Pausing…To Listen to the World
Listening to the world: that is what we did today with the help of Lidia Maggi (a biblical scholar and Baptist pastor), Giambattista Brunori (a journalist and author, whose books the FSP have published) and Fr. Rossano Sala (a Salesian priest appointed by Pope Francis as Special Secretary for the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment).
The presence of these three guest speakers marked an important moment in the Chapter’s Illuminative Phase, the purpose of which is to open new doors and windows so as to allow more light to enter, in the awareness that giving more space to light also means allowing shadows to emerge….
Giambattista Brunori and Fr. Rossano Sala helped us traverse the fragmentations of life, concretized in world and local situations that disturb us and require us to get to our feet without wavering, to look at situations courageously from a universal perspective, and then to make specific, well-pondered and prophetic choices on the local level.
Our day was further enriched by the “precious pearl” of input we received from Lidia Maggi, who in a sisterly way gave voice and concreteness to Deuteronomy10:11: “Arise and go on your journey, trusting in the promise”–the verse that set the rhythm for our preparations for the Chapter and will do the same for our future.
Each of us has received the Word of God as an inheritance in order that it might continue to bring life. But the Word was not placed in our hands in order to make it more beautiful or appealing. It is not enough for us to disseminate it. As Daughters of St. Paul, apostles of the Word, we must find ways for that Word to take root, incarnate itself in history, in our personal and community stories, and continue to generate life. We must become capable of narrating the Word in such a way as to make God present and allow people to come into genuine contact with him, giving rise to a mystical experience.
We must rediscover the pedagogy of the Word, made up of fresh beginnings…of trust reconfirmed by God in spite of our continual betrayals of him.
We need to consolidate the reality that the story of salvation recounted in the Bible continually puts us before us, namely, that the Word is fulfilled in spite of betrayals. God is constantly starting afresh. The founding fathers and mothers of our faith show us that the future is not something that opens to us automatically. It must always be “forced”: in fact, the Bible presents us with a number of cases of sterile matriarchs and generations born from shriveled wombs….
One thing is sure: the Word of God is more powerful than our failure. It is always starting afresh but it wants to accomplish its journey with our help, accepting the fact that we are not equal to the task…. But that doesn’t stop the Word from beginning over and over again–with us!
See you tomorrow! #staytune #capitolo_ON #restiamoconnessi
Ariccia, 21 September 2019
