|
| | | |
Daily
News Updates:
7 - 11 August 2000
 ISD 2000 Daily Report 14
Monday, 7 August 2000
The free Sunday gave us new strength and energy to start and
most important week. The first part of the International Study
Days was about collecting personal and communal experiences and
differences in the various groups and consequently also in the
(pro)provinces and local communities.
The second part (also second week) Challenged us what our main
sources are telling us as ideals, different means to reach the
ideals as ideals, different means to reach the ideals as far as
possible. We studied, reflected and shared Scriptures, the spirit
and the rule of Saint Augustine and our constitutions. These two
weeks were enriching, deepening our insights and helping us to
know each other as deeper level. Maybe many of us made for themselves
a statement: I am still far away from the ideals.
Today we started the third part: Renewed commitment. This was
today will be in the next day a big challenge: We cannot stand
on the way side but we have to go, to do something, to move on,
to convert and transform ourselves. This will be a process maybe
a long one. We started the day reading and reflecting on 1 John,
20-21 : If you love God, You have to love also one another. A
challenge text to transform ourselves. A suggestion: try to do
it yourselves today, maybe tomorrow you forget it.
The first session of today was spent on the 'I' statements (sentences
beginning with 'I'). We were asked to respond to the following suggestions:
 |
The most important things that I learned is\are... |
|
As a result of these study Days, I plan to... |
|
The new idea that most energized me was... |
After our time together, my attitudes on Crosier religious life
have shifted in following way
The next step was to share our 'I' statements with another
confrere (so-called Emmaus group: two by two). In the afternoon,
we tried to find values all of our regular goup agree upon; so
we arrived to write the so called 'We' statements. Sometimes,
we did not agree upon statements. Than everybody in the group
was free to keep his 'I' statements. All those 'We and I statements
were posted in the meeting. We read them carefully and felt free
to ask questions to the writers in an informal way. There that
many statement that some felt sorrow for the secretariat who have
to combine and to sort out the statements. Tomorrow morning we
will be given the results.
Lambert Graus osc
Pierre Vandormael osc
La journée de dimanche qui était libre nous a permis
de faire le plein d'énergie avant d'entammer la dernière
semaine des Journées d'études qui est aussi la plus
importante. La première partie des Study Days fut consacrée
à l'échange d'expériences sur la vie communautaire.
Nous avons réfléchi à ces expériences,
à ce qu'elles ont de commun et de différent au sein
des groupes de partage mais aussi au sein des (pro)provinces et
des communautés locales.
La seconde partie (durant la deuxième semaine) nous a rappelé
ce que nos sources d'inspirtations nous proposent comme idéal,
ainsi que les différentes facon de tendre vers cet idéal
le plus possible. Nous avons etudié, réfléchi
et partagé les Ecritures, l'esprit de la règle de
Saint Augustin et nos constitutions.
Ces deux semaines ont été très riches.
Elle nous ont aidées à approfondir nos acquis en
nous aidant à mieux nous connaitre les uns les autres à
un niveau plus profond. Peut-être que beaucoup d'entre nous
ont fait cette réflexion : Je suis encore bien loin de
l'ideal. Aujourd'hui, nous avons commencé la troisième
partie de notre démarche : les nouveaux engagements. Ce
sera le programme d'aujourd'hui et de demain. Pour nous, ce sera
un defi. Nous ne pouvons pas rester des spectateurs. Nous devons
nous mettre en route, bouger, nous convertir et nous transformer
nous-même. Ce peut-être un processus fort long.
Nous avons commencé cette journée en réfléchissant
à partir de 1 Jn 2, 20-21. Si vous aimez Dieu, vous devez
aussi vous aimer les uns les autres. Un texte fort nous invitant
à la conversion. Une suggestion : essayez de le faire pour
vous même aujoud'hui demain vous risquez peut-être
de l'oublier. La première session de ce jour a été
consacrée aux 'I' statements c'est-á-dire aux choses
les plus importantes glanées personnelement jusqu'ici.
Pour ce faire, il nous était demandé de répondre
aux questions suivantes:
|
La ou les chose(s) la (les) plus importante(s) que j' ai apprise(s)
est-sont... |
|
Comme résultat de ces journées d'étude,
je pense faire... |
|
L'idée nouvelle qui m'a le plus enthousiasmé est... |
Après ce temps vécu ensemble, mes attitudes face
à la vie religieuse chez les croisiers ont évoluées
de la facon suivante
L 'étape suivante fut de partager ses découvertes
avec un autre confrère au sein d'un groupe Emmaus (c'est-à-dire
deux par deux). L'après-midi, nous avons essayé
de trouver les valeurs les plus importantes découvertes
au sein des groupes de partage habituels qui faisaient l'unanimité.
A la suite de quoi, nous devions présenter aux autres des
'We' statements. Parfois nous n'étions pas d'accord entre
nous mais chacun dans le groupe était libre de partager
ses 'I'statements. Les synthèses des différents
groupes fut affichée à la salle de réunion.
Nous avons pu les lire attentivement et poser des questions aux
groupes rédacteurs de manière informelle. Toutes
ces synthèses seront remises au secrétariat qui
devra les fondre en un texte commun. Demain, nous vous donnerons
les résultats de la démarche.
Lambert Graus osc
Pierre Vandormael osc
|
| |
ISD 2000 Daily Report 15
Tuesday, 8 August 2000
We begin this day with praying and singing. With full gusto
to we sing "the Rising Sun Is Visit Us in His Glorious Wings".
At the same time we see through the open windows of the chapel
to Cimahi and Bandung in the valley before the endless tops of
the mountains of Priangan.
Today, we try to find outcomes of the former weeks; we are
seeking common values, which can be a strong base for our community
life and can be transforming. We hope to arrive at an inspiring
and transparent summary, in which we can recognize ourselves.
