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Let Us Journey Together
Bishop John Hine, Chair of the Committee for Marriage and Family Life, a committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, was the keynote speaker at the recent weekend Gathering of the Transatlantic Super-Region of Equipes Notre Dame.
The Transatlantic Super-Region covers a number of English-speaking countries including Great Britain, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Malawi. On the weekend of October 8th to 10th, 76 couples and 9 chaplains met in the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, for the second Super-Regional Gathering, together with guests from USA and Australia. 7 couples came from Trinidad, and 2 from South Africa, but sadly the Malawi representatives were refused entry Visas. A lively programme was also provided for 23 children who accompanied their parents to the event.
Bishop John spoke on the topic of "Journeying as a Christian Couple in the Modern World", and noted that the theme of the Gathering "gives a great picture of the whole church, all of us, united on our pilgrim journey through life, helping each other along the way, and in this way constitutes a clear challenge to a culture which is riddled with individualism and competitiveness, with all the problems this raises for the whole notion of marriage." Turning to the couples in the hall, he noted that, "You are the ones who live the intimacy of marriage day by day, and as teams, you reflect on your experience, on the joys and agonies, on the growing pains involved in the stages of marriage as well as the freedom it can bring of living in the truth of an honest relationship where pretence and protection have become irrelevant."
The programme over the weekend also included reflective liturgies, talks and workshops. Peter and Di Wordsworth, former Regional Couple for Northern Britain gave a practical talk on Team Life - "Down the Garden Path", comparing Teams Life to the jobs and seasons in a vegetable garden - preparing the soil in Spring is like spreading the news of Teams, sowing the seed is like piloting watering is like liaison - they concluded that the compost heap was equivalent to the teams review meeting at the end of the year - messy, but vital for getting good spiritual growth the following year. On Sunday, Canon John Udris, Dean of Northampton Cathedral spoke of St Therese of Lisieux and her way of prayer, which, in her own words, ‘For me prayer is a surge of the heart, a simple look turned towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial and as well as joy.' Making comparisons to the teams endeavours for prayer, he concluded by suggesting that St Therese would ask each one of us, ‘why should this treasure not be yours?'
The weekend closed with a joyful Mass after which Paul and Helena McCloskey, and Father Ken Payne, who celebrated 50 years as a priest earlier this year, handed over responsibility for the Super-Region to Antony and Janet Denman, and Canon John Udris.
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Logo of the XI International Gathering of the Teams of Our Lady
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Dear Friends,
We are off to Brasilia together!
It has been announced, and here are the details: the next International Gathering in Brazil, result of the "blank page" presented to the meeting of Regional Couples in Rome in January 2009, is at our door:
• The place: Brasilia.
• The dates : 21/26 July 2012.
• The title: To dare to live the Gospel.
• The gospel chosen as the theme: The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10, 25-37)
Another very important sign was born and will accompany us during these next two years: the LOGO for the Gathering, fruit of the work of a Brazilian team-member and selected from among other very beautiful images by the participants at the College of Madrid in 2010. It is a very beautiful image that has several meanings: we invite you to discover them in the enclosed explanatory sheet. Always keep this image in your heart; it is the image that unites us all the way to Brasilia 2012!
We invite you, team-members throughout the world, to start preparing for this journey that will lead us to the XIth International Gathering of our Movement: undoubtedly not everyone will be physically present at the final destination, Brasilia, but all will be able to participate in the lead up stages and share the experience of conversion which is always lived each time one undertakes a journey of the heart and soul.
We strongly desire that the actual participation at the meeting in Brasilia is as large as possible!
This is why we hope that each one of you, coming from all countries of the world, perceives the need and makes the effort to really be present at this extraordinary event that for the first time takes us outside Europe, to Brazil, a country that, among the very first after France, welcomed the message of Father Caffarel with enthusiasm. To be there means basically that the internationality of the Movement will have the face of thousands of team-members who, from each corner of the earth, set about finding themselves around the banquet and at the feast to which the Lord Himself calls us....
We understand that for some couples it will not be easy to plan a distant voyage and "commit" from an economic point of view! But we want to forcibly underline the witness given by fellow team-members from Brazil: their enthusiasm and their love for the Movement moved them to come to the preceding Gatherings in Europe in greater numbers. These team-members did not back away from an economic sacrifice to be able to take part in the International Gatherings of Rome, Fatima, Santiago, and Lourdes: they now await us in their home with joy and anxiety: they await our sharing the same enthusiastic response!
And we also want to stress that all the ERI, and us personally, are convinced that this International Gathering in Brazil, the first non-European one in the history of our Movement, offers us an interpretation and an answer to the signs of times: The youth of the Church, renewal of the Spirit, the strong conversion that requires us to return to the roots of our faith, it should be sought today outside this old Europe which shows all its limitations and its frailty. We are certain that these thoughts are shared by many among you
and that each team-member, each team, each Sector, each Region and each Super-Region will do their utmost so that the XIth International Gathering experiences the greatest participation from all the team-members of the world.
