Saturday morning I went out to Plan Grande to facilitate a
workshop with the base community leaders of that sector of the parish. 38
people came from five different communities.
We spent time talking about base communities and the new
process Padre German has started - a
process that, I believe, tries to help the communities deepen their
relationships with Christ and with each other.
Each week of the month the base communities have a different
type of meeting. The first week is study of a theme from a booklet. The second
week is a time to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and more. The third week
is a meditative reading of scripture. The last week, the group looks at their
village and sees what might need to be done to make it better; they then decide
what to do.
In the third week the community does a short of Ignatian
imaginative contemplation of a story from scripture. To help them experience
what this is I used the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes in
John’s Gospel (6: 1-11).
We start with rhythmic breathing which creates an incredible
silence in the room. Then I read the passage and asked them to picture
themselves there and pay attention to what they are seeing and feeling and
hearing – their personal experience. After a few minutes of silence, I ask them
to share with the persons next to them and then share to the whole group.
From what they shared I can see that this has been, for at
least some people, a way to encounter Christ in a different way. It has also
been a way to open up the Bible for them.
I tell them that they are not looking for a message, but opening
themselves for a meeting with Christ.
I emphasize that this is only one way to read the
Scriptures. Maybe next year we can have them learn how to do lectio divina.
After the workshop, some sisters I know drove out to Plan
Grande to see the work on the house we’re building there.
Then I went to San Agustín (about 30 minutes away) for a
meeting with the youth there. I had prepared a theme – trust – but they had
something already prepared. Next time I’ll call the young leader a week or two
before.
There were 28 young people meeting, which is great. But I think they need a
bit of help since they don’t have a real sense of their common identity as
members of a community. They are more like a gathering of 6 different groups of
young people. But that is not uncommon here – or anywhere. We tend to stick
with those we know.
On Sunday morning I was back in Plan Grande. (Yes, I need to
live there as soon as possible.) A group from Plan Grande was going to the
village of La Torera to lead a Sunday Celebration of the Word.
The people of La Torera had been going to San Agustín for
celebrations but one leader from the nearby village of Descombros had come to
visit them and they have decided to try to organize themselves. To assist this,
each Sunday a team from one of the villages of the sector goes to lead a
Celebration of the Word and to prepare parents and godparents for the baptism
of nine children.
I took the Plan Grande group in my truck – at least 15 of them.
Two delegates of the Word from Plan Grande led the
celebration in a house and they asked me to do the reflection. I managed to
make it participative and under 13 minutes!
It was marvelous to see this small group of people who
really want to live their faith. I can see some real leadership emerging among
them and I do hope that they can reach out to the young people in their
families. (As usual there was a small group of single young men just outside
the house where we were meeting. As usual I made an effort to talk with them a
bit.)
The people there are also hoping to build a little church.
There are only about eight Catholic families in the village. Most people there
are evangelicals and there are two evangelical churches there. The Catholics
would like to have a small church. So they are collecting donations as well as seeking
other ways to raise money.
Going to La Torera with the people from Plan Grande, it was
also marvelous to see and hear of the sense of mission that people in this
sector have. If I hadn’t been there, they may have tried to find someone to
take them there, but I think they would have walked about an hour to get there,
I feel blessed to be a part of their missionary work.
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