We had our first CANA International team meeting in Italy: it was a blessing to spend those few days in Rome, an opportunity to entrust the CANA mission and our different realities to the graces of the Jubilee!
The core of our work was carried out in committees of three people: updating the CANA fraternity leaders’ handbook with a view to the CANA year, coordinating the finances of a CANA country with the support of CANA International, formats and content of CANA week, mandates for CANA country leaders, support for CANA open days, external communication, and work on a guide for bishops and church leaders.
These small committees enabled concrete and effective work while taking into account the diverse cultural realities we represent.
We also had the joy of spending time with Sandrine & Riccardo, the new CANA leaders in Italy. Their presence allowed us to articulate a general vision and root it in local reality. Italy is one of the 11 pilot countries, and their feedback on the CANA year was very encouraging!
For this year’s CANA, the main challenges ahead of us are to continue to clarify the duration of the CANA journey, to promote the CANA sending ceremony, and to equip CANA leaders for this post-CANA accompaniment. We will devote our February meeting to this work around the CANA year.
Our time in Rome also provided an opportunity for some enriching visits: the Colosseum; Saint Praxedes and its mosaics; Saint Mary Major for our jubilee celebration; the tomb of Pope Francis… not to mention the grace of ending our meeting with a Eucharist in the rooms of Ignatius, to entrust our team and our year to the intercession of Ignatius.
Finally, we had the joy of praying together (prayer group, fraternal reconciliation…) and putting fraternity at the heart of our meeting (sharing, exchanges, international celebration…). This week was lived peacefully and in the joy of a rich reunion.
In conclusion, the words we received from 2 Corinthians 4:6-12 reminded us how much the CANA mission is a treasure for the Community… and how much we carry it in clay vessels.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
We will have two more meetings this year: in February in Lankwitz, Germany, and in April at La Cartuja in Zaragoza, Spain, where we entrust ourselves to your prayers.
To be continued !
