The day began with Communal Wisdom Prayer. Fr. Chris Chaplin, msc, read the Gospel from the on Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27), the same reading that inspired the journey towards this General Chapter. After a moment of silence and personal reflection, the capitulants went to different rooms to share their reflections of prayer with one another.
Back in the Chapter Hall and before beginning the work of discernment, Br Joe McKee, one of the facilitators, presented the methodology that will be used on this second day: ‘World Cafe‘. A method of listening and dialogue across language groups to enable the sharing of the concerns and proposals that each senses is emerging from the Chapter for the Congregation.
Each World-Cafe group has large sheets of paper on the table to write, draw or doodle the ideas that arise during the dialogue and that will be put in a ‘parking space’ at the end of the day for delegates to ponder further.
Four questions were posed for this dialogue:
- What strengths do you see?
- Are there areas for growth?
- Do you see any risks or possible difficulties?
- What seems to be emerging that you sense the Chapter needs to consider further?
The purpose of these questions is to enable the capitulants to have a conversation; sharing the ideas that were collected in the document ‘Compilation of Congregational Feedback’ that was presented at the Online Pre-Chapter Session on June 20-21.
At the end of the day, the reflections of all the working groups, written and drawn on the sheets that were given to them at the beginning of the day, were placed on boards and the walls of the hall, for the Chapter reflection the following day.
To end this second day of work, Mass was presided by Fr. Juan Tomás García, msc, dedicated to St. Joseph, as the father of Jesus, the heart of God incarnate. An image of St. Joseph occupied an important place in the hall throughout the day.
Below enjoy some of the images that speak of the day’s unfolding.
