Second International Assembly on Marist Mission

With the challenging call of the 21st General Chapter to go toward new lands like Mary, today we follow the road towards the second Assembly on Marist Mission in September 2014.

As a commission of Lay Marists and Marist Brothers from the five continents where the Marist Institute ministers, we received -as a gift- the opportunity of accompanying the preparation for the Assembly: Mrs. Alice (USA), Br. Paul (South Asia), Br. Mark (Nigeria), Mr. Manuel (Mediterránea), Mr. Frank (Australia), Mrs. Mónica (Cruz del Sur), Br. César (Secretariat for Brothers Today), Br. Javier (Secretariat for the Laity), Br. Teófilo (Mission Ad Gentes) and Br. João Carlos (Secretariat for Mission), the coordinator of the commission.

We met from June 25-29, being welcomed by the generous community of the General House in Rome, where we shared fraternity and the joy of being a family together, in the footsteps of Marcellin.

We spent each of these days animated by the dialogue and the openness to the Spirit and to the signs of the times. We were attentive to looking at and listening to the history of the boys and girls and young people who touch the deepest fibers of the Marist heart in our communities, provinces and regions.

We also met with the General Council and the Superior General in order to put together the lessons of Mendes, of the last Chapter and our dreams for this new Assembly in all its dimensions, because the Marist mission seeks to be a sign of the Kingdom of God and extends and multiplies in committed presences throughout the world.

Mobilized by our shared and personal reflection we proposed themes that resonated with us, in the fashion of itineraries built to: discern them – pray over them  – work with them – transform them – convert them… among all of us.

The invitation is that we arrive at the Assembly with the greatest number of Marists having participated in the entire process as heirs and thus responsible for the Mission that we carry like a treasure in vessels of clay, which is nourished by the water from the rock and that is celebrated as we are gathered around the same table.

We upholdthe first Assembly with gratitude for the fruitful path it opened, we begin to live this second Assembly with passion for the new, and we go toward the future, toward the new lands, with more hope and vitality.

We place our trust in Mary, our Good Mother, who does everything for us.

__________________
Alice, Paul, César, Frank, Teófilo, Mark, Manuel, Javier, João and Mónica