We said that the journey starts as soon as one starts to think about it and to prepare for it: it is there too that expectation starts. Each time something is announced, the expectation also starts. The Gospel is filled with announcements that are followed by expectations. In the same way, each person's life is a permanent expectation because the present alone is not enough for anybody, and we all look to the future, while living the present.
The grain of wheat hidden in the ground during the long winter will grow, because it dreams of the wheat ear to come: it is this image of the future wheat ear that forces the present forwards. How often do we also live the present in a more intense and stronger way because we already see the future?
It is the same for our faith is it not? Isn't it the certainty of a future of eternity with God that gives direction to our present life and invites us to forge ahead in our daily lives?
The XIth International Gathering in Brasilia set for July 2012 therefore starts today, when the meeting becomes for each one of us a call to take part. The time of expectation also starts, a time that, if lived in-depth and with faith, will be a time of renewal and richness for all the movement. The theologian and biblical scholar Bruno Maggioni says that "the temptation for those who seek God is to always confine God's gift to their own expectation: but God does not allow himself to be confined to the expectations of man: he expands them." For this reason the phenomenon of the International Gathering concerns all the team-members of the world and not only those that will take part in it physically. Indeed, it is only through a community walk involving all the team-members of each country of the earth, that the final meeting in Brasilia is bound to be a strong time of faith and meeting with God.
In Brazil, 18 service teams, coordinated by Roberto and Garça Rocha, have been at work for months to best bring about this great event. We express our great thanks to Graça and Roberto and all the couples who with much of love made themselves available for this service.
You will find all the practical information in the dossiers that will follow. But be aware that your Regional and Super-Regional couples will also have all the information at the appropriate time. Also consult the website created for this event where you will find all the updates: www.Brasilia2012.com
Good journey, good cheer and may God bless us all!
Carlo and Maria Carla Volpini Father Angelo Epis
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T.O.O.L. - Satellite Team "old teams and old team-members"
The satellite team "old teams and old team-members" met in London,May 23rd and 24th 2009 in the presence of To and Ze Moura Soares to give a progress report on its work. The team compiled a working paper with use for persons in charge of the Movement on the old team-members and the way of giving them all their place in the Movement. This document was given to the College of Rome last January and it is under examination by the Super-Regions. A final version will be prepared for September 2009. The team also started its thinking about the ideas to be proposed for the teams having already a certain seniority and wishing to go further in their life of faith and charity as for those who want simply to return to the sources of the charisma of the Movement. It will be based on the experiments already known in this field, in particular the years of deepening and the old teams which existed in the years 1960-1980. Its work will lead to the drafting of a working paper at the end of 2009.
MEETING OF THE SATELLITE TEAM FOR TRAINING,
VERONA, SEPTEMBER 4-5, 2009
The Satellite Team for Training, consisting of four couples from three different countries, with its leaders, To and Zé Moura Soares, met in Verona, Italy, in the first weekend in September. Over these few days of intense work, the exchange and familiarity between us grew and strengthened the work already developed throughout the whole year. During this second meeting, we revised the general document on training, together with various specific training files within the Teams of Our Lady framework. Afterwards, we put together a work plan for the next year concerningpermanent training and a dictionary in 5 languages of the terms most used in the Teams of Our Lady. It is terribly important to realize that the work method accentuates good communication between the Super Regions and the ERI (International Leading Team), so that there is a fruitful exchange about the various documents worked upon. It is a service that ought to answer the Super Regions' needs and ought not to be felt as a burden. The idea is to see training as a continuous and continual way for team members to grow and mature within the Teams of Our Lady movement, so that they realize and understand their calling to holiness and to serve others. It is also important to understand that the international aspect is always present in these documents, since they are propositions made for the intention of all countries where there are teams. In addition, the goal of unifying the movement and being faithful to the charisma of the Teams of Our Lady is essential. Finally, despite the fact that these documents were the primary concern of the couples participating in the Satellite Team for Training, the wonderful, warm hospitality of the Verona team members must be remembered and thanked.
EDUCATIONAL SATELLITE TEAM (ESP1)
The third meeting of ESP1 was held at the Social Centre of Saint Mary's Church, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA, from July 31st to August 2nd, 2009. All members of this team, together with the Spiritual Counselor Father Ricardo Londoño, and To and Zé from the ERI (International Leading Team) participated. A new couple, Lourdes and Sobral from Brazil, were introduced to the Team. They will replace Cida and Raimundo, who have been nominated to take up the leadership of the Brazil Super Region. At the beginning of this meeting, To and Zé, who are in charge of the Satellites Teams' work, presented a synthesis of all that the Satellite Teams have accomplished, and then set out the directions and end goal for the new document that the ESP1 will produce, a second Study Topic. During this meeting, we developed the first document produced by ESP1 in view of its publication; we evaluated the final text of the second piece of work, the Study Topic, that is already finished; and we drew up a plan for the next piece of work, in line with the directions and end goal presented by To and Zé.