The different go from the small groups to the steering committee,
the secretariat and the plenary assembly. This process goes back
and forth until late in the evening.
The many values for our way to God are like colonnades for
a Greek temple. It is not so easy to end up with an inspirational
text for us and for you. The atmosphere remains open and brotherly
although there is a tension what the outcomes will be. Everybody
remains engaged and committed, also in the last difficult days:
we have to put together the fruits of the previous weeks in order
to write a clear, efficient, appropriate and achievable message.
Jan Rooijakkers
We beginnen deze dag met gebed en gezang. Uit volle borst zingen
we: "The rising sun is visit us with healing in his glorious
wings" terwijl we door de grote open ramen van de kapel
uitkijken over Cimahi en Bandung diep onder ons en de eindeloze
bergtoppen van de Preanger op de achtergrond. We proberen vandaag
de uitkomsten van deze weken te verzamelen en tot overeenstemming
tekomen over de formulering van de waarden die ons gemeenschapsleven
dragen en kunnen transformeren en verdiepen. We hopen tot een
inspirerende en transparente samenvatting te komen, warin ieder
zich kan vinden. Tot laat in de avond gaan de formuleringen van
de kleine gespreksgroepen via de stuurgroep en het secretariaat
en de plenaire vergadering over en weer. De vele waarden die
ons leven op weg naar God dragen, zijn als een zuilengalerij
onder een griekse tempel. We proberen met moeite om een inspirerende
richtinggevende ordening en formulering te vinden voor onszelf
en voor u, ons thuisfront.
De sfeer in de gesprekken blijft open en geengageerd ook in
deze dagen nu we proberen de vruchten van de vorige weken tot
een overzichtelijk en vertaalbaar geheel te maken.
Jan Rooijakkers
|
| |
ISD 2000 Daily Report 16
Thursday, 10 August 2000
Most of the activity on Wednesday and Thursday at the ISD2000
involved bringing our time together to a good conclusion. A major
part of that effort involved preparing a statement for you our
confreres on our time together at Pratista. That
statement is available here on the web site.
While we believe that there is a lot of rich content in the
statement, I think that at this time it is important to note the
concluding part of the statement which reflects our commitment
and encouragement to you:
We commit ourselves to live out and to communicate these and
other values [values listed in the full statement] to you our
confreres Above all, we will dialogue with you to discover further
methods to revitalize our community of love in Deum so
that our lives will be transformed and become a prophetic sign
of God's love.
Confreres, we encourage you to renew the call of early apostolic
community, the voice of Augustine, and the inspiration of our
Constitutions in your own hearts and in the midst of your own
local community. We encourage all to adopt a spirit of openness
to these voices at work in this time and in this Crosier community
We are confident that this will enrich all of us and enable us
to transform our common life to better live a communion of one
mind and one heart into God.
In the days ahead we will have the full statement and I am
sure we will say more about the statement.
As we closed the ISD 2000 there were a number of moments that
were very special to us. First, on Wednesday evening, many confreres
from the Province of Sang Kristus along with the Bishop of Bandung,
joined us for an evening of entertainment, prayer and table fellowship.
This took place outdoors in the beautiful setting of Pratista
overlooking the city of Bandung below. Confreres in initial formation
put on a series of dances, humorous skits, and songs. They were
absolutely delightful. Balinese and Sundanese dancing with professional
dancers from the area were also part of the program. We ended
the evening with an inspiring evening prayer and dancing around
a fire, along with an outstanding meal. For all, it was a wonderful
experience of brotherhood, filled with great laughter and love.
The next day, Thursday, after a morning session filled with
an evaluation of our time together and a sharing of our commitment
to bring our experience to the whole Order (along with strategies
for doing so), we gathered for a closing Eucharist. This communio
was presided over by confrere Pierre-Paul Walraet, who has been
the chairman of the steering committee for ISD 2000. For me, an
important message was his reflection upon the reading from Deuteronomy
6, 4-9. A familiar passage to all - "Hear, O Israel, the
Lord your God is one" Pierre-Paul spoke of the "hear"
and how important it is to communicating. That not only must people
hear, but that we must take a moment to hear the other too, and
especially our Lord speak. He also spoke of the oneness of God
and how significant that is to the Augustinian idea of community.
In his remarks officially closing the ISD2000 at the end of
the Eucharist, the Master General spoke of inspiration. As participants
in the study days, we have often spoken in these last days of
being inspired. The Master General reminded us the root meaning
of the word: "to be in the Spirit". It is his dream
that we as Crosiers will live in the Spirit of the Lord.
The conclusion of the liturgy was also marked by a touching
gift to each of the participants from our confreres of the Region
of the Martyrs of Bondo. Each of us received a gift of a large
and small cross from Congo. An expression of kindness and brotherhood
that was very appreciated by all. Then, we shared individually
with each other a personal message of solidarity. Before lunch,
we gathered for a group picture.
While study days had officially closed by midday, the organizers
from Pratista, especially confrere Dedi who is among the world's
finest hosts, had another treat for us. In the evening we had
an outdoor barbecue on the lawn overlooking Bandung. Some friends
of the Crosiers here provided and cooked the whole meal. Along
with a campfire, prayer, music, good cheer, we dined on steaks
and pommes frites. Along with beer or soda, there was also the
opportunity to eat an abundance of grilled clams in the shell
(some confreres also did eat in abundance - taking the motto of
the Master General too literally]. The Province of Sang Kristus
and the community of Pratista have been most generous in their
hospitality and kindness to us. We will long remember our time
here and the opportunity to experience the message of the Rule:
The main purpose for you having come together is to live harmoniously
in your house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart.
Jim Hentges, osc
|
|
