Friday 12 September
Third Day of the Symposium
The main language of our liturgy today today was French,
None was in Flemish.
Morning Session
The morning session began with Terce, followed by introductions by Sr Judith Ann. M Michela then introduced Dr Scanu who spoke on Listening to God in the Old Testament.
Dr. Maria Pina Scanu
Introducing Dr. Scanu
Listening to God in the Old Testament: Contexts and Ways
After the conference our facilitators asked us to write a word, a phrase, a sentence, something that had stuck us from the conference, to be used later . . .
During our morning break, during which which we were treated to cookies from Germany, the new Catalogus went on sale. Regional representatives were urged to buy copies for the houses in their regions to save on postage charges—some sisters must have travelled home with very heavy luggage.
After the break we had a group discussion, but before we started our discussion, our facilitators got us into the right mood with a ‘very scriptural’ song: ‘Dem Bones’! Then, with the help of the ‘Hello!’ song, we had to introduce ourselves to five people. Our group discussion, which to the form of ‘Lectio in motion’ then began.
Listen to ‘Dem Bones’:–
Lectio in Motion, our Instructions:
- On one sheet of paper write in big bold print the word or phrase or sentence in Dr Scanu’s conference that struck you the most.
- As soon as you are ready, put your paper on your table. Music will be played and LECTIO IN MOTION starts. Each one walks slowly to the right and reads silently, ruminating each word or phrase or sentence that was written on every paper on your own table until you reach your own paper.
- When everyone has finished with all the papers, sit down and start sharing on your experience of LECTIO IN MOTION.
After sharing at our tables, a few sisters shared with the whole asembly, it was a moving experience.
Afternoon Session
After Mass, lunch and siesta time, we returned for the afternoon session, which began with None in Flemish.
Dr Scanu then spoke on the subject of Listening through the New Testament:–
Listening to the Messiah in the New Testament
Dr Scanu’s talk was followed, after a break, by a ‘warm up’ chorus of ‘Dem Bones’ then Lectio in Motion as in the morning, but this time we walked around ‘the labyrinth of our tables’ and ended standing at a different table—when we tried to share with the others who had finished on the same table as ourselves we ran into problems with language, we appreciated the amount of skill that had gone into organising the seating arrangements.
This was followed by an open forum with Dr Scanu via a general microphone—our translators were kept busy.
After a short break we were kept up to date by a variety of announcements, after which we moved to the chapel for Vespers in French, followed by supper, an opportunity to relax and meet with sisters from all over the world.
