Sunday, 03 October 2021 12:27

Eucharistic Week

The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, from its specific spirituality of announcing the Gospel through the Eucharist, contributes to the missionary and evangelizing work of the Church. “The Eucharist is the centre of our life, our power of action and apostolate” (PR 107,3). The Founder bequeathed us the eucharistic apostolate comprising a broad perspective: catechesis, retreats, Eucharistic Weeks, Eucharistic Congresses, associations among others.

The Blessed Sacrament Congregation’s presence in Latin America and the Caribbean (Colombia-Peru-Puerto Rico) spans a considerable time of more than 55 years. It was a region of the Province of Spain and canonically erected as the Province of Saint John XXIII at the General Chapter of 2011. Our small province has its own challenges in terms of promoting the SSS identity in the communities. For this reason, the religious of the respective communities should feel challenged regarding the way we live not only from the eucharistic source, but also how we share it with the faithful of the communities.

Eucharistic Week 1

(The Eucharistic Week took place at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (a Vocational House) from 29 August to 2 September 2021 on the theme: “Eucharistic link of charity and fraternity”.)

The timetable of this Week included some activities related to the experience of the Eucharist: daily celebration of the Eucharist, times of fellowship, periods of eucharistic worship outside of Mass, formative meetings and a workshop on eymardian eucharistic spirituality. As a practical exercise, a special collection was made that will be destined for the needs of the poor of Alaska, an area in the south of the city of Bogotá.

The Congregation inherited from the Founder an image about a continuous dynamism of the Eucharist that encompasses the whole of existence. It impels the eymardian family to incarnate spirituality in the current reality from pastoral sources by being committed to the service of the Gospel in solidarity with the most disadvantaged. Our province needs to open its mind more and more to understand, disseminate and promote the Eucharist and make it more dynamic in the communities.

The people who experienced the activities of the above-mentioned Week expressed their joy for the new understanding they acquired about the Mystery of the Eucharist, their even greater appreciation about the life of Peter-Julian Eymard, and above all, a glimpse of the challenges that a eucharistic life presents. It is worthwhile to continue relying on the dynamism of the Eucharist in our province with the aim of bringing the eymardian thought to the reality of the 21st century: The Eucharist is the renewing force of the Church and Society.

 

Father Elibien Joseph, sss
5 Sept. 2021, Bogotá, Colombia

Last modified on Sunday, 03 October 2021 12:34