The second nationwide meeting of the Together in Mission program – a special project created for the formation and cooperation of lay partners and religious people in the field of evangelization was held on June 24-26, 2022, in Krakow. This program was developed by the Secretariat for Cooperation in the Mission of the Redemptorist Province of Warsaw, consisting of religious and lay people.
The meeting was attended by Redemptorists and lay leaders of the communities from Poland, Belarus and a representative of a Polish community interested in cooperation from Amsterdam, Netherlands.
During the first session of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to get to know each other and watch the show “The Magic of Sin” by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, played by the theatre deacony of the School of Evangelization Sursum Corda from Krakow.
The next day began with morning meditation according to the method of St. Alfonsus. It was followed by the first session of the day, preceded by a word of support and encouragement from the fathers of the European Redemptorist Conference: Fr. Johannes Römelt C.Ss.R, Coordinator of the Conference, and Fr. Giovanni Congiu C.Ss.R, president of the CRE Secretariat of Evangelization.
During the session, Father Paweł Drobot C.Ss.R summed up the year of work of “Together in Mission” project and recalled the goal and strategies of action: first evangelization, then formation in small groups where faith is effectively passed on. The essence of the work is to preach the Good News. Without evangelization as the first and foremost goal, the entire project will stagnate. There is no need for someone to volunteer to help in the preaching work if they are not first evangelized.
After the end of the first phase of the meeting, each community prepared and presented a several-minute summary of the work undertaken in their town, along with plans for the future. At the end of the first session, Fr. Drobot presented the third volume of his work notebooks with the formation program for the entire next year.
Fr. Sylwester Pactwa C.Ss.R, delegate to the 26th General Chapter of the Redemptorists, introduced the participants to the issue of synodality during the afternoon session. The afternoon session was concluded with group work, in which we thought about how we can more effectively carry out in our own environment the mission of the Church and Congregation, the subject of which we are both lay and religious.
The last part of the second day of the convention was a barbecue in the convent’s garden, where we were visited by Fr. Janusz Sok C.Ss.R – the Superior of the Redemptorist Province of Warsaw.
On Sunday, the participants met for the last session on “The value of cooperation”. It was also a time to share the experience of growth and the challenges facing the communities involved in the “Together in Mission” project.
The meeting ended with a Holy Mass, celebrated with the parish community at the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Krakow-Podgórze.
Br. Jakub Ciepły, C.Ss.R, Major Seminary of the Redemptorists in Tuchów
