MARIST APOSTOLIC SPIRITUALITY

The reference text is in Spanish

I. Introduction

1.        The focus of this document is ourselves and our contemporary search for a spirituality that is life-giving and more adequate for our vocation as active lay religious.

2.        In 1976, the XVII General Chapter proposed further research into Marist Apostolic Spirituality. ¹ In 1985, the XVIII General Chapter approved the Constitutions which describe our spirituality as apostolic and Marial (C 7).

3.        The Report to this Chapter, presented by Rev. Bro. Charles Howard and his Council at the end of their term of office, indicates the difficulties which we continue to have in regard to our lived spirituality.

4.        The XIX Chapter chose Marist Apostolic Spirituality as a theme for study. It is seen as one of the four priorities which will guide the Government and the life of the Brothers over the next eight years. We interpret this choice as a response to the Spirit continuously guiding and renewing us.

The reflections that we have made as a Chapter emphasize the apostolic aspect of our spirituality.

II. Realities which affect us

In contemplating the reality of the world and of the Church, we take note of some phenomena which we believe are influencing the contemporary understanding of spirituality.

The world

5.        Our world continues to be dominated by materialism, divisions, inequalities and injustices. We recognize in it, however, the strong calls of God to collaborate in his plan of salvation, committing ourselves to the building of a more just, fraternal, and meaningful society.

6.        In spite of the impact of materialism, secularism, and atheism, there exists a thirst for the transcendent and a search for the spiritual, especially among young people.

The Church

7.        The Church is being continually renewed. A better self- understanding flows from its communion with humanity and its incarnation in the world. It attempts to be the servant of all.

8.        Apostolic Religious life, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, is not to be understood from the point of view of a flight into the desert. Instead, it should  help to proclaim and strengthen the Kingdom of God among the peoples of the world.

9.        We notice a re-awakening in the Church’s awareness of Lay people. Their identity, vocation and mission has become clearer.

Our way of living

10.      As regards the spiritual reality of our communities and provinces, from the viewpoint of apostolic vigor and its impact on spirituality, we note the following positive aspects :

—        the example of many Brothers who manage to integrate in their lives;

— the love of God and generous service to children and young people ;

—        the experience of Brothers who are very sensitive to the world of the poor in whom they recognize and serve the living God ;

—        the refocussing of our institutions towards Gospel values and through curriculum development, with more sensitivity to young people with difficulties;

—        the strong call to share our Spirituality and Charism with lay people, something that may lead to our enrichment as well;

—        a concern that we find ways for our older Brothers to exercise the apostolic dimension of their lives and to share their spirituality with others;

—        a greater appreciation of Champagnat as a model of our consecrated life.

11.      We also find important aspects which could be improved :

—        reaching a greater integration of life ;

—        developing the practice of community and personal discernment ;

—        encouraging the practice of spiritual direction ;

—        adopting a more simple, Gospel-oriented, and welcoming style of life ;

—        having more open communities which are attuned to the needs around us and which allow us to be challenged by those needs ;

—        listening to the calls of the poor and being in greater solidarity with them ;

—        being men of deep prayer with Christ at our Center ; sharing the Word of God in community and making our community celebrations and prayer more suited to our life and mission;

—        making our witness as a praying and apostolic community more evident ;

—        being more aware that Mary is the one who inspires our life and action so that she may truly be our model and companion on our journey.

III. Our convictions

God present in the world

12.      We discover and experience God in the down to earth realities of our ministry, and so we see the world as a place where we listen to, serve, and love God.

13.      The Father loved the world so much that he gave us his Son. In His infinite love, God continues to be totally involved with all men and women and today’s world, with its disappointments and hopes. It is God who arouses in us our responsibility for them, our interest in them, our sensitivity to their problems, and our acceptance of their challenges. Through obedience to our mission we respond to the needs that we meet.

14.      From this perspective the world ceases to be considered as an obstacle, and becomes instead a place for encountering God, a place of mission and sanctification. It is here that we practice the presence of God so loved by our Founder and by so many Brothers.

Brothers filled with enthusiasm for the Gospel.

15.      We are fired with enthusiasm for Jesus and his Gospel. He gives meaning to all that we do. We maintain a vital and deep personal relationship with him in the sacraments, in personal and community prayer and in apostolic action. His Spirit sends us out into the world as at Pentecost, with enthusiasm and generosity born of our mission to continue His work of salvation through evangelization (cf C 79,80).

16.      In prayer and apostolic work we come to realise the price Christ paid and continues to pay to save the world. This experience urges us to move ahead, with courage and apostolic zeal to difficult missions, to marginalized areas, and unexplored surroundings, where the seed of the kingdom has not yet taken root (cf C 83).

17.      Mary, associated with the mission of her son, is our model and companion. (cf C 4 and 87)

Spirituality is developed by giving oneself to others :

18.      In our insertion in the world we follow the example of Jesus, who made himself like us ² (cf C 78). Faithful to the will of the Father he gave unconditional service to humanity.

