Today is the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, a passionate woman unafraid to speak her mind to Church leaders and to God.
This day began quite differently from the preceding ones as the sound equipment actually worked when it was turned on. It seems that we had been dealing with a defective system and only after the 4th time of being called out to our site to troubleshoot, did the techs figure out that they needed to get us a new sound board and translation equipment. Buon Giourno, Roman Gremlins!
This evening we celebrated a festive Eucharist with the Sisters who own and staff the convent in which we are staying during our General Chapter. St. Teresa is their patron so the celebration was quite cosmopolitan with Spanish music, multilingual Prayers of the Faithful and the Mass celebrated in Italian.
Our sacred conversations today centered around the direction in which the Spirit is calling us as a congregation. There were conversation circles in language groups as well as in international groups, with the day ending in a plenary session. As you can imagine with 43 delegates from 7 different countries, there is a multiplicity of ideas about where to put our energy and focus for the next five years. Some of the areas that seem to be emerging consistently are around treasuring and celebrating our internationality, increased collaboration among the provinces, a rootedness in contemplative prayer, care for the earth, discening anew the signs of the times and how they call us to respond in prayer and in service, and a wilingness to be open to the new, to move into the unknown in faith and trust.
There is an international group of 6 Delegates tasked with drafting a preliminary Direction Statement that will then come back to all the Delegates for further review and work in the sacred conversation circles. That group begins work tomorrow and our blessings are with them as they set about the monumental task of synthesizing a wealth of ideas and insights into a simple, cohesive statement upon which we all can agree.
This day began quite differently from the preceding ones as the sound equipment actually worked when it was turned on. It seems that we had been dealing with a defective system and only after the 4th time of being called out to our site to troubleshoot, did the techs figure out that they needed to get us a new sound board and translation equipment. Buon Giourno, Roman Gremlins!
This evening we celebrated a festive Eucharist with the Sisters who own and staff the convent in which we are staying during our General Chapter. St. Teresa is their patron so the celebration was quite cosmopolitan with Spanish music, multilingual Prayers of the Faithful and the Mass celebrated in Italian.
Our sacred conversations today centered around the direction in which the Spirit is calling us as a congregation. There were conversation circles in language groups as well as in international groups, with the day ending in a plenary session. As you can imagine with 43 delegates from 7 different countries, there is a multiplicity of ideas about where to put our energy and focus for the next five years. Some of the areas that seem to be emerging consistently are around treasuring and celebrating our internationality, increased collaboration among the provinces, a rootedness in contemplative prayer, care for the earth, discening anew the signs of the times and how they call us to respond in prayer and in service, and a wilingness to be open to the new, to move into the unknown in faith and trust.
There is an international group of 6 Delegates tasked with drafting a preliminary Direction Statement that will then come back to all the Delegates for further review and work in the sacred conversation circles. That group begins work tomorrow and our blessings are with them as they set about the monumental task of synthesizing a wealth of ideas and insights into a simple, cohesive statement upon which we all can agree.
In other news, what some of us are starting to call the Congregational Cold has claimed about a third of the Delegates. A chorus of coughs punctuates every session and it appears that not even the scrupulous use of hand sanitizer combined with the zealous practice of handwashing can outwit the common cold. The local farmaccia (pharmacy) has surely seen an increase in business as we send people out for kleenex, riccola (cough drops) and antihistamines.
Hope you are all staying well.
Pace e Bene,
Margie
Hope you are all staying well.
Pace e Bene,
Margie
May the Gifts of the Spirit be with each of you. Also good health...try Vitamin C.
ReplyDeleteLois HNP