Thomas McGrath, an expert in Scriptures, told the participants that those who wrote the Bible also understood both the systems that exclude and the plan God’s has for the people of God. He said a Brazilian Scriptural scholar, Carlos Mester, says that it was easier for Moses to remove the people from Egypt, than to remove Egypt from the minds of the people. In Egypt, the people were exploited; in the new land, the people worked for themselves. In Egypt, the laws protected the king; in the new land, the laws protected the people. In Egypt, there were many gods; in the new land, there was the one God. We, as ministers, are called to look at the causes of exclusion, to be one with those excluded, and to develop a new spirituality where we rediscover the liberating God who has been stolen from the hands of the people. [ paper]

Celso Teixera, an expert in Francisanism, said Francis offered an alternative of fraternity to a feudal society. Francis offered an alternative economic system where the little we have, we share. The time of Francis was a time of war. Francis preached peace, and worked among the cities and the people for peace. He tried not to convert the Sultan, but to propose a peace plan.

The small groups then met to discuss the questions: “How are we (ourselves, our entities and the Order) involved in the process of organizing the excluded?” “If we are not involved, why not?”

Afternoon Session

The afternoon was free time for the participants to explore the city of Uberlandia. In the evening, there was a presentation about the condition of the Amazon region and the people who live in that area.