Communication nº 5 Rome, 5 July 2009   Today we began by celebrating the Sunday Eucharist together, prepared by the Capitulars from the Democratic Republic of Congo in the name of the sisters of Kenya and Tanzania. The celebrant was Alexander Zatyrka sj.  On entering the Chapter room we were given the working document, elaborated with the input from the Provincial Chapters, which will be the basis of our reflection for the next few days. After that, there was a mime inspired by Art. XIII, 3 of the Constitutions, which set the scene for the topic that we were going to reflect on during the morning: Communication and new technologies. After receiving the instructions for our work, we had a time for personal reflection. Then, in groups formed of persons from different places we formulated commitments for the topic on which we were working. The secretary of each group reported to the assembly the commitments that had been agreed. The reflections shared made us aware that we need to discover that, as educators, we are called to accompany people in the appropriate, responsible, useful, critical and ethical use of technology as a means which helps to build up personal identity from true human values.  This need, considered in Christian terms, gave rise to the call to become “TECHNOMYSTAGOGOS” – a new word coined by one of the groups which resonated with the assembly. After lunch and a rest, the topic of work for the afternoon was introduced: Inter-culturality and solidarity / Insertion in the world of poverty and exclusion. Miriam Berengué, the person in charge of the FISC Projects, described the impact FISC has had in different countries from the years 2002 to 2008. Following that, we worked on the topic presented, using a similar method to the work of the morning. In our afternoon reflection we highlighted a common feeling: the solidarity that we should live and which should characterize us, springs from our encounter with Jesus in the Gospel. It begins with those around us and goes beyond our frontiers, linking us to our reality as part of the Universal Company of Mary. The day’s work left many echoes in our hearts, with joy, a feeling of deep communion, the conviction that we are on a common journey and openness to discernment with a view to the future… Discovering the common threads in the sharing of the different groups was truly significant… We are united by a charism… a project… a shared view… a vision for the future in which each one, from his/her own context and concrete task makes unity in diversity possible. To end the day, there was something that touched our hearts and made us turn our eyes again to our horizon of meaning, the Kingdom. It was the presentation of the audiovisual The Last Prayer, which has been re-done by Cristina Sanz odn as a contribution to the Chapter. To “listen today to the words of St. Jeanne as she looked back at her life, questions us and makes us feel responsible for the work begun by her over 400 years ago. Now it’s in our hands to carry it on!