This post is also available in: French Italian Spanish Portuguese (Portugal)
São Paulo, 8 August 2011
Dearest Sisters,
For reasons connected to the renewal of our www.paoline.org web site, we decided to prepare a simple blog (accessible via our web site) for the Continental Meeting for the Apostolate-Economy for America. The material posted on the blog is available only in Italian. Because of this, we will be sending the communities a daily news flash about our activities via email in 5 languages: Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese and French. Below is the first of these.
Our Meeting for the Apostolate-Economy for America opened on 8 August with a festive and striking Eucharistic Celebration. The entrance procession featured sisters bearing the flags of the nations of the participants: Brazil, United States-ESC, Mexico, Colombia-Ecuador, Argentina-Paraguay-Uruguay, Chile, Peru-Bolivia, Venezuela-Puerto Rico-Dominican Republic. This was followed by a dance by the novices, who sang in Portuguese the slogan of the meeting (Imbued with the Word, we trace out new paths for our mission) and carried to the altar the Bible and the Paoline logo.
A climate of serene expectation reigns among the 50 sisters whom, together with the Superior General and several members of the General Government and preparatory commission, will be reflecting for the next ten days on how to redesign the apostolate in the light of our charism, so as to then draw up a global/continental Apostolic Project.
In her introduction to the meeting, Sr. M. Antonieta Bruscato said she hoped we would “live these days together in an intense and profound action of grace as a result of the great gift the Lord has bestowed on us: the grace of being apostles.” She also expressed the hope that we would create among ourselves the climate of mutual trust and freedom that will allow us to wholeheartedly share with one another the things we carry in our hearts. We were initiated into this itinerary by means of group dynamics in the form of a “treasure hunt,” which helped us get to know one another and find out how we feel about the Pauline mission.
Afterward, Sr. Battistina Capalbo, our guide and facilitator, presented the program of the meeting and the work method we will be following. She also helpfully summed up for us the Congregation’s redesigning journey up to this point and then proceeded to point us toward the future, namely, our 10th General Chapter (2013).
In the wake of all these necessary “premises,” this afternoon we listened attentively to Sr. M. Antonieta’s report, which focused on the profound motivations of our apostolic vocation and on the need to rekindle within us the passion that made Paul exclaim: “Woe to me if I do not evangelize!” With keen insight, Sr. M. Antonieta underscored how the Pauline mission today must meet several challenges if it is to recuperate the freshness and vigor of our foundation period but lived in its present “season” of maturity, in constant evaluation of the changes currently underway.
That’s all our news for now. Thank you for your prayers and for the many messages you have been sending us by blog and email. You can follow our work on our web site. We’ll be in touch again tomorrow.
Sr. Anna Caiazza
