II Marist International Mission Assembly
From May 22 to 24, 2014, the great Marist family of Norandina met in Quito, Ecuador and realized the provincial phase of the II AIMM. We were a diverse group of 41 brothers and lay people from Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia. In a family atmosphere, and full of the joy of the occasion, we were full dreams for this moment of grace for the Marist Institute, with hearts willing to be “new Marists in mission”.
The meeting, in addition to being an intense time of sharing faith and life, was dedicated to working on deepening the three major themes proposed: Spirituality, Vocation and Evangelization. Our hearts were illumination by the light of the Gospel and burned with the fire of the Spirit.
From our reflection and communion we visualized the "blossoms of life" that are germinating in our Province, that is being enriched in the spirituality shared by brothers and lay people (from our distinct and complementary vocations), that we put at the service of our mission and that moves us to go outward, to “to journey toward the new lands”, to respond to the call of the neediest children and young people. In this way, we desire to be the “Marian face of the Church”, bringing Jesus, like Mary and in her style, to the most hidden places.
She challenges us to be authentic witnesses to the beneficiaries of our mission and for the Church, to see the world with the eyes of the poorest children and youth and to be a close and meaningful presence in their lives, using our words and our efforts to defend their rights and the witness of our own lives to lead them to realize how much God loves them.
We are aware that our time is now and that the heart of the Marist mission is in living gospel values, making present the love of God and of our Good Mother to the Montagnes of our time. Therefore, we believe that it is a challenge to expand our efforts to working with families, to provide accompaniment based on love, recognition and acceptance, and to make parents aware of their responsibility as the primary educators in the formation of their children.
Convinced that “it is worthwhile living this Marist life”, we are listening to God to know what he wants of us and to continue conforming our response to the signs of the times. In the tuning of our Marist hearts, they beat to the rhythm of the drums of Africa, united in prayer for the coming of the new dawn and the future of Marist life.