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The Sisters from Sri Lanka and Pakistan helped us to pray for our Salvatorian world, especially for the poorest people with whom we work in our missions. We listened to a song in the Urdu language (Pakistan) and in Sinhala, the language spoken in Sri Lanka. We concluded the prayer with each member placing a white flower on the map of one of the countries where we are located. Our prayer was for peace, hope and love in these countries. The white flower is used in the Buddhist religion to offer petitions to Buddha. We used the same symbol to offer today’s intentions to the Resurrected Jesus.
In the morning, the Sisters met in small groups to reflect on the General Leadership’s report that they presented yesterday.
In plenary session in the afternoon, the groups shared the insights they found to be most important for us Salvatorian Women living in Solidarity for Hope and Life. Afterwards, Fr. Libânio analyzed the content of the reports of the groups and dialogued with the Sisters about the following subjects:
-The understanding of Solidarity has been broadened: it is an openness to give and to receive; it is a personal conversion which occurs deep in our hearts. It is a culture that affects our whole life and our everyday life. It is also understood as urgent help when an emergency arises, demanding that we act to save a life. It is also a planned, professional and effective action that comes from policy decisions to transform unjust structures.
-The understanding of the meaning of the word Life: what is essential for life is different in each part of the world and in each time period. Life is something that we need to always rethink, because a consumer society creates artificial needs for life, which often deprive us of freedom of choice. We cannot think of life only on an individual level; we must also view it in the much wider sense: the social, political, spiritual and in the context of family…
-The understanding of Formation: how to live with critical awareness and to help others to live with more freedom of choice, thought and action.
We ended the day with a time of personal reflection and the Eucharist, presided by Fr. Libânio. During the homily the Sisters from Tanzania and Brazil (São Paulo), presented their Logos, based on the theme of the Chapter.
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