Q.- Let us start talking about your work: Why did you study journalism?
A.- I studied journalism, first, because perhaps when I was small, I saw how journalists sought out my father, who was then a government official, to interview him; and my attention was drawn to what they were doing to disseminate, through print, radio and television, the statements, suggestions and denunciations of my father, among many other very varied news. It was in line with the socio-political concerns of my father, in pursuit of a Mexico imbued with justice and equity, that I chose journalism as an initial career. Thanks to God, I realize that I had human formation in the family and that, with some academic fundamentals, I could pursue journalism; but later I studied philosophy, and the best elements I got from Augustinian philosophy. Whereas 25 years ago I presented news in terms of what, who, how, when and where; now, after the example of St Augustine, I dare to editorialize, to orient the public, and to critique and propose at the same time, no longer to inform alone.
Q.- What do you wish to convey in the radio program “All of Mexico we are brothers”?
A.- I want that everyone may know God, that through the example of interreligious dialogue in the course of the program, we learn to respect and love the different religions, on the basis of respect and gratitude to God for the religion that each one professes. In my case, I am happy to be a Catholic Christian and to show great warmth for Judaism, Protestantism, well-undertaken Islam and philosophies like Buddhism in quest of peace. I want that everyone may know himself as child of God, capable to be happy.
Q.- How important do you think is media in evangelization?
A.- I am convinced that to deny God in the media of communications is to ignore his existence, without respect for the order of values and without appreciation and attachment to the demands of creation. This abets the fear of death, a natural fear in view of the ignorance and denial of God. And what is grave in the growing fear of death is that this, in turn, favors the waste of intellectual, spiritual, affective, emotional, physical and material goods that God has given us. In this perspective, not to evangelize through the media of communication is not to proclaim that God is love and that life is everlasting. And note that there is a radical difference between to be and not to be – to be happy is to be so forever, whereas to think that we are not eternal is to start growing weaker, without hope, without love, with all the expressions proper to death: lies, hate, oppression, abuses, lust, greed, hedonism, violence, assassination, abortions…
Q.- What do you see in St Augustine that you cite him so frequently?
A.- I find irrefutable answers to the restlessness of the human heart. Why was I born? What is truth? Where is happiness? What is the difference between believing and not believing in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit? How can I personally know God? Why is it important to be humble? How to demolish pride? How to know who I really am? Why do we need the grace of God? Does heaven exist? Can I be happy from now on? Where does evil come from? And matters like interior freedom opposite slavery, interiority and transcendence, intimacy with God from where unity in love is born, as well as apostolate – are key points which I love to know and desire to share in public and in private.
“For me, to be an Augustinian Recollect is an ontological question” Secular fraternity
Q.- How did you know the Augustinian Recollects?
A.- I came to know them because the Parish of Our Mother of God of Czestochowa is in Tecamachalco. I lived there since I was 14 years old; and later as mother, I brought my children there for catechism. I realized that the friar communities who came to live in Tecamachalco were very friendly, hardworking, sweet and happy people. Now, I still live in Tecamachalco and Czestochowa is my parish; every community of friars has been part of my life, from Fr Jose Felix when he was Vicar, up to the present. Previously, I did not notice well. I had my distracted years, like almost everybody else.
Q.- What does being a secular Augustinian Recollect mean to you?
A.- For me, to be an Augustinian Recollect is an ontological question. In the Order of Augustinian Recollects, as spiritual daughter of St Augustine and sister of the friars, the nuns, the missioners and the lay, I find my place within the Church. Through my parents, profoundly Christian, I came to know Czestochowa; through Czestochowa I came to know the OAR, and through the OAR, I dared to know my God personally – God who loves me and makes me free, who enlightens me and makes me happy. And that is what I want would happen to everybody, that no one may think that his life is meaningless or that he is forever already a failure.
Q.- How do you find the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity in Mexico?
A.- I am very interested that we Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity keep our charism alert, alive and present within the Church. I find that we are a group of persons in search of God and, by the mercy and providence of God, we are united to the Order of Augustinian Recollects. I think God has placed us in your midst; we have a great responsibility to safeguard, live out and promote the Augustinian philosophy and spirituality; same with the wealth of our Recollect history and its original values which by no means may be considered obsolete today but, on the contrary, should be retrieved and strengthened. I mean values like contemplation and austerity, among others, which lived out well, favors community life and apostolate.
In Mexico we are some 250 Secular Augustinian Recollects hungry for knowledge and formation in order to be what God wants us to be and fulfill our vocation within a rhythm of knowledge and charity, not only one nor only the other – both. We want to take steps towards interiority and transcendence in order to love God and neighbor, to infect others, and to give the Church and the world what God may give us through a constant and resonant formation within the OAR.
We need more Augustinian formation so that, within the Mytical Body of Christ, as Recollect men and women, we may live out our role within the love of God in the world.
“The website agustinosrecoletos.com makes me feel within, very much within the whole OAR” Q.- What could be done so that the Fraternities would share better in the charism and mission of the Augustinian Recollects?
A.- First of all, and as indispensable point for the Fraternities to succeed in sharing better our charism and mission, I think the Augustinian Recollect friars, each one, has to converse with God about us, their lay brethren, and let God reveal to them who we are within the OAR and the Church. I believe that when every friar regards the lay people as his own and as brother, he would feel gratitude and responsibility, desires to share the same spiritual nourishment which he receives at his home and his areas of ongoing formation. Thus, as the friars share with us similar formation opportunities that you have, in human and spiritual matters, we can participate with more certitudes than doubts, more concurrences than differences, with continuity and perseverance in whatever is necessary for sharing the Recollect charism and mission.
On the other hand, I think it is the responsibility of each Secular Augustinian Recollect to heed the call of God in his heart, and for that, he needs to know that God is alive within him and that God is asking him something very particular: in the midst of prayer, study, work, spiritual and religious life, as well as of family and community life, we have to learn something new every day – and knowing that our Father St Augustine is a seeker, we cannot allow ourselves to cross our arms and, with the books closed in the shelves, wait for somebody to come to teach us. It is very important to keep in mind the meaning of living out the rhythm of knowledge and love, interiority and transcendence, seeking and finding.
The internet
Q.- What would you tell those who visit the website of the Order?
A.- I very much congratulate them for this initiative. I think it is a space where we can get to know what other Provinces are doing and unite ourselves more and more – so that we Augustinian Recollects can fulfill the mission God has given us – with everybody, without distinction of Provinces, save for questions of order and administration, yet with a clear sense of unity in the love for a charism, accepted equally in any part of the world where we find the OAR. I am also happy to know that written works, audio productions and videos are accessible through the website. I am fascinated to read right there phrases of our very dear St Augustine and the lives of the Augustinian saints. I am delighted to read the news and track down the paths of the friars I know. I like knowing where our Father General is in the world and how our brother bishops are doing. In short, the website agustinosrecoletos.com makes me feel within, very much within the whole OAR – and the world becomes small, even as our responsibility grows to be profoundly Christian and Recollect all day and night. Would that all the Provinces have a link to the internet and that we be more daring to send our news, with open mind, of course, to the good sense of choice of those in-charge because they are doing it very well and they know what is good to publish and what matters to be held back.
I hope that through the internet they send us, Secular Recollects, materials on human and spiritual formation; and we, Presidents, can download them easily, reproduce them and share them with our brothers and sisters in the Fraternity. Thus, it is very probable that we could finally standardize our formation, which, at least, to us in Mexico, would be a joy.