Seoul, 21 June 2011
Dearest Sisters,
on the 4th day of our Meeting, we were invited to stir up our apostolic passion. Our Japanese sisters, who were the liturgists of the day, prayed for this intention. Sr. Anna Caiazza, General Councilor, spoke on the theme: “The Pauline Mission: When Our Hearts Are Inflamed”, underscoring that the mystical dimension of the apostolate is an innate part of our apostolic vocation and a fundamental presupposition for effective missionary activity. We must never cease to beg the Spirit, “the Fire of God” par excellence, to help us continually revitalize the motivations that incite us to carry out the apostolate creatively. Sr. Anna concluded her talk with the statement: “Probably many steps will need to be taken to redesign our mission. But even if a thousand steps are involved, it is necessary to start with the first, namely, to rekindle our passion for the apostolate, transforming ourselves into fire!”
How this mystical experience is lived by our sisters was demonstrated by the symposium, in which each of the circumscriptions shared the charismatic principles on which our mission is based. They also described the “face” our book centres will have in the coming five years. For this, a questionnaire was sent ahead of time to the circumscriptions by the preparatory commission. Each of the circumscriptions shared with the assembly those principles and deep convictions that spur them forward to give their life for the Pauline mission. They envisioned our book centres as being centres of animation, cultural dialogue and adapted to the people, especially the poor and the immigrants.
The whole day of the 5th day Encounter was dedicated to small group sharing and discussion in the assembly. In the morning we were tasked to work on 3 things: to evaluate and accept the formulation of the “Vision-Mission-Values” of the Institute proposed and drawn up by the General Government and completed by the Inter-chapter Assembly; to confront our key problem on the global level, to focalize its specifics on the continental level and to identify the key problem of the Continent.
After dinner, the welcome recreation given by the community to the participants was truly a refreshing break after the day’s heavy work. With the theme of the Marriage of Apostolate and Economy, a bride and a groom dressed in their actual traditional Korean wedding costume opened the festive night. After the wedding ceremony a grand celebration followed in songs, dances and a musical play on the life and conversion of Zacchaeus, originally written and composed by the postulants. The leisure night was truly a showcase of the community’s creativity and ingenuity. What’s more – the Korean community carry us all in their hearts with the gift they personally made for us and for all the sisters of our communities back home.
On the feast of the Holy Trinity, we celebrated the Eucharist with the community. The sisters from India made the liturgy of this beautiful day significant and meaningful with the typical religious symbols. Nourished by this spiritual banquet, we proceeded to deepen the challenges of our Apostolate: Economy. With her presentation, “Let us redesign the economy” Sr. Annamaria Gasser helped us come to a better grasp of “the laws and reasoning that have regulated the economy over the last century, in an attempt to understand the dynamics that are changing the vision and application of this science.” She said that we need to change some of the parameters that govern our behavior on the economic plane if we want to not only maintain but also expand the radius of our activities and develop them.
This was supplemented by the talk of Sr. Gabriela Santon, our Bursar General, entitled, “Economy-Apostolate: a Great Challenge”. She helped us to understand the need for a balanced relationship between apostolate and economy, one of the biggest challenges we face today because, as she said, -we must not forget that our economy is at the service of apostolate and the apostolate gives continuity and solidity to our economy.
In the afternoon we met again in our work groups to tackle the first case study on “Management and Profitability” with regards to diffusion. After much discussion and sharing, the Assembly came to a convergence on the proposals suggested on how to have an “integrated” approach for our prospective publications.
Towards evening the Paulines Mini-Book Fair for Asia-Pacific was opened officially. In attendance were the participants themselves in their colourful native costumes. Interesting and remarkable publications from the different Provinces and Delegations over the past 2-3 years were exhibited. Sr. Antonieta Bruscato expressed her gratitude for the exhibition and emphasized the importance of the writing apostolate. She encouraged each sister to venture into this most important aspect of our mission. She also reminded us that exactly fifty years ago, Prima Maestra Thecla offered her life to the Holy Trinity so that all the FSPs might become saints. The many exchanges of products during the Paulines Book fair were noteworthy.
Thank you, dear Sisters, for your tireless remembrance of us in your prayers. United with you we will surely come nearer to that direction in which we must move,
sr. Consolacion Ducusin and sr. Anne Plathara
