(San Luis Potosí, Mexico) – The days of Extraordinary Visitation and Assembly in the Province of Mexico were a great time of joy, reflection and group work. The meeting took place from 12 to 16 March in the Community of San Luis Potosí, Mexico . The visitors representing the General Government Fr. Rogéiro Gomes, general consultor and Fr. Marcelo Araujo, Coordinator of the Conference of Latin America, and Caribbean animated the meeting and Assembly with fervor and fraternal spirit.
During this time we reflected about the message of the Chapter, the Decisions of the General Chapter and the Action Plan of the General Government. All this allowed us to strengthen our mentality as a congregation, to see and feel that we are part of an international congregation with a great mission.
To achieve this, we met and worked in groups. During the meeting we have been able share and listen to confreres of different stages of religious life, from the youngest who study theology, to those who already have completed years of of Redemptorist religious life. The plenary sessions allowed us to listen and to express the resonances of what Rogéiro Gomes and Marcelo Araujo shared with us.
The meeting was a great occasion for sharing and telling stories of our life, especially at the time of meals. We have been able to rediscover ourselves after setting ourselves at the service of Plenfiful Redemption from our respective communities. We werealso able to laugh a lot and also to pray a lot. Every day we came together to celebrate our faith by participating in the daily Eucharist, the recitation of the Rosary, the visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the Way of the Cross.
The Holy Spirit has touched us during these days and His presence has been demonstrated through the active participation of each of us. Our seriousness, attention and interest in the questions and interventions to each of the questions posed by our confreres who visit us, have been constant and mature. As a unit, we know we are involved in a process of restructuring the Congregation and we are available. We know the challenge that this entails and the fraternal atmosphere we have experienced in these days makes this commitment palpable.
Saying goodbye to this Redemptorist meeting and assembly was not easy, because of the environment of hope and joy we have experienced in these days. Everyone will go back to their communities knowing the commitment we carry in our hands. But, for the atmosphere experienced during this week, I have no doubt that the Restructuring of the Unit of Mexico is being prepared by the General Government. We have taken an important step in our provincial history and it is a joy to have been a part of it.
Agustín Cantú Drauaillet, C.Ss.R.
