Last day of the module “Mission Spirituality Today”

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009:

The Creativity Group members (shant, Eking, Mat, Zael and Ludy)

Today, the Brokenness within us expressed through the form of prayer  before the session begins is animated by the creativity group members.

Eking is explaining about the clay jar along with Mat

The Creativity group members used the broken clay jar as a metaphor symbolizing the broken world which is significant to the topic of the day in continuation of the module “Mission Spiritually Today”. The prayer before the session started with a soft music followed by a prayer. One of the group members, Eking who explained the symbolic meaning of the broken jar and then he broke the clay jar. Each one of us picked up a piece of it and had a pilgrim walk with a simple rhythmic step inside the session hall. We gathered around and sat on cushions reflecting over brokenness within ourselves. A representative of the integration groups presented a prayer of brokenness and then each of the group members placed the pieces of clay jar at the center of our gathering. We concluded the prayer through a song titled “Lord! heal our land.”

The clay jar is symbolically broken.

 

The starting of rhythemic dance in pilgrim manner

 

Journey inside the session hall

 

praying the prayer of brokennes

 

Reflecting over the brokennes within oneself

The following is the explanation of the significance of the broken clay jar. It’s a symbolic representation of the brokenness and woundedness of our lives in this world.  It exits in our beliefs, in our families, in our relationships with one another and with the Cosmos; violence, war, prejudices, fears, etc. Each person personifies the broken jar that hopes for healing and wholeness by uniting them together for construction of new life.

Brokenness is something that all of us experience every second, every minute, every hour of a day, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty five days in a year. It’s always in us. It is an experience that bothers us and hinders us to move forward and simply be ourselves and face the world. It’s an experience that questioned the importance of our lives, capabilities and existence that if not answered positively guide us to our limitations and eventually denial of our progress.  Unless this brokenness and woundedness are addressed by certain processes is very difficult to get away from its effects. This is the reason why the healing processes are studied and developed and given importance nowadays. We need to respect oneself and others through the commandment ‘Love one another as you love yourself.’ Thus we can heal our brokenness in life. Reflect about it and act upon it, my friend!

The broken pieces of clay jar

 Contextualized Mission Sprituality Today

 

The day’s session focused on making a concrete contextualized spirituality. In the morning session Bro. Karl, the resource person, discussed briefly about the historical development of mission spirituality from beginning upto post modern mission spirituality. Later on, we, the participants were divided into groups accordingly to discuss about contextualized mission spirituality from their own cultural perspective. The following reflections are the summary of each of the groups.

 The Group of Myanmaries:

 Spirituality and Mission– is celebration of God’s abundance and gifts of healing through nature.

 The group of Indians:

 “Mission Spirituality is adopting the way of life into mission without eradicating the local spiritual wellness of life.”

 Mixed Group:

 Mission spirituality today is an invitation, a call and one’s response to the triune God and the fullness of God’s Basileia expressed through love for family, solidarity with the poor, commitment to justice and integrity of creation and respecting different cultures and religions. 

 Hospitality Group:

 Care for creation, for the poor and those in the margins, is a constitutive dimension of mission spirituality today.  All creation is interconnected because they have one Source. The abuse of modern technology and human power is causing unprecedented destruction in its competitiveness.  Our mission is to break barriers in order to restore, heal and transform all creation according to God’s plan.  This is one way of continuing the mission of Jesus and the Basileia.  

 Mixed Group:

 A constant consciousness of the work of the Holy Spirit with in the dynamics of life which requires our collective and individual responses as we witness in Dialogue to the day-to-day living of the here and now in order to become fully human with each other, regardless of race, religion, culture, color, class age, and gender.

 Ilonggo Group:

 Mission Spirituality should reflect the relationship of the persons of the trinity centered on LOVE in parallel to our day to day living, witnessing through LIFE IN DIALOGUE which nurtures our loving relationship, our faith in God that brings wholeness of Life. Moreover we read THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES to which we adapt from one generation to another; we read it in the lens of LOVE where THE REIGN OF GOD IS CENTERED.

The Eucharistic Celebration:

We concluded the module “Mission Spirituality Today” with the Eucharistic celebration at 4:30 in the afternoon. The liturgy was animated by the creativity group. The celebration was integrated with the symbolic gestures of asian spirituality. The following pictures explain the celebration of the Eucharist.

Preparation for the Eucharistic celebration

The Mass is arranged under the open sky before the sessio hall in order to praise and thank God along with nature.

Fr. Giulio wore the chasible which was gifted to him from Indonesia.

Bro. Karl joined the celebration.

entrance procession with a dance done symbolically in order to offer ourselves totally to God as some of the asian cultures do.

The ritual of cleansing of our feet done in order to enter into the presence of God as some of the asian cultures follow.

During the offertory each of the integration groups offered their gifts.

Thanksgiving note is given to Bro.Karl by Celz after communion.

 

The hospitality group members present a token of apprecitation to Bro. Karl

Distribution of coconuts to all the participants in the celebration, which is the symbolic cultural gesture of honoring guests.

All of us received coconuts. he....

Group picture with Bro. Karl