Prayer and Life Workshops participated as one of the church movements at the national level in a meeting attended by a total of 92 participants, where the goal was for each movement to share its experience and weave it together with others to transform social reality.
Villa Marista in Lujan (Argentina) hosted, from October 9 to 11, this first meeting of church movements, associations, and streams of grace of national character with a synodal inspiration.
The motto was “Laity to transform the world,” inspired by the Gospel of John passage, “That they all may be one so that the world may believe.”
The meeting was organized by the Board of the Ecclesial Movements of the Secretariat for the Laity (Seplai, in Spanish) of the Argentinian Episcopal Conference. The proposal aimed to put into practice the synodal work that the Church is going through at this time: to share the experiences that already exist in each institution and weave them, like a fabric, with others that seek to transform social reality in the light of the Gospel.
On Saturday morning, presentations from the different areas of work took place: mission and evangelization, education, politics, justice, health, family, childhood, adolescence and adults, cultural and interreligious dialogue, liturgy, vulnerability, and work.
Priest Carlos Galli opened the day with a presentation about the Church’s synodal path and its relationship with charisms.
There was also the participation of bishops Monsignor Adolfo Canecin, from Goya, and Monsignor Adolfo Uriona FDP, from Villa de la Concepcion del Rio Cuarto. The coordination was handled by Gustavo Vivona, secretary of Seplai, along with Romina Chavez and Pablo Blanco, responsible for the Board of Ecclesial Movements.
Conversation in the Spirit
The two instances of conversation in the Spirit that took place during the meeting concluded with the importance of continuing to walk together, getting to know each other to connect, and putting the richness of each charism at the service of the Church and the transformation of the world. Participants also invited to “expand the tent” so that “everyone, everyone, everyone” can join.
In the final reflections, the attendees highlighted an experience of unity expressed through fraternal grace, listening, joy, and service they had throughout the three days. They spoke of having lived being a ‘community of communities’ without losing the identity of each charism, and they expressed enthusiasm for continuing with the initiative.
The meeting concluded with a Mass at the Basilica of Lujan, presided over by the Archbishop of Mercedes-Lujan, Monsignor Jorge Scheinig, who valued the work done and encouraged the laity to be ‘salt of the earth and light of the world,’ a phrase that reprises the theme song of the meeting, ‘Laity to transform.’
