In mid-July, the Junior Professed FSPs of Europe (two from the Czech Republic, two from Romania, two from Italy, one from Poland and one from Portugal) gathered at the Generalate in Rome to reflect on the Pauline life under the guidance of Sr. Annunciata Bestetti from the Italian Province and Sr. Rosanna Pennasilico from the Prague community.
Guest speakers for the occasion were Sr. Maria Grazia Gabelli, fsp, who showed our young sisters how to examine some of the writings of our founders more closely so as to rediscover the treasures of our Pauline spirituality; Fr. Giacomo Perego, ssp, who helped them explore the mystical dimension of the Pauline charism from the biblical perspective, and Fr. Guido Gandolofo, ssp, who guided a day of retreat dedicated to meditation on the ?verbs? that characterize this mysticism.
After the retreat, Sr. Teresa Braccio, fsp, spoke about ?proclaiming God through the cinema.? She showed several film clips on the subject created specifically for online viewing via Youtube, then proceeded to trace out what has already been done to proclaim the Word through the cinema, what movies with religious messages are currently available and what the FSPs can do in the future to make a significant contribution to communicating God through words, music and pictures.
The last day of the encounter was dedicated to a sharing of experiences regarding the ?announcement of God? through the digital media. In summing up the week, our young sisters said: ?The encounter overflowed with input and also with joy, as we wholeheartedly participated in the events programmed.
We shared our dreams concerning all the initiatives we would like to undertake. By coming to a deeper grasp of the mystical dimension of the Pauline life and by contemplating the situation in Europe today?in which many of the continent?s nations are striving to collaborate with one another more effectively?we were filled with a deep yearning to make our contribution to this journey.
The fact that our meeting was held here at the Generalate made us feel closer to the entire human family and helped us realize anew that the Pauline charism has a lot to say to people today.?