Assembly of Brothers and Laity of the Province of Ibérica
From Saturday 30 October to Monday 1 November, the Contigo Assembly of the Marist Province of Ibérica took place. The meeting brought together more than sixty people (brothers, laypeople, directors of educational centres and teachers) in Lardero with the objective of responding to the signs of the times that challenge us.
After three days of personal reflection and sharing through a process of search and discovery, the Assembly has defined a series of calls for the future of the Province around five major areas: charismatic family, spirituality, mission, charism and evangelisation. These calls will inspire the guidelines to be decided at the VII Provincial Chapter, to be held in December of this year.
“With you” has been the inspirational motto during these days. Brother Ernesto Sánchez, in his circular “Homes of Light“, reminds us that “The General Chapter, in proposing to us ‘to be beacons of hope in this troubled world’, did not refer only to a personal invitation, but above all to a call addressed to the community: to be light as a global charismatic family. May each community, each fraternity, each family, as a group, show itself to be that lighthouse that offers light and gives hope to all who look to it”.
Looking, feeling and listening to the situation
During the first day, the main objective was to look, feel and listen to the situation around us. Through experiential workshops, the participants had to bring all their senses into play to allow themselves to be caught by a situation that often passes us by silently. And with the same force, other situations that open a door to hope: associations fighting for human rights, young people organised to stop climate change, the blue Marists in Syria or so many committed and anonymous people who reflect the loving face of the God who is also present in history. In the afternoon dynamics, the situation was illuminated from the Marist point of view, and the participants benefited from the reflections of Brother Ernesto Sánchez, Superior General, of Raúl Amaya, co-ordinator of the Bureau of the Laity, and of Luis Carlos Gutiérrez, Vicar General.
What is the situation telling us?
On the second day, we wished to focus our gaze on discovering together what the situation is telling us here and now. Through dynamics of personal discernment and reflection in pairs and in groups, we allowed the calls of the XXII General Chapter (2017) to resonate in us in the form of scenarios: global charismatic family; to be the face and hands of God’s mercy; to be bridge builders; to walk with the most vulnerable children and young people; and to respond to the new emerging realities of the 21st century. In these five scenarios we have been able to sense what the God of Jesus is calling us as Marists of Champagnat in our Iberian Province.
And finally, the third and last day was dedicated to prioritising the calls that have arisen during these days, and to begin a first approach to actions and concretisations that can respond to them. These calls that have emerged from the reflection and dialogue of the Assembly will inspire the guidelines that will be decided at the VII Provincial Chapter.