25 lay Marists complete the 5-year “Itinerary of Spirituality

The Itinerary of Spirituality, initiated five years ago in El Salvador, held its last meeting on October 4. The twenty-five lay people who participated in the formation have held four meetings each year, which focused on the Marial and apostolic character of Marist Spirituality.

The conclusion of the Itinerary confirmed that the territory of spirituality is very broad, that there are many paths and ways, but that the direction cannot be changed: that of converting our existence into receptivity and self-giving.

The map for this Itinerary was designed by Br. Rodrigo Cuesta, and was animated by Nohemy Pinto, the delegate for spirituality, and Sr. Maria Laura Soto, of the Mission Team El Salvador.

During the meetings, the participants reflected on their faith journey and their spiritual physiognomy, in a community process and in their relationship with others in their daily lives.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the participants were invited to answer the following question: How do we feel that spirituality shapes our way of relating to people, to the world, to ourselves and to God?

In their responses, the participants highlighted six signposts on the way with which they were confronted:

• Faith gives a mood, gives a profile of a person, a vital tone. Faith is a powerful motor for growth and for getting back on your feet as a person.
• Walking with others. Community is necessary to live faith. One cannot follow Jesus by oneself. The “other” makes me exist. I discover others as the meaning of my life.
• -The contemplative gaze, which knows how to see God in all things. The believing look at reality is necessarily a global, “inclusive” look: it is looking at reality-in-God and at God-in-reality.
• -Simplicity, a family air, an expression of Marist spirituality.  Like Champagnat, we approach God with transparency, honesty, openness and trust. A sign of the way that tells us that the fullness of life, the joy of being, is not outside the sphere of daily life.
• To spend life is to want a lot. This signpost expresses that love is the best translation of an existence in God. If I have no love, I am nothing.
• Change and conversion. Closeness to the Lord changes and converts. To set out in the footsteps of Jesus is a spirituality for change, which is born only of the Spirit of God.