Wednesday, April 13, 2016

IV Provincial Chapter – Day 5

Friday, April 8

Like yesterday, today dawned cloudy and rainy, but as we gathered as brothers in the chapel to pray Lauds we warmed ourselves with the fire of faith. At breakfast we said goodbye to Archbishop Gustavo, sending him of with warm wishes and blessings. After breakfast we proceeded to our Eucharistic adoration. Needless to say that Jesus in Eucharist has a very special place in the heart of every Missionary of the Holy Spirit. During our time with Jesus we meditated on two homilies of Pope Francis addressed to consecrated religious.

After adoration we proceeded to the chapter room to see a video of a talk by Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP who spoke about the crisis of religious life in the United States. The conference was very interesting. He explained that you have to respond to crises with joy and live our religious vows in a prophetic way that transforms our society. He also told us to be careful with the contradictions that we live in our Christian life and to be open to new modalities proposed by young people today.

In the afternoon session Prof. Amir Hussain of Loyola Marymount University came to give us a lecture on the social and political realities of our country. His lecture was also very interesting because he ably presented to us what is happening in this country in terms of changing demographics, changes in the religiosity and forms of religious expression of the population, the political reality, and the characteristics of the young generations. This helped to illuminate our reflection on how we should respond to the signs of the times as Missionaries of the Holy Spirit.

At 7pm we celebrated the Eucharist, which was presided Fr. Gerardo Alberto and concelebrated by Frs. Juan Antonio Romero and Ricardo de Alba. The Mass and well-chosen liturgical music helped us to enter into a spirit of offering—offering to God our work and our lives. After the Eucharist we enjoyed a delicious banquet of tacos, during which joy and laughter reigned.  Would you like to join us?