19.      We live and develop our spirituality through service to others (cf C 78). The poor person, the child, the young person and the Brother in community become for us the living sacraments of God and the daily calls of the Spirit (cf C 83). In the service of those around us, we integrate, like Jesus, love of God and neighbor, contemplation and apostolate.

20.      Our presence among young people, so recommended by the Founder, is a place where we encounter God (cf C 81). Understood in this way, apostolic action, far from hindering union with God, fosters it and expresses it (cf C 7).

21.      Mary serves as an example to us. Attentive to the needs of her cousin in an attitude of service, Mary lives a profound spiritual experience and, through her, the Spirit is communicated to Elizabeth. Her Magnificat is a marvelous expression of interior integration : Mary experiences God in the depths of her heart and in her commitment to the liberation of her people.

To live and to share the spirituality of Champagnat :

22.      By his life, Champagnat encourages us to enter into the adventure of loving God in His creation, and loving God’s creatures for His sake.

23.      Moved by the Spirit in his encounter with the dying young man, Montagne, Champagnat experienced the unconditional love of Jesus and Mary for humanity. Full of compassion he felt compelled to found a community of Brothers who dedicate their lives to the service of young people, especially the most neglected (cf C 2, 81).

24.      This openness to the love of Jesus and Mary and to the events and needs of his time permitted him to integrate his life and to be in communion with God in the streets of Paris as he was at the Hermitage.(cf C 2). His soul was so apostolically alive that he could not see a young person without feeling the need to catechize him and tell him how much Jesus Christ loves him (cf C 2).

25.      Reliving this spiritual experience and sharing it with lay people, is a tangible way of continuing throughout time the gift which Marcellin is for the Church.

IV- Calls that we hear

26.      To adopt a renewed form of prayer, open to the reality of creation and of history, echoing a life in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, above all with the poor, and with those who suffer. ³ An apostolic prayer which takes into account the pains and joys, anguish and hopes of people that God puts in our way (C 66, 71).

27.      To be united in love through encountering God in daily life, through seeking His will in our dealings with others, in the midst of daily activity and community living, and through the humble fidelity of every day. (C 44)

28.      To be faithful to personal and community listening and meditating on the Word of God as it relates to our particular context. This prepares us to interpret the signs of the times and to discover the will of God in whichever way it is manifested. ⁴

29.      To develop the personal and community exercise of discernment which helps us to understand the sacramental meaning of events, people, and things which are for us a meeting place with God. ⁵

30.      To see the face of God in community, a family united in the name of the Lord, a place where we experience God personally and share this with others. ⁶

31.      To develop a personal and community plan with a view to fostering our relationship with God : sustained rhythms of personal prayer.

32.      To recognize the presence of God in the cultures of the people whom we evangelize. We grow in our experience of God by contemplating the cultural values of each people. When these values are cherished and appreciated, we discover the seeds of the Kingdom already in them, and these in turn enrich us.

33.      To enrich the spiritual heritage left to us by Marcellin, by sharing it with the laity. We ourselves stand to gain much by sharing with them the different forms of the presence of the Lord, the abundance of grace in each person, and the numerous ways of growing in faith.

V - Lines of action that we are proposing

34. The development of an apostolic spirituality whereby we Brothers encounter God, not only in prayer, but also, in apostolic action, is a process that requires time and appropriate formation.

Concretely, we propose the following :

35.      At the level of the Institute

The Brother Superior General and his Council have a responsibility for promoting processes of formation in Marist Apostolic Spirituality.

This involves :

—       Encouraging a deeper study of Marist Apostolic Spirituality     (characteristics, pedagogy, etc.) ;

—       organizing courses for preparing animators of this spirituality ;

—       supervising provincial formation plans and the centers of on-going formation to ensure the spiritual growth of the Brothers in apostolic spirituality.

36.      At the Provincial level :

—       Each province follows a discernment process to develop its Pastoral or Apostolic Plan. Through this process, the Brothers work together in search of their particular way of integrating the different aspects of their life : prayer, community, apostolate.

—       The Provincial Council promotes prayer workshops leading to an improvement of personal and community prayer in tune with an apostolic spirituality.

—       Bro. Provincial encourages spiritual direction with a view to helping each Brother integrate his life with his apostolic work.

—       Bro. Provincial sees that the Brothers have appropriate accompaniment so that their solidarity experience, their collaboration with the laity, and the openness of their community will enable them to develop a greater apostolic sensitivity and better integration of life.

37.      At the Community level :

—       Each community is encouraged to grow in sharing its life, feelings, mission and faith.

—       Each community, in developing its community plan, determines ways of renewing personal as well as community prayer, in such a way that it becomes an apostolic prayer, open to reality, attentive to listening to God’s Word, and in solidarity with the world.

—       Each community, through the structures it puts into place, helps a Brother’s faith development within the demands of his apostolic work (timetable, prayer, meetings...)

—       Each community prays and shares the Gospel, the events of each day, the Constitutions and the Chapter documents.