Alberto Toutin reflects on the reporting of the recent General Chapter in the bulletin "Brothers" of the Iberian Province. We share his reflections.
1. Freedom of speech and participation. 12 Brothers participated for the first time in a General Chapter. Not only were almost all of them young brothers, but they also expressed freely their thoughts, their dreams, their prayers for the Congregation as a whole. In the same vein, all the members of the new General Government were members of this Chapter. This gives us, from the beginning, a deep harmony with the spirit that animated this Chapter and its decisions.
2. Two "grounded” convictions and a surprise. The Chapter allowed us to deepen our understanding of two convictions that is having a strong impact on the whole Congregation.
"Something has to change": in us, in our organisation, in our finances, in initial formation, in the appreciation and diffusion of our spiritual patrimony which is incarnated in our brothers and sisters - let us say it with healthy pride - in our "saints".
The other conviction is this: the urgency to grow in greater interdependence among us. We spoke of “a reciprocity yet to be discovered: we can all give something and we can all receive something”.
Finally, the surprise that emerged from the Chapter itself was the firm option for young people for the next six years. "Someone has to change us": that is, we need to go out to meet young people where they are, to allow ourselves to be challenged by them and even to be transformed by them. By doing this, we will be able to receive in a different way what we are and what we have, and we will be better able to share with them what we believe to be good news for them too.
3. "Brothers and sisters with the secular branch". Celebrating at the same time and in the same place our General Chapters, the shared liturgy, the meetings at meals and at rest times, and also the joint sessions, all helped to make us grateful once again for the gift we have received from our founders. A single Congregation of brothers and sisters who share our spirituality and mission, walking among the People of God, lay men and women who drink from our same spirituality and radiate it according to their specific vocations and competencies. Something that might seem obvious to us becomes a precious gift to continue to welcome, nurture and cultivate, broaden and offer to our Church today.
10/07/2024