Provinces of « América Central » and « Norandina »
Sunday 18 August was a special day for us. One of those days when you take your things, your car, and make contact with certain people…,forgetting everything else and leaving the door open to the unexpected. For us who believe, this « unexpected » is a space very favorable to the action of the Spirit who loves to be always at work (if we allow him!).
About 11 am, Brothers, friends and relatives arrived at the house of hospitality of the Brothers of Lardero, Spain, each with his story, concerns, joys and questions. Little by little, the group of those who had been able to respond to the MARIST call was formed. As meetings took place, the joy of reunions kept on growing in our hearts, after do many years of journeying along different paths. Now, some with their new families, others with their memories, others again carrying in their hearts the presence of their communities and the Brothers working in the lands of Latin America.
What gave us the wings to travel so many kilometers, to get up so early on a Sunday morning ? without a doubt the hope and joy of a possible encounter with something common to all : A MARIST MEETING.
It is that the hearts of all former Marists, and for much more reason, those of the Brothers, continue to beat in the rhythm of a single spirit, in feeling that something great is always drawing us ; it is this wine or this water from the Rock which we do not want to give up – what we call the Marist charism Marist spirituality …
After the 12 former Brothers and their families and the 5 Brothers – 38 persons in total – had assembled, we were introduced to one another and recalled some anecdotes and coincidences in our lives.But then a surprise came : a video-conference from Guatemala. It was our Brother Provincial Hipólito Pérez who knew practically all of us and spoke with each one, which gave a special flavour to our meeting.
Around 1 pm, we gathered in the chapel for the celebration of the Eucharist, shared in simplicity and animated by the MARIST hymns we had sung so often.
After the Eucharist, around 2 pm, it was time to share the table, the MARIST place par excellence whence springs shared life, where we all feel brothers, where there are no distances or titles, where we are all MARISTS.
At the end of the meeting, all departed with a special feeling : the SPIRIT is in train of giving birth to something new which goes beyond the fact of being MARIST BROTHER, which invites us to live the MARIST CHARISM in quite different ways, to nourish ourselves on this GIFT which is Marist Spirituality, knowing that we all have a place in the Church to live a spiritality which has nourished us since childhood ; it is what we call BEING MARIST, FEELING MARIST AND LIVING AS MARISTS.
May what has begun in this meeting (the first in Spain) develop, becoming more and more numerous, scattered though we are in Spanish geography. We hope that the number of participants will be larger still next year.
SPAIN-LARDERO (LOGROÑO), 18 August 2012
Br Rodrigo Cuesta Guerra