The Congregation Leadership has issued an invitation to brothers who have poetic, musical or artistic gifts to engage with the theme of the 2008 Congregation Chapter : Dare to be Disciples : Passion and Possibility.

If their communication has not reached you and you would like to be involved please make contact.



Letter from Philip Pinto

TO PROVINCE, REGION AND DISTRICT LEADERS


06 September 2006


Dear Brother,

I send you warm greetings from the Congregation Leadership Team in Rome. God has been so good to all of us that from time to time it is important that we recognise the gifts that we are blessed with. It is precisely on account of these gifts that I am writing to you at this time.

We have been spending some time in reflecting on all that has been happening in our Congregation over the past four years. Our reflections have led us to verbalise a theme for our upcoming Congregation Chapter in 2008:
“Dare to be disciples: Passion and Possibility”. We are inviting you to enter into a reflection with us on what this theme is saying to you.

We are also inviting certain Brothers around the Congregation to give creative expression to whatever response this theme calls forth in them. This invitation is being sent to those who have poetic, musical or artistic gifts. I would hope to receive from many such men the fruit of their reflection and creativity in due time. We are setting the
31st of December 2006 as the deadline for the submissions to us.

It is the hope of the Congregation Leadership Team to use some of the submissions before the Chapter. We might also be able to use some of the work during the Chapter. This will help all of us to deepen our reflection as we prepare for this important event in the life of our Congregation.

Thank you for the help you are able to provide. I pray the blessings of creativity on you.


_________________
Br. Philip Pinto
Congregation Leader




Letter from Mark McDonnell

To Artist, Poets & Musicians


Congregation Chapter 2008

Dear Brother

Greetings and best wishes to you from Rome.

I am writing to you in the context of the next Congregation Chapter to be held in India in March 2008. Already, we have had a number of planning sessions, and made a bit of a break through over the summer when we fixed on the theme for this important event. The theme is:

“Dare to be Disciples: Passion and Possibility”


We are hoping to harness as effectively as possible the energies of the whole congregation in preparing for this important congregational gathering – spiritual energies of course, but also on this occasion, the artistic, poetic and musical energies as well.

An invitation is being sent to all of those brothers who have poetic, musical or artistic gifts to encourage them to engage with the Chapter theme, and give creative expression to whatever response this theme elicits in them.

This letter is being sent to your good self because your name surfaced as a brother who is artistically gifted, and one who could make a creative contribution to the flow of artistic energy we are trying to harness in preparation for Chapter 2008.

We are hoping to use the creative endeavours of our brother artists in various way in the lead-in time to the Chapter, and during the Chapter itself. For this reason we are anxious to receive artistic contributions of whatever kind on or before the 31
st December 2006.

With regard to the visual arts, we will be satisfied with a high quality digital image of the work itself, a digital image that can be used in preparatory materials for the Chapter. In due course, it may be possible to match some of the poetic creations with the digital images to produce an artistic congregation brochure.

We are very sure that not all our brother artists are know to us. This invitation is by no means exclusive, and if a brother comes to hear of it indirectly, his contribution will be as welcome as any other.

Encouraging you to allow the Creative Spirit to manifest God’s power in you,

Yours fraternally,
Anthony Mark McDonnell