The 11th Meeting of the Inter-American Network of Marist Spirituality was held in Mexico City at the Marist residence 'Quinta Soledad', from July 5 – 10. Thirty-five laity and brothers took part, including 8 guests from the Province of México Central. Brother Javier Espinosa, of the Secretariat of the Laity, was among the participants.

 

The topic was: “A spirituality for a new beginning” and the theme was: “La Valla: mystical inspiration of our lives”. Inspired by one of the aspects of Marist Spirituality, the “Four Ways of Apostolic Spirituality” was deepened and lived: Contemplating God in oneself; Contemplating God in history and in the world; Contemplating God in prayer; Get out of yourself.

 

On the first day, there was a rich sharing of the significant experiences of Marist spirituality developed and lived in the provinces. There we perceived the wealth and at the same time the possibilities and needs that each province has regarding the experience of spirituality. The central and most important moment was the experience of "finding God in the city", held on the morning of the second day together with the experience of solidarity. For the solidarity visit, we divided ourselves into five groups and visited houses and projects that serve refugees and migrants. It is an increasingly important and recurrent situation in our reality, especially in the country of Mexico.

 

In a message to the participants of the meeting, Brother Mariano Varona, founder of the RED EAM, encouraged us to study and live the four paths of apostolic spirituality and recalled that, within the current culture of interiority, Marist Spirituality is not reduced to just interiority, rather it is one of its dimensions.

 

At the end of the meeting, the RED EAM presented some proposals from the two regions of the American continent, which will be sent to the provincials in August. The main proposal is that we must somehow recover our Marist purpose, as regions, in the provinces and units, taking into account that Spirituality should not be understood as a movement already included within the various projects of mission and provincial animation, but rather at the heart of all our charismatic actions and animations.