Here, first of all, is a picture of all of the official delegates to the General Chapter. Neither myself nor Michael Avila nor Mike Murphy are part of it because we are "staff" and not members of the chapter.On another note, I wish I could get some sleep around here. Last night I again awoke at around 3 AM. This time I think that it had to do with the dripping water in the air well that's next to my room. Add to that the water pump that kicks in every couple of hours and it adds up to enough unfamiliar noise to keep you awake. Of course, I fell asleep a couple of hours later only to hear my alarm at 6 AM and make the effort to fight nature's inclinations and get up for Mass.
This morning, Br. David Hawke from Austalia was in charge of the Mass - a very direct, simply Mass, comforting in a way in its direct familiarity. Father Dennis told us that he would be going to the doctor to take care of a sore throat situation and that we shouldn't be concerned if he was whispering by the end of Mass (he wasn't).
The presentation today was on the nature of consecrated religious life by the Master of the Dominicans, Fr. Costa, an Argentinian priest who, at 50 years old, must be the youngest leader of a major congregation. He was quite engaging and fascinating, clearly brilliant, and very funny and direct in the mix, making fun at himself and at certain situations in a very clever way. It's obvious that he would be a darn good preacher. One of the main thoughts that I took away from his presentation was the fact that we have to appreciate how important religious vows (or religious commitment, in any case) is both for ourselves and for those around us. He used to be a Marist Brother and he said that when he thinks about the Brothers who most influenced him, he thinks about the retired Brothers who were around to listen to the students, to walk around and interact with them, to take them as they were, non-judgementally. The most frustrating thing was the fact that he spoke in Spanish, and that he spoke so fast that the translators could not keep up; so we caught maybe half of what he said. It's a clear incentive to learn Spanish.In the afternoon it was time for the prayers that we had planned for the presentation by the Superior General and his Councillors. The session began at 3 PM with me explaining how we would have four prayer movements as part of the afternoon session.
Then, Michael French and a group of Brothers began the session by singing an energizing Spanish version of one of the Psalms. After a good 90 minutes of talking by several Councillors, there was a merciful break, and then Ferdinand ("Freddy" to his friends) led an Indian Banyan (sp?), which is a sort of Indian religious chant that is repeated with different verses and is quite captivating. Everyone jumped right in. It turned out to be quite meditative and prayerful. Then another hour of talking heads, after which there was a 30-minute break. After the break, Freddy did another Banyan, accompanied by some musicians and with me leading the singing for the assembly. Finally, the thing that was highly anticipated - the major address by Br. Alavaro. His talk was very, very good. Not only was it right on the mark, but it managed to capture the spirit of where we were as Brothers and inspired a forward movement that I hope will carry through into the rest of the Chapter. At the end of his talk, and at the end of a sustained period of applause, it was my turn to finish the four movements of prayer.
Providentially, we had decided to simply have a period of silent reflection on all the words that had been said that day. Within the Chapter Hall, I told the Brothers that we had heard a lot of words today and that it would be helpful to let them settle down, like swirling material in a pond or well, so that we might see the bottom, the depths, of the water. I also showed an illustration from a book by Henri Nouwen that spoke to where the Brothers might be at this point. Then we did a chant, followed by 11 minutes of silent reflection, listening only to soft background music, and then completed by another short chant. It was just the right thing at the right time. Those who spoke to me afterwards seemed to appreciate it.After a short dinner, it was time for the Central Commission meeting in order to get ready for tomorrow. There were lots of details to cover, and before I knew it 45 minutes had passed and it was time to go to the USA/Toronto Region presentation and party. The theme was a baseball game, complete with baseball hats made for the occasion, a baseball skit, hot dogs, and typical American songs. Lots of fun in one of the large rooms that were made available to us.
While Br. Frank Carr and I left the Central Commission meeting to go to the party, they kept on meeting in order to address a bunch of concerns that had been brought up about the new process that had been introduced for this Chapter. All of this will be covered tomorrow, during the General Session in the afternoon. It could go smoothly (unlikely), but also could get messy (quite likely). It all depends on how the assembly accepts the answers from the Central Commission on various procedural and definition items that have been brought up. Stay tuned.The party was good. I would say that the Europeans were very impressive in what they did and that we were fine also. Our strength lay in the novelty of what we provided (hats, hot dogs, etc.) and in the energy that the American Brothers put into the effort. I can only imagine what the Latin Americans have planned for next Monday evening.
Later in the evening, I ended up talking with Br. Leonardo, a young Brother from Colombia who is stationed here at the Motherhouse as the Procurator General (the one who works with the Vatican). He is finishing his PhD in Canon Law, and we had a great conversation - only great in a sort of esoteric way - about his research in De La Salle juridical involvements prior to 1690. Great stuff, if you're interested in that kind of thing.
At one point, I took a picture with Br. Thomas Jones, one of the other Brothers here who is from my district. We're wearing those baseball caps with the 44th General Chapter logo on them, and if not for anything else, I'm sure that those who were at the party will remember their time because of those hats. Well, maybe they will also remember Br. Edmond Precourt singing "Hello Dolly" at the top of his voice.Funny the things that you remember.
For more pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/gvangrie/ItalyMay4
