From 29 August to 2 September the III Meeting took place in the presence of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Councils, together with the Treasurers and the Members of the Redemptorist Units of Bolivia, North Peru, and South Peru, in the Retreat House of the Servants of the Mother of God, Immaculate Virgin, in Cochabamba-Bolivia.
The success of this week is the result of twenty previous meetings that have taken place since 2020, including 2 in presence and 18 virtually due to the context of the pandemic.
Redemptorists without borders …
Due to the pandemic, reconnecting with our family in person after some time has certainly been one of the most pleasant experiences that each of us has been able to live in recent years. In the same way, meeting in person with our Redemptorist brothers of the other Units with whom we will form a single Unit, was an experience of joy, fraternity, recognizing ourselves as a Redemptorist Family without nationalism, knowing how to help each other, and above all to continue taking steps together in this project of the new Province to which we aspire.
Dialogue, listening and discernment…
This type of meeting always poses the challenge of knowing how to dialogue, that is, knowing how to express the ideas that everyone wants to bring, and at the same time listening to others with respect and patience, even more so when differences arise and there is no path clear to choose. Therefore, we present to God in our morning prayers, in front of the Blessed Sacrament or in the Eucharist every day, the work done, to ask him to help us discern which is the way that invites us to follow and to be able to do His will.
Moving forward with a decisive attitude…
The methodology of the meeting did not invite us to take a look at the path followed by the various commissions such as Formation, Statutes, Evangelization, Spirituality, Shared Mission, Apostolic Plan, Communication, Economy, electoral legislation, etc. and so, in order to be able to see ourselves with sincerity on the path of unification, and above all to ask ourselves, what decisions must we now take to continue moving forward? decisions, especially in Formation and Evangelization, which are two of our major priorities, as well as being able to draw up an agenda for all our common activities for the next year.
Hope for the future of the new unit …
This meeting allowed us not only to meet among the members of the Councils but also to be able to visit and speak with our professed students of the 3 units that are in the Seminary “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” in Cochabamba. The dialogue with them, the sharing of their joys and listening to their concerns, and the participation in their ceremony of Institution of Ministries, fill us with hope and optimism in the face of this challenge of the new Province, since the juniorate internship was the first to experience the coexistence of the 3 units from 2020, and now after this meeting, our brothers of the 3 units will also have the same experience at the “San Alfonso” Seminary in Lima-Peru, in the Postulancy phase from February 2023 onwards.
In conclusion, these were days of growth, much reflection and evaluation, and above all days in which we were able to look at each other as brothers and continue to prepare ourselves for a common future in which we recognize that God guides us and helps us to move forward.
Fr. Ray Rodríguez Arrieta, C.Ss.R.
