Marists of Arco Norte invited to “be what it is called to be” in this time of crisis

On the 29th June, the Provincials of Arco Norte met by video conference: Brothers Gérard Bachand, Patrick McNamara, José Sánchez, César Augusto Rojas, Miguel Ángel Santos and Hipólito Pérez; joined by the Brothers of the General Council João Carlos do Prado and Ken McDonald, as links of the Region, and Brother Tomás Briongos, Provincial of Compostela, for the Marist mission in Honduras.

At the time of the meeting, Brothers Gregorio Linacero, Coordinator of the Regional Committee and Rodrigo Espinosa, Coordinator of the Regional Committee “in fieri”, were present and accompanied us, following up the teams, the  regional and the continental processes.

Nice Garrán and Jorge Sánchez, as coordinators of the Regional Teams of Education and Evangelization, also took part, sharing with us the progress of both teams and their concerns.

We felt inspired and challenged by the following reflection: “The best contribution we can make to the dawning of this new era, I believe, is to be consistent like the first Christians. To be what we are called to be. I believe that Religious Life has a great relevance at the present time, in this moment of crisis, even though appearances seem to indicate that we have nothing to say, because in the essence of what we are called to be is found exactly what the men and women of today need” (Br. Emili Turú, fms. What does the pandemic of the covid-19 say about Consecrated Life?)

 Throughout the session the following objectives were discussed:

• To share the development of our provinces from the most significant aspects, in this time of COVID-19.
• To follow up the processes of regional and continental initiatives, especially the teams of Education and Evangelization.
• To accompany the processes that are taking place in the Marist life and mission in Canada and Honduras, also in the Montagne community of Holguín.
• To resume the evaluation of the Brothers’ programme of Perpetual Profession.
• To confirm and make official the appointments of the Regional Coordinator and of the Team of Formators in the Inter-provincial Novitiate La Valla (Medellín) for 2021.

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Hipólito Perez, fms