The Spiritans of the U.S. Province gathered for their Annual Retreat under the theme “Led by the Spirit: Living into the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.” Professed and Lay Spiritans from the United States, Nigeria, France, Ghana, Portugal, Capo Verde, Vietnam, Congo, and Tanzania, were in attendance.
The reflection was led, in part, by retreat directors Lissa Romell and Patricia Gillis. Lissa and Patty are actively involved with the Passionist Community and are both involved in their Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team.
A focus of the week was the connections between the “Laudato Si’ Action Platform” and Spiritan Spirituality. Because the poor are typically on the front line of the negative impact of climate change, the connection between the Spiritian rule of life and care for the earth is clear.
The encyclical phrases it this way: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.” (LS §139)
Throughout the week, the retreat attendees dug deeper into the Laudato Si Action Platform, discussed their unexamined assumptions about western culture, learned about ways the Spiritans are already living out the platform and discussed ways they could do more. They also actively practiced living more sustainably by only eating meat at 1 meal per day during the retreat.
Other portions of the retreat included a mass in remembrance of the deceased family members of the attendees, a visit to an urban community farming project, a cultural celebration of song and dance, and a mass honoring this year’s Jubilarians.
Since the retreat, the resources and presentations from the week were shared with the community, and a Laudato Si’ Resources page was created on the Spiritan website. Now the congregation is establishing plans for personal, community, and province-wide animation for these goals.