Rome (Italy), 03/06/2015.- To mark the occasion of the eighth centenary of the Order and the 50th anniversary of the Constitution Dei Verbum, an international symposium on the Word of God was held at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas ANGELICUM - Rome from 25 to 27 February 2016. Over 300 persons from the five continents participated in this Congress. About 30 sisters of our Congregation attended the Congress: the sisters currently living a formative experience in the CEMP, others from the community of Sainville and of Rome. It was a meeting of high quality, deep theological reflection, open environment in a simple and fraternal sharing between sisters and brothers.
There were three aspects to the program: revelation, prophecy, preaching. The wealth and breadth of the presentations opens to a greater and better understanding of the evangelizing task in our world today. St. Thomas Aquinas, the great theologian, never lost sight of his identity as a preacher. This was the path followed by the Friars Preachers at the beginning of the Order and this was the project, Marie Poussepin desired for the community: preaching through the service of charity.How to preach today? This was a key question present at the background of the congress. The communication of the Word of God requires a deep identification with the Gospel values. Listening to the Lord and His Word in the world today, "conversion to one’s neighbor” emerges as a vital requirement which could nourish theological reflection in search for a horizon of hope. Congress led to an awareness that God continues to speak in many ways and that claims the preacher, of each of us, simplicity, openness to the spirit, to know how to come close to Jesus and to each one of those to whom we are sent.
