Assembly of the Province Iberica
The Assembly of the Province Iberica was held at Casa de Lardero (La Rioja region) from December 26 to 28. The Assembly brought together around 70 brothers and 5 lay people involved in provincial structures. Br Oscar Vicario, General Councilor of the Marist Institute, participated as facilitator in order to deepen the calls of the General Chapter. The theme for this Assembly was: “Beginning anew in our vocation as brothers: mystics and prophets in a changed world”.
After an opening prayer, the first day began with the Provincial, Br Moises Alonso, outlining the different phases of the “U” process that would be developed throughout the assembly. The aim of the process is to grasp fully the reality, to affirm collective goals and, finally, to bring them to fruition. This first day, we reflected on certain aspects of spirituality, fraternal life and mission that we needed to change or to let go of. The purpose of this phase was to see what must be abandoned to respond faithfully to what God is asking now: Who does God want us to be? What is God calling us to be?
On Friday the 27th, the work of the assembly focused on a search for the collective goals of the province. The reflection brought together different perspectives: the General Chapter and its calls (Br Oscar), the Provincial Chapter and its orientations (F. Moises) and the laity. The latter concluded their intervention by saying: “We do not know how the Marist story will unfold, but we know that we will live it together.”
During the afternoon, participants gathered in groups to share on the calls they had felt and, in an open forum, commented on the responses of the different groups. These were then grouped according to their content. The calls perceived by the assembly could be summed up as: 1) Being Brothers, 2) Being in God, 3) Being happy and faithful, 4) Being a meaningful presence, 5) Being generous and daring in our commitment.
During the last day, attention focused on the preparation of action proposals in order to “fulfill the collective goal”. Participants were reminded that the Assembly would not make decisions, but suggest guidelines for the provincial teams who would be responsible for examining them and making decisions. The themes raised often were, among others: to prioritize the development of brother-lay communion in the Province; make our communities open and human, where there is an environment of trust, where we experience the presence of God, places of welcome and availability; explicitly build local Marist Christian communities, with a common project, giving witness to fraternity, to unity and co-responsibility.
The Assembly is over … or rather not. Now is the time to “make it happen”, to engage in the struggle to change the things we love.