Morning prayers begin with a reflective song, a spiritual passage and the day’s Gospel, leading to silent reflection and prayer. This morning’s passage was from Pope Francis: “Have I learned to weep? Have I learned to weep when I see a hungry child, a drugged child on the street, a homeless child, an abandoned child, an abused child, a child used as a slave by society? Or do we only weep when we want something for ourselves? … [Jesus] wept for his dead friend; he wept in his heart for that family that had lost their daughter; he wept in his heart when he saw that mother, a poor widow, taking her son to be buried; he was moved and wept in his heart when he saw the multitudes like sheep without a shepherd.”
This prepared us for the plenary session in which we shared our perspectives on the values we identified for our paths of transformation. We wanted to limit ourselves to three; however, this proved to be a tough task, because each and every one resonated deeply in the capitulants. We ultimately decided to identify five, for each value was seen to contribute to the “compass” we desire for the pathways we want to blaze. In a concluding comment, Brother Jorge Sierra, coordinator, observed, “It’s been like a prayer, a shared prayer.”
At this point, we now have components for the “design” step in the Chapter discernment: our challenge and its three conditions, our dream and its five supporting values. Please keep us close in heart and mind as we go deeper and deeper in our discernment so as to hear the cry of the poor and open ourselves to weep with them.
Brother Timothy Coldwell, FSC, is General Councilor for the Lasallian Region of North America. He is providing reflections throughout the 46th General Chapter, which are being shared on Lasallian.info and on Facebook and Twitter. Learn more about the General Chapter here and from the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. Search #FSC46GC on social media for more highlights. Visit the General Councilor’s page for more reflections from Brother Tim >
Photo courtesy Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools Communications Service