Meeting 2 - “That they may be one” ********************************** .. tags:: content|unity|Unity, content|church|Church, content|love|Love, method|text-work|Text work, method|sharing-questions|Sharing questions, type|prayer-meeting|Prayer meeting Goal of the meeting =================== At the meeting, we want to lean over the images of the Church in the Holy Scripture. In point 3, the image of the Church as the Bride was intentionally not mentioned. After sharing which image is closest to me and presenting my idea, we move smoothly to the prayer of the echo of the word. We present one more image - precisely the one in which God reveals his love for his children, this boundless and unique love that only He has, and we want to pray with this. Today we propose prayer with a specific, longer fragment from the Holy Scripture - if someone does not want to "pray to the screen", it is worth using your own Bible, a paper one ;) As for the prayer itself, today we propose a slightly "more difficult" form than yesterday. However, adapting it to the needs of the group remains within the discretion of the animator - if necessary, the text from the Scripture can be used as a basis for meditation, conduct the prayer yourself, and finally end simply with a common "Amen". Meeting goals: - getting to know biblical images of the Church - sharing - what image of the Church do I carry in my heart? - common prayer - experiencing one's individuality in relation to the community Introduction + sharing ====================== Quick discernment if everything works technically, briefly remind about the rules established at the first meeting - one sentence is enough, that the arrangements from the previous day remain valid. Reference to the conference: we propose that the animator themselves encourage the group to share - however, in the online space this may prove difficult. Below are helper questions for sharing: * What surprised me in the conference? * What are my thoughts and feelings, starting from yesterday, about unity in itself and unity in the Church? Images of the Church ==================== Unity in itself is difficult to grasp. It is impossible to say in one sentence what it is. We can observe this in our statements; we will probably also notice it in the accounts of our Travelers. That is why now we want to look at the images of the Church appearing in the Holy Scripture and share our feelings about it. SHEEPFOLD Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. /John 10:1-4/ VINE Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. /John 15:4-5/ GOD'S FAMILY So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God. /Eph 2:19/ GOD'S TEMPLE Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. /1 Cor 3:16-17/ Let's ask: * Which comparison is closest to me? Why? * If I had to compare the Church to something, what would it be? The last question may turn out to be difficult or even unanswered by some people (not everyone can use metaphors or come up with something "on the fly"). It is worth giving participants a longer moment to think here. It is also a good moment for participants to grasp what they live by and what can help them build unity, how to look for "common ground" with others. Prayer - Echo of the Word ========================= We saw the Church presented with various images, we shared our own idea of how it can be presented. There is one more image of the Church - of the Bride, beloved by God. We can read about it in the fragment from the book of Isaiah (Is 54:4-10), with which we want to pray now: | Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; | do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; | for you will forget the shame of your youth, | and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more. | For your Maker is your husband, | the LORD of hosts is his name; | the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, | the God of the whole earth he is called. | For the LORD has called you | like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, | like the wife of a man's youth when she is cast off, | says your God. | For a brief moment I abandoned you, | but with great compassion I will gather you. | In overflowing wrath for a moment | I hid my face from you, | but with everlasting love | I will have compassion on you, | says the LORD, your Redeemer. | This is like the days of Noah to me: | Just as I swore that the waters of Noah | would never again go over the earth, | so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you | and will not rebuke you. | For the mountains may depart | and the hills be removed, | but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, | and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, | says the LORD, who has compassion on you. -- Is 54:4-10 Practical notes: After yesterday's slightly simplified prayer, today we want to propose an "echo of the word" in the form of spontaneous prayer. At the beginning, let's read the whole fragment, and then leave space so that everyone can read a verse (or several) at any time (of course in freedom) that touches them in a special way, and which they would like to make their prayer. This time we no longer read in turn, but speak spontaneously. By assumption, this is not a simultaneous prayer, but of course, if two or several people start speaking at the same time, nothing will happen - everyone finishes their "statement" and we pray further. The Body ======== Let's move now to the image that most strongly expresses the essence of unity in the Church. Let's read: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. [...] If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension in the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. -- 1 Cor 12:12,14-27 Below we present questions for sharing. This is a very important place for the animator's testimony about how diversity is needed in building unity. One can cite, for example, the creation of this retreat, where no one can tell the other "I don't need you", because each of us individually would not be able to create such a work, even if they are talented in all directions. * Which part of the body do I feel like today, at this given moment of my life? Why? (you can suggest to participants that they don't have to stick rigidly to the mentioned legs and hands - you can expand the "catalog" to include the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.) * With what would I like to build the community of the Church? What do I plan to give it someday? * In what situations do I want to rely only on myself? When do I say to others "I don't need you"? Summary ======= Let the summary of the meeting be the words from the Gospel of St. John: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. -- John 17:20-23 The next point of the retreat will be the Tent of Meeting, after which we will write our unity letters. We will experience this point individually, each in their "own room", where God can talk to us "face to face". It is worth leaning over it especially to draw unity from its source - from God, who in himself is the perfect unity of three persons. May this meeting with Him be a driving force for us to build unity with others, with the Church in which we abide, and an inspiration to express unity in the content of the letter.