"Get out of your land". Yes, this may be the phrase I was told when I was proposed to do the formation of Pastoral Delegates over four weeks spread throughout the school year.
After the experience of personal and faith rediscovery carried out in Valladolid, we endured a second week in Cordoba from January 20 to 24. A few days before, my belly was already removed from thinking that I was going to see my classmates again and also that I should leave all the classes prepared to be able to leave my land. However, all this mixture of emotions disappeared with the first salutations and hugs when arriving at the Castle of Maimón in Córdoba. It was like the reunion of a big family.
I was somewhat surprised when the next morning they handed us an empty pot. A pot that we had to fill with the echoes and things that were most catching our attention of the training sessions that were being given to us. The truth is that it was difficult to condense the reflections, moments and character of the speaker into a few words or a drawing: I am a gift to others, I can want to have and opt, Educate with Spaces, Gift and Task, The essential is invisible to the eyes, Turn on Lights, Work as a Community, Shepherds must smell like sheep ...
A set of experiences and testimonies that we shared those days and that made us recharge our batteries and fall more in love with Christ. That is why on the last day there was only room for words of thanks.
Thanks for the welcome in the house, the dedication of the formators of the Mediterranean Province, the great luck of companions (or now friends), the trust and care that the Marist congregation had placed in us and the effort from the simplicity of Angel and Brother Andreu so that everything goes well.
However, now there was the hardest part of all. Return to our land to be able to fill the pot with the reality that surrounds us.
"Get out of your land" It was finally clear! I must be the SAL that gives flavor to the earth I floor and thus to grow the Kingdom of God with which Marcellin also dreamed.
Joaquim Matali Sunday. Colegio Nª Sª de la Salud. Algemesí (Valencia). Mediterranean Prov.
