Marist Vocation Animators for a New Beginning

Leaders and speakers will gather at the general house from Nov. 10 – Dec. 14 in what is expected to be one of the Institute’s most significant gatherings on vocations for both brothers and lay Marists.

“Since the year dedicated to vocations in 2006, such an important event has not yet taken place, especially under the new perspective of a vocation for both brothers and laity,” said Brother Hipólito Pérez Gómez, assistant director of the Brothers Today secretariat. “This meeting’s goal is to encourage and energize vocations in different contexts of the Marist world, whether in the provinces, districts or in local communities.”

The event, titled ‘Marist Vocation Animators for a New Beginning,’ will have 40 participants, including the coordinating team and guest speakers.

“We are very excited about this programme and it is a blessing that there are so many people participating,” he continued. “It will also happen during Advent, which is a sign of illumination and on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a sign of hope.”

The encounter includes three parts: the first part centres on a personal spiritual experience, the second part in the theological implication and the culture of vocational ministry, and the third on ways of planning and carrying out the best practices to promote vocations.

The event’s icon is a clay lamp meant to symbolize two elements that coincide with the topic of vocations.

“The first element is that it is a mystery of God and that we cannot control it,” told Br Hipólito . “The second element is that it is an issue of the heart and involves the passion we put into it, both at a personal level and in community.”

The speakers are superior general Brother Emili Turú; Brother Miguel Angel Espinosa Barrera, vice director of the Secretariat of Mission; Pep Buetas, co-director of the Secretariat of the Laity; Brother Óscar Martin will cover interiority, Cristina Meléndez of the Asociación ADSIS; Father John Larson SM; Brothers Carlos Vélez e Márcio Henrique Ferreira (experienced in vocational ministry); Brother Ernesto Sánchez, councillor general; Brother Sean Sammon, former superior general.

The organising team includes Brothers Tony Leon and Hipólito Pérez Gómez of the Brothers Today Secretariat; Brothers Teófilo Rodrigues Minga and Dennis Cooper, formators in Manziana; Brother Ernesto Sánchez, councillor general.