Building a Network: Meeting of Vocation Animators
One project that the Marist Life Area has designed in line with the Year of Marist Vocations is the Network of Vocation Animators. For this, the Brothers Today Secretariat is organizing online meetings of the vocation animators of the different administrative units for the purpose of getting connected and acquainted, reflecting together, sharing experiences and insights, learning from each other, and encouraging and supporting one another.
There have been three meetings since October 2021, with the last one taking place on March 31, 2022, this time in two groups or time slots, in consideration of the different time zones.
The March 31 meeting was inspired by theme of the recently concluded General Conference, “Look Beyond”. The first moment was a visualization exercise that led the participants into the future, harvesting the fruits of the Year of Marist Vocations.
The second moment focused on caring for and generating Marist life, using the images of the fertilizer and water that are very important for the seedling as represented by the logo of the Year of Marist Vocations. The vocation animators were invited to reflect what is needed for this sprout to “grow into the tree” that would bear our desired fruits.
The dreams or the fruits can be summarized as a massive growth in Marist life whereby there will be more Marists – brothers and lay – living the charism in a very dynamic way. On the other hand, among the ways of caring for and generating Marist life, the fertilizers and drops of water for the sprout, are profound experiences of prayer, meaningful encounters in which Marist life is promoted especially among young people, going back to the fundamentals of our Marist vocation, and witnessing of a life well-lived.
The first meeting on March 31 was graced by Br. Oscar Martin, General Councilor, who reiterated the call to look beyond. Meanwhile, Raul Amaya, the Director of the Secretariat of the Laity, was present in the second meeting. He highlighted the idea that when talking about Marist vocations, our focus is that of both the brothers and the laity.
In the two meetings, Br. Teofilo Minga helped in the translation. A total of 29 vocation animators – brothers and lay Marists – were in attendance.
This type of encounter will continue to take place every two months.