FIC Spiritual Journey- Maastricht, day seven (Bro. Adrianus Kristi)

Date: Saturday, 7 October 2023

We opened the day with a morning prayer which has the theme “Totality of Freedom to Radically follow Jesus,” led by Bro. Mike Mbato from Malawi Province. Today, the weather is looking bright and warm enough for the non-Dutch brothers.  

In the first session, Bro. Theodorus gave us a short retrospection of the passing week.  He also asked some questions to facilitate the reflection: a) What feelings arise after going through the activities of the first week? b) Which activities or materials touched you the most? c) What in particular did you take away as a memory from the first week's activities? d) Write in one sentence what expresses your mind and heart after going through these activities. 

He also gave out some booklet as a source of reflection with the theme, “Our Call and Mission to Live the Spirituality of the Congregation.”  At the end of this booklet, he stressed that we can reflect more deeply on several things, including the following: Why should I develop my personal dignity as the image of God? To what extent do I live the call and mission of our congregation? How do I try to present myself as the image of God and accept God’s presence in my neighbor?

The plan after the explanation was to watch a short movie about the early development of the FIC Congregation. The plan did not work because there was a problem with the connection cable between the beamer and the computer. Therefore, participants spent the rest of the morning for reflection on the past week. They did their reflection individually and in silence.

After lunch, we visited the mini museum and FIC history room which are located on the ground floors of the General Council offices. There, we were received by Bro. Lo Koeleman, Bro. Gerard Langelaan and Bro. Raphael Besigrinee. We were divided into two groups to go around the place. Participants received some history booklets containing the introduction to the historical places of our Congregation. Bros. Lo and Gerard gave explanation on some of the materials in the archives and the artifacts in the history room. This brought an end to the afternoon program.  

In the evening we had a free time to rest. 

Prepared by: Bro. Adrianus K