With a deep feeling of joy and gratitude, on behalf of the General Council, I would like to warmly welcome you all to this international gathering which I call: OASIS Encounter. Special words of welcome go to the participants of this encounter coming from four provinces: Indonesia, Ghana, Malawi and The Netherlands. I hope that those coming from outside The Netherlands already had sufficient time to take a rest and to adjust to the cold weather of the season. Indeed outside it might be cold for some of you, but I assure you that our hearts are warmly welcoming you. May you feel at home and enjoy your stay in The Netherlands. You are under the loving care of your fellow brothers.
This time Chile is not able to send any participant to this encounter since the province has very limited personnel and has already arranged its own OASIS program in accordance with their situation far ahead of us.
Participants
Dear sister and brothers, today we are delighted to support 18 OASIS participants of the FIC Spiritual Journey who are so excited to enter into the OASIS stage of the journey. They are from different provinces: two from The Netherlands (Bros. Maarten Bouw and Frans School); seven from Indonesia (Bros. Yos Berkemeijer, Bonivasius Kasmo, Agustinus Mujiyo, Martinus Sariyo Giri, Aloysius Istiyanto, Simon Andrus Briyanto and Yohanes Krismanto); six from Ghana (Bros. Nicholas Yangtibr, Paul Sabogu, Clement Nangpiire, Williams Nyuzaghl, Joseph Zoyah and Peter Malmuo); and three from Malawi (Bros. Thomas Lechner, Trustful Mwachande and Joe Banda). Looking into the identity of the participants, I was so impressed by the fact that their age range is very wide. The oldest is Bro. Thomas Lechner (84 years) and the youngest is Joe Banda (28 years), and the rest are in between. In this regard I see this group of participants a kind of representation of our Congregation as a whole. Another thing that impresses me very much is that the participants of this encounter are not only the junior brothers, but medieval, and even senior brothers who have had vast experience in religious life. This is a confirmation to me (and to all of us) that a spiritual journey is a never ending journey, a life long journey. Especially for us religious persons, we believe that our whole life is in fact a spiritual journey.
Journey into Inner-self We all understand that the OASIS is just a stage of the whole spiritual exercise called “FIC Journey to Spiritual Enrichment” which consists of several stages. There are stages before and after the OASIS. We remember that this spiritual exercise was strongly recommended by the General Chapter 2006 and therefore is seriously carried out by the General Council. In fact this group of participants is the second group undertaking the journey, while the first group (namely the pilot project group) undertook the program in 2005-2006. Based on the positive evaluation made by the then General Council and Provincial Animators, the General Chapter 2006 agreed to continue the project as a congregational movement which means that its intensity and impact is more than just a formation and communication program.
Those who come to OASIS are supposed to have gone through the preceding stages of the journey, namely: Compass and Desert stage. This spiritual journey is designed in such a way as if participants are having a long distance trip, passing through valleys, hills, and desert, with the hope of enriching one spiritual life. Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) a British novelist, in his novel entitle “The Heart of Darkness” says that the longest journey in our life is “the journey within”. It is a journey into the darkness of inner-self over which one maintains conscious control. The spiritual exercise we are undertaking now is indeed an inner journey, the journey to our own inner-self. This kind of journey is a life-long journey.
General Intention of OASIS
As I said earlier on, you as participants of the journey already walked far away going through Compass and Desert stages, which have taken your time and energy more than one year now. As far as I understood Indonesian participants have started the journey since November 21st, 2008, while Ghana, Malawi and The Netherlands somewhere in the beginning of 2009. You must have been tired, and therefore you need some rest and refreshment. The OASIS stage is precisely meant for you the journeyers to stop for a while and to regain energy for the continuation of the journey.
In geography OASIS is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. The existence of OASIS has been a critical importance for travelers taking route in the desert to be a place to rest, to refresh, to relax, to renew and to regain energy. The OASIS encounter we are starting today has a similar function as the OASIS in the desert. Therefore during this four weeks encounter I hope you participants are able to experience what I call 5 R’s: Rest, Relax, Refresh, Renew and finally Regain energy of life. The organizing committee, which is spearheaded by Sr. Claudia SSPS, Johan Muijtjens and Guido Sukarman, has been working very hard to design the program in such a way that the participants are hopefully able to experience the 5 R’s I mentioned earlier. We are so grateful for all arrange-ments they made for the program to realize.
Structure of the program
Throughout the four weeks OASIS ENCOUNTER the journey participants will be accompanied by several facilitators. They are all your fellow FIC brothers, except for one: a very beloved sister in Christ, Sr. Claudia SSPS.
1) The main focus of the first week is geared towards the sharing of the life story by each participant.
2) The main theme of the second week is to come into close contact with the spirit of the FIC Founders and to explore and reflect on a number of important topics, so that participants get a renewed understanding of their being religious brothers. As we commemorate the 200th anniversary of our Founders, this contact with our Founders will hopefully enlighten us how to live according to their original spirits.
3) The third week will completely be filled with a deepening on human sexuality and spirituality, thus enhancing the fullness of loving and living.
4) During the last week the fruits of the OASIS will be gathered by recollecting all what has been experienced in the previous weeks, and then try to integrate them into a concrete action plan in the actual day-to-day life of the participants.
I believe that all participants are keen on making this program as fruitful as possible. Therefore active participation and maintaining a supportive and conducive atmosphere throughout the program is surely necessary to achieve the maximum benefit of the program.
Conclusion
Dear brothers, I consider this event of OASIS Encounter as an important international event of the Congregation which is supposed to bear abundant fruit for the persons involved and for our whole Congregation. Through the formal and informal interactions we wish to receive and give mutual support, inspiration and encouragement. Further I believe that this encounter will be a way to help us become more and more aware of our call to grow towards Jesus and to make the best we can of our lives (Const. art. 4).
Let us make this congregational event a life-deepening encounter and entrust it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the loving protection of our Immaculate Mother. While we are here let us also remember our fellow brothers back home and those already departed, to feel them as part of our extended body.
To conclude my opening speech, hereby I declare the congregational movement of OASIS 2010, as part of the FIC Journey to Spiritual Enrichment, officially opened. Thank you.
Wahlwiller, March 2nd, 2010
Bro. Martin Handoko
General Superior FIC
