“It is the smallest constellation in the Southern Hemisphere and allows sailors and travelers to orient their course in the South of the world.”

Our day began with the prayer of Lauds animated by our brothers of ASCLA West (Claretians of India and Sri Lanka). Today we celebrate with the whole Church the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, recognizing the Cross of Jesus Christ as a sign of surrender for our missionary life. We also expressed our gratitude for the life of Efren Limpo, CMF, Secretary General of the Congregation, who today celebrates 44 years of life.

We began the third part of our meeting, in which we will discuss and deepen on different topics of congregational interest, and we will get to know other experiences that have become “good practices” for our missionary work.

After breakfast, we began our dialogue with the theme of synodality. Pedro Belderrain, CMF, Consultor and General Prefect of Apostolate, invited us to reflect on the question:

What steps does the Spirit invite us to take to grow in our journey together?

As a constitutive dimension of the Church, synodality supposes a style with which we live and act ordinarily, and it is expressed in ecclesial structures and processes in various spheres. In this sense, we have a journey as a congregational community and therefore, he invited us to ask ourselves:

• What points need to be confirmed (seeds of life)?
• What are the prospects for change (designs)?
• What steps need to be taken (commitments)?

After the presentation, we deeply exchanged ideas and nuances about synodality.

In the second part of the morning, the dialogue was about the vocational situation of the Congregation. Carlos Verga, CMF, Consultor and General Prefect of Youth and Vocations, shared a statistical table based on a survey of all the Major Organisms of the Congregation. An exchange of opinions was carried out, and some recommendations were proposed to sustain and deepen the vocational dimension in our Congregational community.

In the afternoon, the Archbishop of Nairobi, Philip Arnold Subira Anyolo, visited us. He shared the Eucharist with us, thanked us for the missionary service of the Congregation, and invited us to look at the Cross as a source of joy and hope. On our part, we thanked him for his presence and fraternal closeness.

The afternoon’s last session was an opportunity to share two “good practices.” The first was by Josué Jaramillo, CMF, who shared with us the “Pastoral Assemblies” in shared mission as significant experiences in the life and mission of the Province of Colombia—Ecuador. The second one was shared by Antony Bhyju, CMF, from Kolkata Delegation. It is about the project “Read the Bible in a year,” an initiative implemented in the formation houses that invite to dedicate 15 minutes daily to read the Sacred Scriptures, following the example of the Father Founder and the spirit of the General Chapters, especially the chapter of 1991, Servants of the Word.

We give thanks for what was shared during this day.

Mario David Gutierrez, CMF, chronicler of the day