In keeping with the spirit of GC 36 and as a follow-up of the recommendations given in the recent letters of Fr.General on Discernment in Common, the Assistancy organized a workshop on ‘Discernment in Common and Apostolic Planning’ for the representative Jesuits from the Provinces of the North and Central Zones. It was held in Navjivan Renewal Centre, Delhi from 6th evening to 8th evening April 2018. Twenty-five Jesuits from the provinces of Darjeeling, Delhi, Jamshedpur, Madya Pradesh, Patna, Ranchi and Nepal Region participated in it. Frs. Siji, Brian Pereira and Raj Irudaya were the animators of the workshop.
The participants were helped to reflect on the deliberations of the first fathers in Venice and the development of discernment in common in the Society after Venice till now. The letters of Fr.General on Discernment in Common and Universal Apostolic Preferences were also shared and reflected upon. The method of spiritual conversation was used for group sharings. The participants also went through an exercise of choosing universal apostolic preferences. They were also introduced to the aim, method and process of apostolic planning. The active participation and involvement of the participants made the workshop very fruitful. The participants were all given the copies of the resource materials used during the workshop. They also felt confident to conduct this workshop in their respective provinces.
We sincerely thank all the Provincials who had sent their men to this workshop. We are also much grateful to Fr. George Peter, the Director of NRC and the administrator Fr. Anil Minj for having helped us to conduct this workshop in a conducive ambience. The same workshop will be also conducted for the representative Jesuits from the Provinces of South and West zones from 4th evening to 6th evening, May 2018 in Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru.
- Raj Irudaya, S.J.
For the Organizing Team