Constructing Bridges

The VI Provincial Chapter of Iberian was celebrated in Lardero (La Roja) from December 26 to 29, 2018.  Thirty-one Brothers members of the Chapter and eight Lay invited guests formed the Chapter Assembly.  Brothers Luis Carlos Gutierrez, Vicar General of the Marist Institute, and Ben Consigli, General Councilor and link person for the Marist Region of Europe also participated.

The first day in an open session there was the taking possession of Br. Moisés Alonso Pérez as Provincial in his second three-year mandate.

The second day was marked by reflection, dialogue and sharing in common on several aspects of the mission.  Then the presentation of the surveys, which transmitted the echoes of the works, communities and teams of the Province, sent to the Chapter.  The proposals and suggestions turned around the mission and the Marist life, the work in networks, the formation of Marist leaders and of new educators, openness to the rest of the Church and the social commitment.   Several of the Provincial teams presented their reports on the three-year period 2016-2018.  

In the morning session of the 28th there was a conference on the theme of this Chapter, the challenge of “constructing bridges”.  Brother Luis Carlos Gutierrez, Vicar General of the Marist Institute, developed the keys, which have to accompany us in the joint work of Brothers and Laity to construct bridges.  The question, which served for the reflection for those present, is: “What small change in my community can bring a great transformation?   

Master guidelines for the next three years

Then work was begun on the master guidelines of the next triennium or three year period.  The master guidelines were concretized and approved unanimously by those present on the last day of the Chapter:  

FIELD OF MARIST LIFE

1. To accompany the personal processes and the different formulae of community life and to deepen on this prophetic and significant dimension in the respective environments.
2. To grow in spirituality and interiority connected with the life and the mission favoring vital experiences among the poorest, which lead to the change of the person.  

FIELD OF THE MISSION

1. Be a point of reference in the environment according to our educational style, renewing the Marist pedagogical model and updating oneself to the context in which we live.  
2. To Evangelize according to the current reality of young people and their families making them protagonists of their vital processes.
3. Make of the social commitment one of the signs of the identity of the educational works of the Province.

On the last day, December 29, there was the election of the Provincial Councilors.  The elected Brothers were Ambrosio Alonso, Samuel Holguin, Alfonso García, Abel Muñoz, Jaime Comabella and Alejandro Mena.

The Chapter day ended with some words of thanksgiving from the Vicar General, the General Councilor, and Br. Provincial, as well as from the Lay invited guests.  We recall the words of Br. Moisés: “The most important thing is the richness that each one takes with him interiorly, and may we transmit that enthusiasm among all, from a very important key: a future full of hope”.