Comigo Conference CA 2012
December 28, 2012
Today going into the conference I could not help but feel a sense of anxiety over the grandness of the idea of this event. With so many Dong Hanh superstars in one place, everything felt so important. But eager to see many of the Anh Chi and Co Chu Bac that I have grown up with all my life, I pocketed my concerns for God to take care of later and decided to just enjoy the atmosphere of family here and help wherever I can.
We arrived at Bac Trung and Co Dung’s house for dinner which was quite a bustling but heart-warming event as greetings and reunions were being made throughout the house. Afterward we kick-started the program for the evening by doing a quick introduction around the room in which everyone shared how they were feeling at the moment. Some people, like me, were feeling somewhat overwhelmed by being included in this conference for the first time. Others shared a sense of nostalgia for the days when they were sitting in my shoes as the youngest in the room. But regardless of how far we travelled to arrive here, how many years we have been with Dong Hanh, or what our backgrounds are, we all shared a deeper conviction that we were called to be present with each other and with God on mission this weekend. We are united by the desire to serve the community, and this echoing sentiment really calmed my own hesitations about belonging in that room.
Next, we celebrated mass together around a humble home-made altar. The part of Cha’s homily that resonated with me was the idea that part of our identity as Catholics is the longing for companionship on the journey of faith. I feel that has never been truer than now in my generation of Catholics living in a society that works against our beliefs. Living the faith can be difficult and lonely so I’m glad that I have such a family like Dong Hanh to walk the journey with me. Finally we had an activity to set up the rest of the weekend’s discussions. In groups of two or three we shared about what the more pressing concerns that each individual had for Dong Hanh and posted them on sticky notes to be revisited tomorrow. I found that even though everyone in my group had different specific issues that they were most invested in, we all began talking about the same general concern about a lack of formation on the local level and a lack of communication and interaction between different groups within Dong Hanh. It was very empowering for me to read all of the concerns that everyone held in their hearts because I knew even with all of the work ahead of us, we would have each other as companions for the road.
To close off the night, we did a simple 15 minute reflection on what remained in our hearts at the end of the day…
gratitude…emptiness…
anxiety…hopes…
energized…community…
As anh Tai Son reminded me in his sharing, God knows everything, so we trusted Him to hold onto our deepest hopes and dreams for the next few years of Dong Hanh and went to sleep with our minds and hearts on fire for the days to come.
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Thảo Vy
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