Living together as brothers
Friday, October 4, was the last day of the four-week Tutti Fratelli Program held at the General House of the de la Salle Brothers with 60 brothers from 14 congregations and 35 countries participating.
The day started with the Morning Prayer inspired by the upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Pan Amazon Region and using the themes of the REPAM (Red Eclesial Pan-Amazónica or Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network).
It was followed by the session with Superiors General. We were blessed with the presence of the SG's of the de la Salle Brothers, the Brothers of St. Gabriel, the Brothers of Charity, the Holy Family and the Marist Brothers. They shared with the participants their and their Institutes' respective challenges, difficulties and hopes. During the open forum, the participants had the opportunity to express their views and comments on what they heard as well as to ask questions for further clarification.
To ensure that the experience did not end in Rome, the brothers were invited to go into regional groups to talk about and come up with concrete plans on how to spread the vision of the Tutti Fratelli to as many other religious brothers throughout the world as possible. The morning session was highlighted by the distribution of the Certificates of Attendance in a simple dynamic akin to a graduation rite.
In the afternoon, the participants gathered again to receive directions regarding the evaluation of the whole program, which was afterwards done online by each.
Later in the afternoon was the Closing Liturgy which used the symbol of the apron, signifying that we are all servant leaders and that we "wash one another's feet" as we continue the work of the Church through our respective missions. As his personal prayer, each participant and team member then expressed his words of gratitude.
The remainder of the evening after dinner was fellowship night with songs, dances, poetry, cultural sharing, games and drinks. It was a fitting conclusion to the month-long experience of living together as Tutti Fratelli.