2007-12-07 SPAIN

Vocations the priority for Europe

The General Council has called a meeting of the Provincial Councils which represent the five Marist Brother Provinces in Europe. The meeting is taking place at the Marist Centre located in Guardamar de Segura, Alicante, Spain. Meetings of such a kind are commonly known as ?Enlarged General Councils.? Such meetings are a follow-up to the meetings begun some years ago, whereby multi-Province visits of the General Council to (e.g., a given continent) were brought to a close. This type of meeting provides an apt occasion for the Brothers to get to know one another better, to share their concerns and hopes, and to strengthen collaborative efforts among the Provinces and with the General Administration for the good of the Institute and of Province apostolates.

The sessions of the enlarged General Council are also opportune moments for the formation/ preparation of Province leaders and regional leaders.

With the consensus of the five regional Provincials, the topic of the Guardamar meeting is vocations, an issue which Province Chapters and Provincial Councils regard as the number one subject for the future of Marist life in Europe. One must hope that the meeting will enhance shared reflection, and thereby lead to greater cooperation in the field of vocations.

The following goals have been proposed:

(1) To deepen reflection upon the mission of the Marist Brothers in the setting of a secularized society, such as Europe: what are the consequences of such a reality when it comes to creating a culture of vocations? How can we help one another in this matter by sharing efforts which have been made in the different European Provinces, and in the Institute in general.

(2) As the decision-making bodies of the Provinces, to provide mutual support in identifying the best courses of action for vocation promotion.

(3) To examine the idea of inter-Province collaboration of a more intense nature in connection with the promotion of vocations.

To this end, the participants will take time for shared reflection on the major issues of concern in regard to the vocations? question: to deepen one?s own vocation; to see how each Brother cultivates his own vocation; during times of prayer, to celebrate vocation as a gift received from the Lord; to pray for fidelity in one?s own regard and for all the Brothers; to listen attentively to young people; to examine the experience of the Institute, especially in recent years; to search creatively for new fields of Province action and new ways of inter-Province cooperation.


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