Portugal Initiates Marist Spirituality Year

Brother Teófilo Minga, Secretary of the Religious Life Commission, travelled from Rome to Portugal at the end of September and stayed in Portugal through the beginning of October. His goal was to introduce the booklet, Water from the Rock, to all the Brothers? communities as well as to two schools located near Lisbon (Benfica and Carcavelos). The booklet will be a guide throughout the Year of Spirituality and even during the years that follow. Spirituality is a topic and reality that could never be treated in a single year. The fact is that we are now being given the chance to share with the Marist family and with the Church at large the treasure of spirituality which has been granted us.

In the school setting, the presentations were aimed at helping the lay staff as well as the relatively small number of Brothers who are either teaching or in charge of the schools. All together about a hundred teachers are present in each of the schools. The evaluations conducted at the end of the presentation indicate that the experience was something necessary for the teachers, a formation that they accepted openly. A key element which appeared in the evaluation was that, in the future, the enthusiasm presently generated must not be permitted to die out; that committees of a pastoral nature and the teachers themselves must keep alive the flame of Marcellin?s spirituality.

One could also imagine other possibilities for spreading the message of the Spirituality Year. For example, a Church Network exists as a multimedia centre of the Church in Portugal. Brother Teófilo took advantage of his Portugal trip to give a brief interview on the television station of Church Network. In addition he gave an interview with the magazine Nouvelles de Chaves. In the interview he explained various particulars regarding the booklet Water from the Rock and about the Spirituality Year. In the same context, a Sunday Mass will probably be shown on nationwide television on June 8, shortly after the feast day of Saint Marcellin. Our spirituality is a spirituality for the Church and for the world.