Day 28: Remembering

We began the second day of our Chapter at 7:30 a.m., gathered around the table of the Eucharist to commemorate the Holy Innocents, whose feast we are celebrating today.

The morning session began at 9:30. Fr. President opened the session with a brief moment of prayer around the reading of Mt 3:13 and invited us to thank God for making us family in the Church. After pointing out the agenda for today some procedural questions, Fr. Fermín, Chapter Secretary, read out the minutes of yesterday afternoon’s session, which were unanimously approved.

Immediately, Fr. Manuel Segura, Provincial Econome, presented the financial report to the Chapter Assembly. Helped by some slides, for an hour and a half, which was not long, he offered us a vision of the economic reality of the Province. At the end, we took a break, at the end of which, meeting again in the hall, Fr. Gonzalo Fernández, facilitator of the Chapter, presented the work plan for the rest of the day which will consist of personal time of study and group work on the reports on government and economy and a dynamic reflection planned for the afternoon session.

After the presentation, the groups had a brief meeting to elect a moderator, secretary and representative on the team that will study the report on the economy. Once this was done, we withdrew to study the material offered personally.

At 15:30 we began the afternoon session which consisted of a meeting of groups, first, to offer the Government a request for clarification and questions on the Government’s Report.

At 5:00 p.m. we met in the Cardinal Saraiva Hall to carry out a dynamic reflection, animated by Fr: Gonzalo. We discussed about the following questions:

What is robbing us of our missionary vitality?
What calls of God are we perceiving in society and in the Church?
What seeds of life are we discovering in our province?

The groups reflected and shared the fruit of our deliberations in a space that lasted until a little more than 7 p.m. There were many conclusions that provoked the sharing of the groups and the plenary session. From the awareness of realities that diminish our missionary vitality (individualism, activism and dispersion, superficiality in spirituality?), we also perceived the seeds of life that we see in our lives (the testimonies of missionaries and lay people), the plurality of missionary realities, the mission of Zimbabwe and its vocational reality…) and the call of God in society and the Church (to communion that generates closeness and encounter, to listening and discernment, to witness in the midst of unbelief, to be believers and credible…). It was a very rich space for communication that facilitated the meeting and the awareness of the provincial reality that we are building.