Prayer by language groups

Breakfast

Session in the Aula Magna

- Accompaniment of Young Brothers in Community
- Final Version: Proposal of the Young Brothers
- Final Version of:
-
Message to the Brothers
Message to the Lasallian Family
Title of the Chapter

- Report on the CIL
- Proposal that the General Chapter approve the Acts that are pending
- Expressions of gratitude
- Evaluation

Break

Session in the Aula Magna
Message of the Brother Superior

Noon Meal

Closing Eucharist

Apperif

THE CHAPTER COMES TO AN END

When the Chapter began on the 30th day of April, the last day seemed “very far off”.  Now more than a month has passed, lived intensely by all who have taken part in this experience in the “Casa Generalizia”.

Brother Alvaro will give the closing address of the 44th General Chapter.  It will be followed by a Mass of Thanksgiving and the closing supper.  The day after will be one of airports and returns to the Brothers’ respective countries of origin.  And so begins the period of seven intercapitular years.  God be blessed.  Once more His presence has been felt among us.

THE FINAL STAGE OF THE CHAPTER

With the same upbeat spirit of the first day of the Chapter and the satisfaction of a job well done, the Capitulants have begun the last stage of their work.  They are today meeting as Regions with Brother Superior and his Council.  That follows a timetable of the day for PARC, RELAF, RELAL, RELEM and the USA/TORONTO, in that order.  It provides the opportunity to share, separately, their respective strengths, needs and concerns.

“Being Brothers Today: Challenges and Horizons” will be the general title that will introduce the entire work of the Chapter.  Two messages were approved in the Chapter Hall, one the, “Message for the Brothers all over the World” and the other the “Message to the Lasallian Family”.  They are two solid texts, communicating the sentiments of the Capitulants as they come to the end of the Chapter.

CHANGES IN THE RULE

At one time an Ad Hoc Commission was formed for the study of possible changes for the Rule of the Brothers.  Their advice was not to simply make small adjustments.  For a broader study more time would be necessary.  The decision of this Chapter has been to commend the work to Brother Superior General and his Council so that the revision would be discussed and approved in an extraordinary Chapter that would be convoked for that purpose within some years, or dedicating a special session of the 45th Ordinary Chapter of 2014 for the same.

THE FINAL DOCUMENTS ARE APPROVED

The Thematic Groups have been gathering up the suggestions and corrections offered by the Capitulants. They were contrasted with the first drafts of the pertinent texts and the results have been a marked improvement. The discussions and debates have been very good. At the end the Institute will have a series of Documents that will provide inspiration for the next seven years. The Documents so far approved are:

The results, projected electronically on to the big screen, largely reflected consensus as shown by the majority of “affirmative” votes. In the case of “Service of the Poor” there was unanimity of “yes” votes”. Now the Committee of Listening and Writing as well as a few linguistic experts will be redacting all the documents for uniformity of style and with the occasional corrections of spelling and grammar. The documents will finally be published and sent throughout the Institute in official form by Brother Superior General and his Council.

56 HOURS OF FILMING FOR A VIDEO OF 5 MINUTES

A huge poster with the well-known image of de La Salle face has been very visible in the Sanctuary of the Generalate.  It has often appeared on the large screen of the Chapter Hall.  What is fascinating about it is that it is composed of a mosaic of photos.  It is the image that we will carry as a memory of this Chapter.

The Capitulants have heard the beautiful story of this composition.  They have seen the video of just five minutes that required a full 56 hours of filming.  The Brothers of the San Francisco District contracted a filmmaker, Scott Gibbs, to make a film that would bring out the meaning of the Lasallian charism.  For three months, he and his photographer traveled over 80,000 Kms. visiting seven countries where the Brothers of the district either have personnel or have financed Institute programs.

On completing the work, Mr. Gibbs and his photographer wished to speak at a district gathering to tell all that they had found the same Lasallian spirit throughout all those lands.  “The same blood runs through your veins”.  Of the thousands of photographs taken, a large selection was made to compose the mosaic of the Founder.

Three weeks ago with the Chapter already in full activity, word was received that Scott Gibbs has died in California of leukemia.  We remain with his last work of art.