22 January
Saint Vincent, deacon, martyr
1881, Brother François, first Superior General of the Marist Brothers, died at the Hermitage in France
1991 Decree on the heroicity of virtues of Brother Alfano Vaser
1881, Brother François, first Superior General of the Marist Brothers, died at the Hermitage in France
09/09/2005: Sri Lanka
Opening address of Brother Seán Sammon
<270.jpg alt=Brother Seán Sammon >In his opening address, ‘A time for decision making!’ Brother Seán Sammon, Superior General, proposed three areas of priority work for the next four years: identity, mission and leadership.
He highlighted that of all the times in which we have renewed the Institute, as requested by the second Vatican Council, the current time is the most perilous encountered in forty years. The cause of this perilousness is the type of decisions that we have to make today as leaders of the Institute. For forty years we have made decisions concerning the renewal of religious life. Today we need to make decisions regarding our identity.
Identity
The members of the XX General Chapter challenged us to clarify the identity of the brother and the identity of the lay Marist. To form an identity or reform the previous one, we have to take options and commit ourselves to living values or indeed choose other new ones.
The Superior General indicated two impediments for carrying forward options that clearly affirm our identity.
First. Our respect for diversity that has been exaggerated and that has paralysed us. Internal differences have grown much in some regions. Differences of perspective exist in reference to the vows, the place and significance of community life, spirituality, apostolic work, the poor, formation, making it more difficult, if not impossible, to form a common identity and to give witness as a group.
Second. The fear of thinking that to adopt new practices that identify us would be a regression to the past. We need to encounter new signs that define our identity and this task is one we need to accomplish together. The evangelical counsels, as well as the ideals of loving God, the compassionate concern for the poor and their needs, and the commitment to community life, should be translated in a unique Marist way of being, manifested in behaviours and practices that are clear and understandable for others.
Mission
Mission is at the heart of our identity. There is only one mission, the same mission as that of the Church: to proclaim the Kingdom of God and its imminence. Our apostolic works are part of this mission and directed at a specific group of people: the young and, among them, the poor. The members of our XX General Chapter reminded us that we need to undertake a valiant evaluation of our apostolic works in which we have been involved during the last four decades. As well, the Capitulants called us to get out of our offices more to be in more contact with young people. There are many valiant works but they are not the works of the Little Brothers of Mary founded by Marcellin Champagnat.
Leadership
A leader is not a good manager or a good administrator except if this helps others to dream as Champagnat did. The young people that the Founder met perceived that he was proposing something to them that was worth the effort of starting in their lives.
The Brother Superior General sees that there are optimistic signs on the horizon and that we are living in times of daring action. But the need also exists to modify the way in which we exercise authority. In some Administrative Units, the Provincial or District Superior has become only a co-ordinator, entrusted with maintaining the welfare and happiness of all. And in other places there is hardly any authority being exercised at all. It is not enough for us to be effective managers, or to assure a pastoral presence or even to be men of prayer. We must take the responsibility of working together in our Institute presenting to our brothers and to our lay collaborators, to the Church and the world, a wider vision than we are capable of leading.
The Brother Superior General thanked the brothers present for all that they do for the brothers, the Institute and the Church. He finished his talk by saying, “I see these as special days that we are spending together where we have the opportunity to fix the course for the next four years.”
Personal reflection on the document
With this proposal, the Brother Superior General opened the work of the Conference to develop proposals and directives for the next four years until the Convocation of the XXI General Chapter.
Each person received a text, written and translated into four languages, and was invited to have some personal quiet time to be open to the gifts that the Lords wants to give us and the grace which we are seeking by reading the text. It was very important that each of the participants would be conscious of the existential aspect of the moment. They were recommended to direct their attention to the signs of vitality in the Institute.
This reflection should give us a vision that is more unified from the calls of the XX General Chapter. For this, it was suggested to the participants of the Conference to revise the calls to see if there were new shades appearing.
Pooling in common
After the time that they dedicated to rereading Brother Seán’s talk, question time was opened.
It was asked why this moment in time is interpreted as the most perilous time during the last four decades. He affirmed that the decisions that we can make now concerning formation, community or government, for example, are going to have decisive repercussions. Historically the decisions of the last forty years have concerned the renewal of religious life. The ones we are making now affect the identity of the Marists. There are young people in the Institute grounded in spirituality. They want a proposal offered to them for which it is worth living the life. The offers in the documents are clear and we believe in them, but we do not manifest clearly our identity.
The brothers’ interventions highlighted some criteria for reinforcing the sense of fraternity in new communities. We are brothers, but that cannot be taken for granted. As well, the phenomenon of structural change experienced in the Institute was alluded to. For some the change is an enigma. But it is a reality that must be taken on joyfully.
The afternoon tasks
During the afternoon reflection, there was a synthesis of the responses to the questionnaire sent to the Provincials by the General Conference’s Preparatory Commission concerning the calls of the XX General Chapter. All the responses from the Administrative Units were received. In a certain number of Units, it was the Provincials or District Superiors who responded personally; in others the response came from the Provincial and his Council.
Concerning the fist capitular call, there was an impressive unity detected in the thirty-one responses, even though there were some important differences according to the continents. There were strong expressions that appeared practically in all the responses. For example, the following: In respect to the first call: “we are centred in Jesus Christ”- “This call is current, urgent and necessary. It is our reason for being. <270a.jpg alt= Remembering Brasil on its national day hspace=5 vspace=5 align=right>It is an essential point in our lives. Our identity must essentially speak for itself and we must appear as witnesses before the world. People must see us as men of God, marked by Christ’s presence. Not to live this call is not to give meaning to our vocation, our apostolate and our relationships. In this call we encounter the roots of our Marist Apostolic Spirituality. And the inverse, if we live it, we will have Christ at the centre of our lives.”
The first part of the session was dedicated to a personal reading of the document and then during the second part the participants shared their findings.
Remembering Brasil on its national day
Today’s sessions started with a sincere and heart-felt greeting to all the Brazilian brothers present at the Conference. Today Brasil celebrated its national day.
Brother Claudino Falchetto, Provincial of Brasil Centro-Norte, summed up the meaning of this day for Brazil. The people present then received a little souvenir. During the community prayer, we remembered the activities in which the brothers participate and the works that they support in this large country.
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