The Province of Marists Mediterránea celebrated its Provincial Meeting at the end of January. The organizing committee transmits us, through the following text, a summary of what was experienced in these days of shared life and mission.
Directors, educators of social works, vocation animators, members of provincial teams, orientation coordinators, brothers animating communities; one hundred invitations, sent and answered, to people who said YES to participate in a journey: to seek the heart of the Province, beginning with the heart of each one of them.
They filled Guardamar with smiles from the heart, ready to ask themselves about their own vocational processes and to question themselves about the vocational animation that we are proposing from the Province to children, adolescents, young people and adults.
The journey began in oneself and in all that we brought in our heads and hearts. Therefore, among all of us, we made a great “vocational collage” to deepen the concept of “vocational culture”, through dialogue in small groups and in assembly. Jorge Sierra, a De La Salle Brother, pastoral delegate of his District ARLEP (Spain and Portugal): what are the elements of the culture that help, hinder, illuminate, facilitate, hinder, confuse… the vocational dialogue between persons and God?
The topics of affectivity, youth centers of interest, the importance of the group, the importance of the FICA society (Volatile, Full of Uncertainty, Complex and Ambiguous), the image of the Church, and there, in our current reality, we spoke of the need to build together a social environment, a “humus”, an “atmosphere”, that favors and favors the understanding and development of human life as a vocation.
Jorge ended with two conclusions: God continues to call always and continues to call everyone. Vocation is a journey, built through a continuous dialogue between God and the person.
With all this in our hearts, we spent the whole afternoon reflecting on how some of our mission areas could favor the creation of this “vocational culture”. We worked on sports and healthy living, intellectual-academic development, formation of educators, community life, professional orientation, solidarity and interiority. Among all of us, we drew many conclusions that, we hope, will make us continue to focus on these areas to facilitate vocational processes.
The journey began in oneself and in all that we brought in our heads and hearts. That is why, among all of us, we made a great “vocational collage” to deepen the concept of “vocational culture” through dialogue in small groups and in assembly. Jorge Sierra, a De La Salle Brother, pastoral delegate of his District ARLEP (Spain and Portugal): what are the elements of the culture that help, hinder, illuminate, facilitate, hinder, confuse… the vocational dialogue between persons and God? The topics of affectivity, youth centers of interest, the importance of the group, the importance of the FICA society (Volatile, Full of Uncertainty, Complex and Ambiguous), the image of the Church, … And there, in our current reality, we spoke of the need to build among all a social environment, a “humus”, an “atmosphere”, that favors and favors the understanding and development of human life as a vocation.
Jorge ended with two conclusions: God continues to call always and continues to call everyone. Vocation is a journey, built through a continuous dialogue between God and the person.
With all this in our hearts, we spent the whole afternoon reflecting on how some of our mission areas could favor the creation of this “vocational culture”. We worked on sports and healthy living, intellectual-academic development, formation of educators, community life, professional orientation, solidarity and interiority. Among all of us, we drew many conclusions that, we hope, will make us continue to focus on these areas to facilitate vocational processes.
Finally, Friday was dedicated to charismatic vocation animation. From the different teams dependent on the Council of Marist Life we were presented with proposals on how, within this vocational culture, to launch Marist vocations with strength. In this Year of Marist Vocations, the big question of the morning was how can we take care of Marist life where we are? Through Marist presences, uniting different works and nearby communities, concrete proposals were made for local work and for the networking of the Council and the new Team for the Animation of the Brother Vocation.
The final celebration sent us to be animators of vocation, our own and that of those around us, starting from what we find in our hearts; to convert our spaces of work, life and service into “homes” open to anyone who wants to begin vocational paths. For this reason, a simple doormat, to be placed on the doors of offices, communities… became the best possible reminder of the commitment reinforced in this meeting: “In this home we care for Marist life”.