Daily Report Apostolic Congress 2018, Salatiga-Indonesia Sunday 14, January 2018

All participants of the FIC Apostolic Congress arrived safely in Roncalli Retreat House, Salatiga-Indonesia in good condition and health on 14^th October 2018 and were warmly welcomed by our fellow brothers in Indonesia.

Bro. Frans Dwiyatno, the Provincial Superior of Indonesia welcomed all participants to Roncalli Retreat House for the two-week encounter in the following words: "It’s time to meet each other and share the joy of Christmas and the new year that we recently celebrated. May the joy of Christmas truly dwell in our hearts.”

He also gave some remarks on the apostolic congress, as follows: “The Indonesia province warmly welcomes the 2018 Apostolic Congress because we realize that there is urgent need to confirm the meaning of our apostolate. The need emerged during the evaluation of the implementation of our Constitutions and the 2012 Chapter resolutions. We feel that the resolutions have been implemented in the best possible ways but it remains profane and less attractive to the youth. The apostolic work that is not so popular such as formation, house apostolate, farm work and charismatic apostolate lack appreciation in the community. So there is lack of spirit in their implementation and it tends to decrease our enthusiasm. In this situation we feel that we need to confirm our apostolic identity both in and out of the community. Besides, all phenomena of decreasing the apostolic quality that we and the society experience, there is the need to learn again from the founders of the Congregation, new ways of integrating our apostolate, community life while nurturing our spiritual life. We hope that the opportunity of sharing, deepening, the inputs and exposure during the Congress will help us understand better the signs of the times ....”

The theme of the Apostolic Congress “Called Together and Sent Out, in the spirit of Internationality and Solidarity”, is derived from chapter 2 of our Constitutions, especially article 15. It requires us to engage in a corporate mission, as a community as well as a Congregation.

In his Opening Address, the General Superior, Bro. Martin Handoko indicated the main purpose of the Congress as follows: "to reflect, share and discuss ways and means to realize our call to continue the work of Jesus. It is clearly stipulated in article 15 of our Constitutions that “as brothers we know ourselves to be called together and thus sent out to continue the work of Jesus.” “Doing apostolate for the sake of the Kingdom” is for us the main motivation of our being religious brothers. As a Congregation we Brothers FIC have a specific way of doing our mission. We do it in accordance with the spirit of our Founders. Our Founders, by divine initiative and impetus went beyond the common Christian vision of their times. We, the brothers, want to maintain the heritage and spirit of our founders, in solidarity with those in need. Our Founders were concerned about the real needs of the people and did concrete things accordingly, because they were ceased by the Spirit.”

During the opening session, participants expressed their hopes and expectations. The following are a few examples: “To be aware of the new ways doing our apostolate in this challenging time; that the congress will bear fruit and that we may discover a new apostolic spirit in this challenging time; that the congress will come to a recommendation or proposal to the General Chapter; to enable us understand the apostolate of our elderly brothers in The Netherlands; to understand that our apostolate starts in the community; understand the position of lay people in our apostolate; to understand the signs of the times and find ways of facing them and to come to a realization of our charism; to become more aware of the spirit of our founders; to understand and interpret our apostolate as a church; to know how other provinces are implementing the 10 values of Brother Bernard; among others”

After the opening session we proceeded to have our opening Eucharistic Celebration followed by supper. We were joined by some of our fellow brothers in the neighborhood. We, the participants of the Congress felt supported by their presence and the readings during the mass. Like Samuel, we have to listen to the call of God, we have to open ourselves and be ready to answer, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Thus, we started the congress in a good way and we hope that at the end we will arrive at some valuable ideas or proposals for the General Chapter 2018.

Theodorus Suwaryanto