Summary from the Drafting Commission: 31 October

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The closing session began with a prayer reflection led by Fr Orven Gonzaga. The session was chaired by Fr Luigi Vaninetti, who began by saying that the session would consist of four parts: the reading by the Synod Secretary of the decisions taken by the Synod; a statement from the General Econome on the expenses of the Synod; a verbal evaluation of the Synod on the part of the Synod members; the Superior General’s concluding remarks.

Fr José Luis Quintero then read the text of the six proposals which had been agreed by the Synod. These are: the proposal on the Solidarity Fund from the Commission on Solidarity in Finance; the proposal to study the question of criteria for the viability of provinces and the situation of the vicariates in preparation for the 2012 General Chapter; the proposal on giving decision-making powers to the configurations; the proposal that the General Council consult our own religious and the members of the various Passionist lay movements and examine the situation of the various groups, with a view to including references to our Passionist lay movements in both the Constitutions and the General Regulations; the recommendation to provinces regarding the eligibility of Passionist Brothers to the role of First Consultor; the proposal that the configurations continue to operate until the 2012 General Chapter.

The General Econome, Fr Battista Ramponi, then gave the Synod members a detailed breakdown of the costs incurred during the Synod, including travel to Rome for Synod members, food and lodging, rental of equipment for the secretariat and translators, costs for facilitators and invited speakers. He compared these to the costs of the last General Synod in Cuernavaca and the last General Chapter in Rome. He explained how the costs, including travel, would be redistributed around the provinces, vice-provinces and vicariates according to their ability to pay, following the same percentages used for the annual contributions to the General Administration.

Homily for the Closing of the XIV General Synod

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My dearest Brothers of the Congregation,

Let us thank God for these days that we have spent together. Let us do this with the Eucharist where Jesus himself becomes thanksgiving to the Father by his death that is renewed and offered in another “Last Supper” in the cenacle of this chapel where He again is priest and victim and where we, together with Him, form the mystical body which is the Church.

Solidarity has its maximum expression on the Cross where Jesus dies for us and in the Cenacle where He takes bread, which is His body, and breaks it and shares it among the disciples. He takes the cup, which is His blood, and he gives it to the disciples so that they may all drink from it. Breaking and sharing the same bread and drinking from the same cup are the “sign” of sharing and solidarity and doing this we “remember.” We do this in this Eucharistic sacrifice where: “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.” (1Cor.10:17) Personal choices, choices as a Synod and as a Congregation cannot contradict what we are celebrating. It was sharing and breaking the bread that it could be distributed, that enabled the disciples of Emmaus to recognize Jesus.

However, the days of this Synod, two years after the Synod of Cuernavaca, were not easy. We experienced foggy days, feeling lost, feeling afraid and feeling tempted to a “reverse Exodus”—wanting to turn back, like Israel, to slave labor and the precarious life in Egypt. God had a plan for his people; it was not a plan to help the powerful, but to free the oppressed.

Summary from the Drafting Commission: 30 October

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Fr Franz Damen was the principal celebrant at the Mass which was celebrated in Spanish.

The morning session was chaired by Fr Denis Travers. It was preceded by a prayer reflection; the theme was ‘The Passion of Jesus – The bridge which unites us’, based on no. 5 of the Constitutions.

Fr Michael Mullins introduced the day’s work. It is difficult to deal with matters ad experimentum. Here we need to suspend judgement, particularly canonical judgement. This is a new way of acting, a systemic way. The future of the configurations will largely depend on the quality of leadership, particularly at local level. A key element is dialogue at and across the different levels; in this area we learn by doing. Reports on yesterday’s questions and reflections were then heard.

The Sacred Heart Configuration report spoke of uncertainties about the future and the fear that the Synod has not gone far enough but has seemed to be going backwards. We want to continue on the road chosen at Cuernavaca. This configuration wants to become a single province with zones. The configuration has a list of initiatives, including a formators course in Rome next January, provincial chapters in the three provinces and an assembly in the vice-province, and various inter-provincial events, including the World Youth Day. The configuration intends to keep the same co-ordinator.

Peñafiel will host the Young Passionists Meeting for WYD 2011

A tour to see the town of Peñafiel, the Passionists Monastery and the structures that will host the Young Passionists Meeting before the World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid.

Holy Mass: homily for October 30

Phil 1, 18b-26; Lc 14, 1,7-11

"When you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that... you will be honored...”This recommendation by Jesus releases uneasiness. Is this not false, hypocritical modesty? Does this really fit Jesus?

In any case, Jesus thereupon said to the man who invited him: "When you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid; But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just", (v. 13-14).

Here, Jesus is breaking with a rule which is functioning until today in all cultures of the world: that invitation and return invitation must be kept in balance; the rule of reciprocity.

This is a rule, which really does not fit Jesus at all. He checks up the games we are playing with one another, and that usually are steered by our own profit. He puts himself on the side the poor, the cripple and the blind: those who fall out with our party games. The reconciliation he is looking for, is certainly not provided by the blind and the poor. But God is involved! This unbalance makes us think.

Summary from the Drafting Commission: 29 October

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Mass today was celebrated in language groups.

The morning prayer reflection was on the theme of having the mind of Christ crucified; it was led by Fr Giovanni Cipriani. The session was chaired by Fr Luis Alberto Cano.

An update was given on the situation of Fr Mario Bartolini in Perú. The Synod members had seen a news report which was broadcast on television yesterday. Today they received fresh information from our religious and sisters there about the present state of the case.

On behalf of the interprovincial Passionist Youth Ministry Team in Spain, Fr José Maria Saez gave a presentation about the World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011. It is important for us as a Congregation to be present at the WYD, as the sign which defines this encounter is the Cross. There will be a meeting of young Passionist religious at Peñafiel from 12 to 14 August. Groups of young people who are part of the Passionist family will be welcomed at Alcalà de Henares during the WYD, from 15 to 21 August. The special Passionist day, referred to in the General’s letter on the WYD, will be on 18 August. Those interested in taking part should contact the Youth Ministry Team and also, in the case of the Meeting of Young Religious, the Secretary General here.

We are family