2016-10-04
SPAIN
160 people listen to testimonies, address the future of youth ministry
One hundred and sixty people gathered on Sept. 24 and 25 for the provincial encounter in Lardero, Spain, which included a concert by the Marist band Kairoi and testimonies of young people who participated in the Marist international youth encounter, Dare to Dream, and in World Youth Day over the summer.
Participants included animators of Marist schools of the Iberica Province and youth from parishes of the Marist Fathers.
Brother BenitoArbués Rubiol and Martha Eugenia Martínez of the L’Hermitage community, and general councillor Brother Ernesto Sánchez, also gave their testimonies.
According to the Iberica Province, “they all spread their excitement and enthusiasm of the experiences that they presented, making others think about the direction that we want the ministry’s dreams to take.”
Participants addressed the following questions: what is the Church’s Marian face that we dream of, what can we do to deal with the injustices around us, who are our Montagne of today, how can we take care of our interiority and our communities?
During the encounter, they also recalled the advice that superior general Brother Emili Turú gave in the same encounter last year when he said to allow one’s self “five minutes of silence a day and ask ourselves what we can do for our brother each day.”
The Kairoi band offered a concert on the evening of Sept. 24, after a previous act by Carlos Fernández Lázaro, co-author of the song dedicated to this year’s educational theme of the Marist Spanish Conference, “200 and +, live our dream.”
