In this issue of "InChiostro," we'll tell you about a truly unique gathering taking place at the seminary one Friday a month. This is the prayer meeting for vocations, which for several years has attracted many people from very different backgrounds. We became even more aware of this on October 18th, when, for the first of these meetings, the seminary church gradually filled with many friends. Some were old acquaintances from previous years, others we'd already met on our parish weekends or during the "Ten Words" catechesis programme, and still others were new faces. In short, we found before our eyes a truly beautiful cross-section of the Church of all ages and vocations, and above all a good representation of those who have prayer for vocations at heart: not only priests, seminarians, and nuns, but also lay people, including young people, married couples, friends of the seminary, and members of that "invisible Monastery," which on these occasions becomes a little more visible.
Communal prayer takes shape, beginning at 5:00 PM, in Eucharistic adoration, Vespers, and the celebration of Mass, which our bishop presided over last October 18th. The liturgical celebration of the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist provided us with the Gospel passage where Jesus invites us to "pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." We felt the Lord's invitation to prayer and mission very close to us, thanks also to the beautiful words addressed to us by the bishop in his homily.
A group of altar boys from various parishes in the diocese were also present at the mass. They are the boys from MoChi, the "Altar Boy Movement" that once a month involves the older altar boys (from 2a (middle school and up) for fellowship and educational meetings, which this year will focus on exploring in depth the meaning of the various parts of the Mass, where we can relive the experience of the disciples at Emmaus. Those who accepted our invitation were mostly young people who hadn't participated last year, thus forming a new, cheerful and lively group. In short, all the ingredients are in place for us to share a wonderful annual journey with them too!
We look forward to seeing both the MoChi altar servers and anyone else who would like to share a time of prayer with us at our next meeting, which will be held in the seminary on Friday, November 15th at 5:00 PM. We look forward to seeing you!
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