Marists towards a new land

Under the slogans of ?Marists towards a new land? and ?with Mary, go in haste!? we communities of brothers and sisters of Guatemala, kept an appointment together at the Liceo Guatemala. As usual, family spirit and the joy of reunion reigned among all the Marist Brothers and Sisters, and each had questions about how other communities were going, to cheer us or concern us according to what we heard.

Br. José Luis, community animator for the Brothers of the Liceo Guatemala, welcomed us, inviting us to give the best of ourselves to the others, to take advantage of the atmosphere, and to prepare ourselves interiorly to harvest good fruit from our meeting. Then, our Brother Eddy Pacheco led us in morning prayer in which each community made show of a symbol representing its current life and activities. All very reflective and thought-provoking, with a great significance which, together with the way it attracted our attention, made us feel united to the rest as each presented his symbol in the name of his brothers or sisters.

Following that, Br. Hipólito, Provincial, put us in tune with a presentation on the programme to be followed in the whole Province towards our next Provincial Assembly, preparatory to our Provincial Chapter. It is all based on the documents coming from our last General Chapter and framed with reflections about what is being asked of us by the community reflection guides. It motivates us to continue having minds and hearts disposed to receiving the grace of the Spirit, at the same time as praying that the timetable of activities as members of the Institute and of our Marist province of Central America, Puerto Rico and Cuba, will let us give the best of ourselves to obtain the best fruit from all this work, before and after our next Provincial Chapter, and so contribute all this to the life, bubbling over, of our beloved Institute.

Then, we were given a reflection document with framework taken from the Letter and documents of the XXI General Chapter. It invited us to set out for a new land, one of the slogans of our Meeting. We were also invited to meditate on the following: ?We have discovered that in our littleness is the power of God and in our weakness the loving hand of the God of love? and?We go in haste with Mary of the Visitation and Marcellin Champagnat to see the young Montagne?. This sent us to personal reflection, to be then shared in small groups on this question: ?What meaning and implications does ?To walk with Mary? have for us from the daily reality of our life and Marist presence in Guatemala?? But starting also from that, we were convinced that we will do hardly anything unless we convert our hearts and live the other slogan that inspired us in past days: ?New heart for a new world?

A short time for relaxation before speaking and sharing prepared us for the public fórum and the communication of our Br. Hipólito and other brothers of news of the province. The Eucharistic gathering came to bring together our reflections and the joy of living together as brothers and sisters, present our petitions, receive Holy Communion and thus authenticate our brotherhood in Christ, the Lord of our consecrated lives. With a small but significant present of a bag of good coffee to sample in family-community, we were sent out, at the end of the Eucharist, to make our reflections from this day a reality.

We concluded this event with a delicious lunch in which we continued our conversations and fraternal sharing, very characteristic of our meetings, and then each community took flight to return to its ?plot? of Marist apostolic life and mission.

We are grateful for the fraternal and joyful welcome from our brothers at Liceo Guatemala and we thank God and the Good Mother for this rich time of encounter which helps us recharge our personal and community batteries. Thanks, too, to the team animating the meeting. May it all be for the greater glory of God, Mary, and Marcellin.

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Br. Raúl Goma