Around the Word

September in Brazil is the month of the Bible, a month in which everyone is invited to dedicate a special time to listening to the Word.
Since 2011, the year in which we received the cross and the icon of World Youth Day at the Arsenale della Speranza, it has also been the month of Continuous Reading of the Word, an initiative born at the Arsenale della Speranza with the desire to offer everyone the possibility of reading and listening to the Word of God together. An evening in which people of all ages and backgrounds take turns reading one or more books of the Bible and in which we do not explain or comment on the Word, but let it, read by many voices that lend themselves to this service, may it speak to everyone with all its strength and richness.

This year we read Paul's letters, in particular those he wrote from prison: Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians which made us reflect on how much these words, despite being written from prison, have such a great breadth that even today they continue to help us pray and open ourselves to God.

Preparing the continuous reading of the Word was a bit like building a mosaic: one piece at a time the design emerges. Once we had chosen the theme, we began to think about how to prepare this moment, in order to help those who would participate as much as possible to enter into this prayer. A friend made us the drawing that became the flyer for this year's edition: Paul writing and the Word which is the floor of the community and is the mother that generates and takes care of the community itself. Another friend helped us think of an early scene that might help people get into Paul's letters.
Our salon was transformed into an interesting artistic workshop which involved a small group of our guests and volunteers for a few days. Thus was born a scenography made of two large hands on which the book on which the apostle Paul, from prison, writes to his communities rests. He hung around various scrolls with some of the texts of these letters.

The reading began with a first moment of "immersion" in the first chapter of Ephesians, thanks to this setting and to some friends who literally put themselves in the shoes of Paul and his collaborators.
After this first moment, everyone was invited to gather around the ambo and continue listening to the Word of God together. Friends from different realities, groups and movements took turns reading, including Livia Satullo, deputy consul of Italy in São Paulo, Carlos Bezerra, municipal councilor for social assistance services of the municipality of São Paulo, Milton Jung, journalist of CNB radio, Luciana Chinaglia Quintão, founder of the NGO Banco de Alimentos and the writer Luciene Vignoli Müller.
Looking at the faces of the people who participated and breathing in an atmosphere of particular silence and contemplation made us thank once again for the beauty of a people as varied as that of the Arsenale, gathered around the Word.

The Sermig Fraternity in Brazil
NP November 2023