Reflector's Report

Abstract

I. General impressions All in all, I am delighted to have had the opportunity to take part in this conference in Athens and have been greatly blessed. Let me share with you my immediate no doubt incomplete and subjective reactions to some of the things that have struck me; things I have found to be very positive and challenging, things that I regretted, things that will inspire me for the future. The main theme of the conference, the prayer and sharing of thoughts in the home groups, the ground covered in the presentations and synaxeis day by day helped to deepen my understanding of this dimension of my faith. It has helped me to reinforce my commitment to being present in the community, bearing witness and seeking to bring about healing and reconciliation, in a community where the Spirit can be at work. The general movement balances the link between my personal responsibility and my membership of a community, my own thinking and that of my community, to which I have to contribute. This should lead me to make a commitment, to look for what has to be changed in my attitudes and in the attitudes of the church to which I belong. I appreciated the fact that, on a number of occasions, this challenge was seen a challenge for every one of the churches present at the meeting, in a spirit of community and without any attempts on the part of this or that church to claim priority for its own particular efforts and commitment. The emphasis on the importance of justice, solidarity, fraternal respect and the central place of mission as the expression of Trinitarian love could be felt throughout the days and in every hour of every day. I liked the way that theological reflection was rooted in community and church experience and in touch with the realities of the world in which we live. We seem to have gone beyond the time of declarations of principle and reached a time of reflection centred on the Triune God, enabling us to call on the Spirit to heal and reconcile us in our personal lives, in our lives as communities and churches and in the wider world, in our societies where we are called by Jesus Christ to be agents of healing and reconciliation. The way the work was organized throughout the conference meant that participants were able to immerse themselves every day in the word of God, in the lectio divina each morning, a time of sharing and listening together to the word, its echo in the life of today and the enrichment of hearing what inspires the members of the group and what guides them in their daily lives. The diversity of the group both as regards church background and their engagement in different regions of the world, bringing in the wider dimension of all the continents, made these moments of sharing a truly profound and enriching experience. The worship services morning and evening centred our listening, sharing and reflection in the heart of the Trinity, with a rich and varied approach, and offered a practical experience of ecumenism in worship. My one regret, however, is that the texts we received in the home groups in the morning were not the ones used in the assembly worship. This would have been a way to create a unifying link for the day as well as among all the group members. No doubt there is a richness and variety here that could be seen as the elements of a mosaic but, for that, the little stones of different shapes and colours have to form a whole and not remain as separate, unrelated entities devoid of harmony. The way in which this conference was organized is no doubt a reflection of our times in this post-modern world; the structure was not oppressive and we had great freedom of choice, especially for the synaxeis, for instance, in varied enriching and complementary forms, and in the opportunity for contacts, meetings and discussions with people from many different backgrounds. The plenaries especially confirmed the theological thinking that has spread in our churches in recent years, focussed on the Trinity, which turns us towards the other and others and receives us together into it. …