(Feast of St. Leo the Great)
While the morning of this day was an exciting and energizing time with our lay participants, the afternoon returned us to the small group discussions around the proposals and postulata in Working Document C. Those groups that had finished with section 2 – Renewed Mission – then began work on section 1 – Renewed Hearts. The topics here (see Working Document C) included such things as proposals around implementing the renewal mandated by this General Chapter through General Visitation, new forms of General communication, and ways of making continuing formation of confreres and lay collaborators a regular part of Redemptorist life. Other topics included vocation ministry and ongoing formation in our spirituality,
An interesting proposal called for a “Liturgical Season of Creation” which many confreres did not understand. It is a response to Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si! to care for creation and ecology but to do so in the context of our liturgies. The possibilities of this are great, but there may need to be both some instruction about what is expected as well as some specific experiences to trigger liturgical creativity within our communities and parishes.
How the various groups have responded to all the proposals and postulata will be collected, collated, and presented to the plenary whereupon we shall see what is acceptable to the Chapter and what is not. Stay tuned!
In the evening the members of each Conference met separately in order to propose names for General Consultors. This topic had been broached at the Phase I meetings, but as we prepare to elect the six General Consultors, there is a desire to ensure that the most appropriate candidates are presented.
Fr. Mark Miller, CSsR
