Towards a better understanding of religious life from our being Brothers and Marists

 Cardinal João Braz de Aviz is a Brasilian and currently Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. On 27 June, at 11 am, he arrived at the General House for a meeting with the General Council. Afterwards, he celebrated a Eucharist for all in the house, brothers and laity, and then joined us for lunch, in all simplicity.

The Cardinal wanted Br Emili  Turú and his Council to ask him questions and to express to him their point of view. Taking their inspiration from the last General Chapter,the brothers presented their vision of the life  of a Marist Brother and his mission in the Church, stressing the way of witnessing to the Marial face of the Church, through the figure of Mary and starting from the approach of Fr Champagnat.

For his part, the Cardinal expressed the wish for a hierarchy intending to be simple and accessible, the wish for a change in forms and attitudes.

He insisted on the fact that the present vision of man, his anthropology, must start from a theological trinitarian vision of God, who is love, in which Mary is like a definition of God but from the side of the creature. The Trinitarian God is defined as one who is one and diverse. Man must know how to achieve unity and diversity in the Church and in the world. Balance between unity and diversity : that is what sometimes causes problems.

 Cardinal Braz de Aviz appreciated the intuition of the mystery of God on the part of Fr Champagnat, which passes through the Incarnation, the Cross and the Eucharist. As a child of God, I am called to follow the same way of God in Jesus. He explained each of these aspects on the basis of the love of God who makes himself little.

He also insisted on the charismatic mission of Mary,who had no « authority », but without whom the Church would not exist. Then he offered a rereading of the three vows proper to religious. The charism and the priesthood are only useful in the measure that they are at the service of man.