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In their animation of this morning’s Liturgy, our sisters of Madagascar helped us return to Ordinary Time, the sturdy “fabric” of our daily existence, but a time that is also extraordinary because it is permeated by the presence of God-with-us, the God for whom nothing is impossible.
With this certitude reinvigorating our joy and hope, we began the day’s work with an examination of the text drawn up by the General Government and presented to our circumscription superiors during the 2011 Interchapter Meeting. The text highlights the vision, mission and values that form the foundation of our apostolate and that will also form the foundation of our Continental Apostolic Project.
Following a brief reflection on studiosità (the ability to learn from everyone and everything) in the thought of Fr. Alberione, we then listened to the enlightening input of Sr. M. Antonieta Bruscato, which was divided into three moments:
- a review of the Congregation’s lines of orientation concerning the Pauline mission, with special emphasis on the criteria proposed by our 9th General Chapter for the revision of our apostolate in the light of the charis, and also the guidelines set down in our Continental Meeting for Redesigning Our Presences in Africa-Madagascar;
- the examination of several important/urgent elements that emerged in the diagrams produced by our work groups;
- listening to one another so as to constructively compare ideas and express our thoughts, desires and dreams concerning the mission the Lord has entrusted to us on this “continent of hope.”
Our spontaneous exchange of ideas was rich and stimulating and revealed that all the premises are in place to proceed with our work in the coming days. And so we once more returned to our small groups, where we made a great effort to realistically concretize the areas of action we want to focus on over the short and medium terms.
The convergence of thought among us, especially noticeable yesterday, will hopefully enable us to produce a communal, future-oriented project that can be implemented and evaluated. More about this tomorrow….
We just heard that a violent explosion in Nairobi’s business district has destroyed a building. According to the news report, many people have been injured by the blast and it is feared that there may also have been some deaths. We are close to the victims of this tragedy in thought and prayer.
