INTERNATIONAL FORMATION SESSION WEEK II

July 22, 2015 - Nairobi, Kenya

Now that the second week has already begun, we, the participants in the international session at Nairobi, are busy with the key convictions which inspire us: sharing them, taking notes, summarizing in groups, presenting to the assembly... It is as if we were at a Provincial or Congregational Chapter!

Our efforts are concentrated on six themes in three languages: 1 - Contemplative life and the experience of God. 2 – Community life and interculturality. 3 – Leadership and personal responsibility. 4 – Apostolic life: mission and work for the Kingdom. 5 – Ongoing formation, studies, integration, re-reading. 6 – The economic dimension of our life and solidarity. If all goes well, in several days we will be able to share this work with you...

To give our brains some breathing space, we have hot chocolate (or coffee) breaks... with cake! And to get rid of the excess calories, we organized an evening of dance, with music from Spain, India and the Congo. Perhaps the videos have already been shared beyond here? The dance is in any case a beautiful means to gather us in inter-Assumpiton. Two celebrations lived with our AA brothers of Nairobi demonstrated how the joy of being together and dance go together.

On the evening of July 19th, our small family of sessionists joined with the nearby community of AA theology students for a very special Sunday mass: 4 young brothers made their first vows and another his final profession. The choir sang the final hymn while dancing. And today, we have just returned from a double ordination of AA brothers at the parish of St Monica of Njiru (a section of Nairobi): a deacon and a priest. The bishop arrived in the sacristy surrounded by fifty women who sang and danced. And at the presentation of the gifts, the two newly ordained were acclaimed with songs and dances. Inspired by the psalms, we dance with cries of joy.