The liturgy today was presided over by the English speaking group. Fr. Daniel Chowning ocd, in his homily, reminded us that our relationship with God is often compared by Christ to a marriage, where one experiences the joy of intimacy with God. Such a marriage is the place where we receive the new wine of the love of God. It is in this spirit that we must welcome the present challenges presented yesterday by our Father General. And we must ask ourselves: what is the new wine that God is offering us today?
This morning we began with a votation of the members of the two commissions: one for the revision of our Norms and the other for the editing of the final document of the Chapter and the message from the General Chapter . The rest of the morning was then dedicated to the financial report from Father Paolo di Carli, the General Bursar. Our Constitutions establish the rules regarding our General finances: ’Constitution 227: The General Bursar has the task of administering the assets of the Order under the authority of the General and the Definitory’: Norm 257: a) It is up to General Bursar to ask the Provinces for a report of their financial status and to refer it to the Definitory, b) Every six months the General Bursar gives a report to the Definitory on the financial situation of the Order, c) On the occasion of the Extraordinary Definitory the General Bursar gives a report on the economic situation of the Order.’ Because we are speaking about an internal document, we cannot unfortunately give you an account here. We can only say that all together the financial statements are positive, in spite of the impact of the pandemic which we have all experienced in recent times. Nonetheless, we must be attentive and discerning in the administration of our assets.
At the end of the morning Fr. General presented to the Chapter a proposal to revise the role of the Vicar General of the Order, as well as a possible change in the structure of the Definitory (number of friars, their geographical origin and a strong emphasis on the aptitudes required).
This afternoon the chapter members met in working groups based on language and then at 17.30 in the Chapter meeting room for an open discussion about the financial report and the proposal of the General.