(Peru) “To you, O Lord, I present my enthusiasm and my labour; in you, my God, I trust, because I know you love me. I must not give in to fatigue because your grace is always with me. I always hope in you, always trust in you. “
We want to start with this prayer of strength and faith, the unforgettable experience of the second novitiate which was something special that marked the life of each of us. This experience of the second novitiate took place in Lima – Peru, in a place called Cieneguilla, at the retreat house “El Milagro” and has been for each of us a miracle, a time to rediscover the miracle of God’s call in our lives.
During the six weeks, we were able to get in touch with our lives and the call that God made us to be disciples of Jesus Christ, to serve the people of God. In order to devote our lives to ‘ love of God and deepen the Redemptorist identity, that is, “a man who really believes and lives with passion the plentiful redemption, and thus to become a man who trusts in God and trusts him.”
So, we can live according to the charism and the Redemptorist identity: “The Redemptorists are apostles of strong faith, joyful hope, ardent charity and zeal” (CC 20), an identity as the sons of St. Alphonsus, and this gives us the strength to follow Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.
So the second novitiate was not a waste of time, but a time full of grace, full of God’s love, having a goal: “to consolidate and confirm the choice of vocation in the following of Jesus Christ the Redeemer, through the dedication of life in the Congregation of the most Holy Redeemer, to continue his mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the most abandoned, especially the poor. “
(The brothers who participated in this second novitiate experience)
