Message of the Marist youth
The Marist youth gathered at the International Meeting at Buitrago wish to give thanks for the opportunity of having lived this experience, in which we have all felt a single spirit, a Marist charism.
We are very grateful to the Marist Institute for accompanying us, for showing us what Jesus, Mary and Marcellin Champagnat can contribute to our lives, for betting on us as Marist agents, for believing in us as persons with multiple abilities.
We are grateful for the mission of the Institute and the model it lives and transmits, to be light and hope in the situations of each province, and for giving us a model in our lives which helps us be persons and to improve the world at every turn.
Thanks for being an open institution: the family spirit, the welcome at any time, at any moment, make us really feel part of this family. This spirit has ensured that at this meeting we have been able to continue discovering and sharing the Marist charism.
Thanks for the opportunity of being able to share the faith with other young people, because this supports our hope of transforming the world according to the plan of Jesus.
Attentive to the reality of the world
We young people are part of the world and, as such, we wish to journey towards a new world, towards a new land. A land that can be at peace and where the disadvantaged can be on equal terms, where we can arrive at understanding through healthier and more comprehensive relationships.
We believe that it is important to become familiar with the situation in which we live and its needs so as to find answers adapted to our actual world.
We believe that solidarity is the way of expressing the presence of God in the world; Marcellin Champagnat knew how to read the situations of his time and to respond. In our times, we find ourselves confronted with a situation marked by the crisis of faith, injustice, and degradation of the environment and we Marists must be prepared to face up to these situations through education.
We wish to foster a change of the structures of the world, the Church, the Marist Institute,…- so that they are at the service of society, especially of the most disadvantaged –in material and spiritual terms-.
Marist youth today
As Marist youth we feel a co-responsibility with the brothers and laity in the Marist mission.
We wish to transmit life –wherever we are- because it is the best that we know how to do. We want a living world, a world that feels, a world that loves: everything we do with sincere love is good for all.
We want to live and celebrate the faith without complexes, from the spirituality, being heralds of the Good News with courage and perseverance.
What we can offer the world is our witness, our love, our commitment and our own persons. We want to cultivate a global view, but without losing any of the vision we have of working in a local way. We want to develop this task as active agents in each of our countries, in all our movements, in the schools, the universities… in order thus to actualize the experience of the Hermitage in the world of today.
To the brothers
We young people also need some changes to feel ourselves closer to you. Do not remain enclosed in the Marist sphere, help us to open ourselves to the Church together with you, in the world. Find with us an equilibrium within the Mission shared between brothers and lay people, but do not lose your identity as brothers; we need you to keep on updating the institution of Marcellin in an accessible and humble form.
We young people need the brothers not to be afraid of expressing the word of God to us, the message of Jesus and the witness of your Marist life. It is really vital and crucial for you to be revolutionaries and brave men on this subject in the society in which we live. We possess a very clear Marist identity, but we also have the need to feel ourselves as Church, to be able to be the Marial face of the Church of today, to sense ourselves part and power of today’s Church, open to the different charisms there are in the Church.
We share the concern for the future of the ageing of the brothers in certain parts of the Institute, which could lead to a withdrawal from the Mission. Encourage the presence of the brothers among the little children and the youth. Encourage the formation of the Marist spirit and the closeness of the brothers so as to foster Marist vocations, whether to the brothers or to the laity.
Concrete proposals
Make possible the creation of Marist youth committees at the local, provincial, regional and international levels to continue generating and sharing concerns and proposals related to the life of young people and the Marist Institute (possibility of taking part in the next Marist mission Assembly).
Commit ourselves to the defence of the rights of youth through participation in political institutions.
The new technologies are a good opportunity for making us feel part of a network, for facilitating contacts, for making us feel close to one another, for sharing, for proposing solutions to the situation of the youth in the world,… (chat, blog, social network,…)
Take as reference for our pastoral work the document: Evangelizers among youth.
We propose that cultural exchanges be promoted between provinces and at the regional level so that we can continue being aware that the reality we live in our communities is very different from what they live in other places. Youth meetings are necessary for sharing experiences of life and also for proposing exchanges to do youth work in a different situation, because this favours personal growth and is a Marist work at the same time. To be aware of other realities generates in us a commitment towards others and provides us with a global vision at the time of working on the challenging task of changing the world; this is the good news from this Meeting.