Summary of the workshop « New way of being brother »
For a week we studied the future of our consecrated life and, concretely, our vocation as BROTHERS. In order to perceive the dawn of the new times, we started with our own experience, where we already find seeds of the new world we want to live in. We took time to share and to listen in depth to some of our best experiences, in the light of the three horizons proposed by the XXI General Chapter.
In the course of the week, we focused our reflection on the following points :
Concerning mission, we learned that the elements which most energised our life as brothers are : being balanced persons, based on listening to what is happening around us ; letting ourselves be moved by reality and commiting ourselves generously to the construction of the Kingdom, breaking down the barriers which prevent us from having a close, attentive and conscious presence among the most vulnerable children and young people.
Concerning the new relationship between brothers and laity, we learned that the elements which most energised our life as brothers are : searching for identity, communion and relationships with the laity who feel identified with the Marist charism. Forming more significant reciprocal relations based on the reality of each one. Promoting spaces for sharing life and spirituality. And recognising the vocation of the lay Marist as a gift.
Concerning the new face of the brother in a new religious life, we learned that the elements which most energised our life as brothers are : harmonising being in our relations and doing so from the mission. Simplicity and authenticity in community relations. Being a significant presence in the common spaces.
We also identified the cares, concerns, searching and resistance which block our journey towards what is capable of reinforcing and giving dynamism to our vocation. And finally, we took the time to compare our experience with that of other young religious of our generation. We discovered some elements that we can develop further. It seems to us that :
* Thedimension of brotherhood is essential to our vocation and gives us an identity within the Church.
* We have to strengthen the ecclesial dimension.
* We must notidealise our consecrated life, but recognise that we are on a path of integration and construction of our own vocation.
* The new way of being brothersupposes loving, caring for and deepening the relations present in our option of life.
* We must learn to contemplate and recount what we live so as to discover the urgent appeals coming from our daily situation.
* We must tend towards a unified life giving rise to new ways of being and giving oneself, significant elements we consider necessary in the current context.
* We must be open to change, accepting the emerging values presented by our society today, making them present in our option of life.
________________
Cochabamba, May 2013
