or that of others.
The holidays of the missionaries.
The mission of Zimbabwe.
The coordination of the apostolates.
The afternoon session begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Cardinal Saraiva Hall. Fr. Gonzalo reads the conclusion of the declaration of the General Chapter and invites the capitulars to the prayer of petition at this point in the Chapter itinerary. We end with the singing of Ubi charitas.
Fr. General invites us to consider the contributions we can make to the progress of the Province by getting involved in its life and growth.
We continue the session by receiving the proposed text prepared by the central commission from the reflections made yesterday and earlier. The groups discussed the content of the text and made suggestions for improvement. And there was an extensive dialogue about it in the plenary session.
The day concluded, as in previous days, with the prayer of Vespers.
