| 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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