ESP1's various pieces of work should be finished for the International College of International Leading Teams (ERI) in 2011.
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The meeting of the International Leading Team |
The International Leading Team (ERI) will meet in Paris, 16-21 March 2012.
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Letter from the International Leading Team (ERI)
October/November 2011
VI - Renewal Stage:Back to our Roots & Missionary Commitment
In this article, we continue our commemorative voyage recalling the gatherings held in recent years by our Movement. It seemed important to us to get ready and to prepare ourselves with an even greater sensitivity and a larger spirit of international unity for our meeting at Brasilia next summer.
Back to our Roots & Missionary Commitment: these are the characteristics of the last three gatherings held in 1988, 1994 and 2000.
This stage represented not only a real challenge for Team members, but also a strong call to commitment and fidelity to our vocation and mission. The effect of the post-Vatican II renewal is surely visible here and our Movement participated energetically. In the three gatherings post-Vatican II the same dynamism opened both doors and windows to couples in the Movement onto the realities of the world so that they could become agents of the renewal.
7th International Gathering. From September 19-23, 1988, 2660 couples and 337 priests from the Movement met in Lourdes, France. Alvaro and Mercedes Gomez-Ferrer, from the Spanish Super-Region, became the Responsible Couple of the International Leading Team.
A new ‘Pentecost' came into being in the Movement. It was a time when it stopped to catch its breathe, an ‘aggiornamento' in order to update and so came to be called ‘A Fresh Approach'.
It is important to recall-and the whole Movement studied this-that in 1987 Father Caffarel proclaimed his famous speech at Chantilly, that practically prepared this Fresh Approach. It is also important to remember that the Movement had now to move ahead without the guidance of its founder. It had to fight against habit, routine even, and had to avoid the effects of time.
In order to move ahead, it had to return to its roots. It had to avoid the monopoly of ‘giving orders' in order to learn to act collegially. It had to make sure the basic Team members were involved to become the builders of the Movement. Finally, once the needs of the time were understood, we were all stimulated to live and experience the following truths in our daily lives:
-Marriage is in the service of love and is its greatest guarantee
-Marriage and the family are the natural terrains of happiness
-Marriage is the way to holiness
Undoubtedly, the 1988 Gathering can be considered to be a major signpost on the Teams' route because the proposals it put forward then have influenced the evolution of the Movement as well as the subsequent International Gatherings right up to today.
8th International Gathering. From July 18-23, 1994, 5500 Team members participated at Fatima, Portugal. The theme topic was ‘Invited to the Wedding of Cana'.
It is important to note that the UN declared 1994 to be the International Year of the Family. And so, the central theme of the Gathering could only be the family. Indeed, the preparatory topic that had been suggested for study was entitled ‘Being a Family today in the Church and in the World.'
Once again, the accent was placed on the vocation and mission of the Teams of Our Lady in today's world, just as Father Caffarel had wished for.
Another important aspect of this Gathering was the presentation of the project entitled Evangelising Sexuality.
Also for the first time, the Responsible Couple of the International Leading Team (ERI) were Brazilian, Igar and Cidinha Fehr. Father Cristobal Sarrias joined them and became its Spiritual Counsellor.
An important idea emerged at this Gathering and was articulated by the beloved Father Olivier, Spiritual Counsellor to the International Leading Team who died a year ago. He pointed out, ‘It is the Lord who makes the wine of Eternity. But we need to bring the water, that is we need to bring our humble and faithful everyday lives. This means our lives as a couple, as a family, at work. We bring the little of which we are capable and the Lord transforms it, he illuminates it with his grace and through his love. So, Brothers and Sisters, start working! Fill the jars with water so that the Lord may transform it in to the wine of the Kingdom!'
9th International Gathering. From Fatima, we move to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, where 7500 Team members met September 18-23, 2000. Marie-Christine and Gérard de Roberty, from the French Super-Region, became Responsible Couple and Monsignor François Fleischmann Spiritual Counsellor of the International Leading Team.
‘Being a Christian Couple Today in the Church and in the World' was the theme topic. Team members were presented with an itinerary that enabled them to question and think about how to change their hearts in order to be able to answer the needs of the Church and of the world. There were 3 different stages:
-Being a Person
-Being a Couple
-Being a Missionary Couple in the Church and in the World
The fundamental idea of this Gathering could be summed up as everything we received has not been given to us to keep, but to pass on and this is the reason for our hope.
If we believe we have received a lot from the Movement, that is also why the Movement, a gift from God to us, expects a commitment from us to become involved in the various services that are necessary to keep it alive. It is always the Lord who gives. It is always the Lord who calls us. It is always the Lord who awaits our reply.
International Leading Team
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