We are on the second day of the “Where are we?” stage. It started with a beautiful meditation on the biblical icon of the Annunciation found in Luke 1:26-28 and guided by Ms. Carolina Sanchez Miranda, HICM and Fr. Gonzalo Fernandez, CMF.
After reflecting on “What is draining our vitality” yesterday, we focused this morning on “What is nourishing us.” Fr. Anthony Igbokwe, CMF, led the participants into a renewed appreciation of what sustains and nourishes us as Claretian Missionaries and to look at our spirituality as a path of life. The group sharing that followed reflected on Jesus as the source of life, as the center of our spirituality, inviting us to partake and be nurtured at the table of the Word, the Bread, of Fraternal Love, in the Heart of the Virgin Mary, and in Mission.
Five different interesting workshops were held in the afternoon held at Escribania. Facilitators and participants of the Congress worked simultaneously on different themes, namely: The Word welcomes, studied, prayed and proclaimed (Fr. Rowland Onyenali, CMF); Mission as the matrix of our spirituality (Fr. Dominc Koottiyaniyil, CMF); Art and beauty as access to God (Fr. Mariano Sedano, CMF); The poor and the peripheries as God’s epiphany (Fr. Joseph Jeyaseelan, CMF), and The synodal journey of the Church (Fr. Angel Garachana, CMF)
The mass in the evening was presided over by Fr. Amador Tumbaga, CMF. In his homily, he shared the life and martyrdom of Fr. Rhoel Gallardo, a Claretian missionary from the Philippines who died a martyr in 2000. We were all invited to reflect on what nourished, sustained and made him stand firm to the end, bearing witness to his faith in Jesus. The prayer for his beatification was also prayed during the mass.
The last activity of the day was the contemplative dance facilitated by Prof. Maria Victoria Hernandez. Through contemplative body movements, she led the participants into a distinct way of praising and thanking the Lord.
