Sharing life between Brothers and laity

On Saturday 14 November 2009, the first of the four meetings of the Fraternities planned for the school year of 2009-2010 was held in our house at Maimon, Cordova. These meetings began in 2001, as a way of continuing the process of formation developed in the workshops on Marist Apostolic Spirituality.

The meetings proceed as follows: when school resumes, a choice is made of the topics to be developed during the year. For example, during the Pauline Year, we focused on the figure of Saint Paul and we studied and reflected on some of his letters. This year we are going to work on the document « Around the same table ». So last Saturday we studied the first chapter. Three weeks before the meeting, we were sent the topic to be reflected on, personally or in the group. The programme of the meeting day began with an hour of personal prayer, and then there was an hour and a half of reflection in small groups and sharing in common, all in a climate of prayer. This was followed by the shared meal which, on this occasion, was a solidarity meal, requested and prepared, exceptionally, by the ? Bugobe Community » Fraternity. The purpose of the meal was very concrete: to collect funds to help a family in Bolivia build its house.

There were a good fifty of us present for the occasion, coming from the different cities of Andulasia: Cordova, Jaén, Málaga, Séville and Sanlúcar la Mayor. Lay people and Brothers normally take part in these meetings, even though this time there were fewer Brothers than usual because of a meeting with Brother Provincial at Fuenteheridos, for information about the General Chapter. The meeting was much appreciated by all; certain commented on its richness, considering the level of communication attained. Others thought that these meetings based on the sharing between Brothers and laity should continue. They are a great richness for all.