Q. – What did you feel when you got elected as Prior Provincial?
A. – I could not believe it because I was the oldest among the capitulars and maybe the last to be considered for the big responsibility.
Q.- What does this new responsibility mean to you?
A.- This office means an immense act of trust that the province has in me and it is my duty as a sign of gratitude to respond to the expectations of all my religious.
Q.- Which aspects of the Ordinances of the Provincial Chapter will you give emphasis to?
A.- Among the provisions of the Ordinances of the Chapter there is a need to stress on spiritual life, especially in the area of personal and communitarian prayer during weekdays or holidays. The provisions on the avoidance of the abusive use of the mobile phone, the internal and external practice of the vows, the involvement of everyone including the local priors in the promotion of vocations as suggested by the secretariat on vocation and formation are also in the priority list.
Q.- You have a lot of experiences and had been the president of the Secretariat of Spirituality. How will you promote life of prayer in the communities and in our ministries?
A.- We begin from a deep reflection of the need to promote our spiritual well-being and freedom, avoiding sin which is the cause of slavery, illness and death, and leads those who abandon prayer to a spiritual suicide and hopefully not physical.
Education and Mission
Q.- The Province enjoys some prominence in the field of education. What do you think can the Augustinian Recollect religious contribute along this area?
A.- I believe that the educational endeavor is a very privileged place for us to bring to men the message of Christ, the light and liberation of man assaulted by blindness and spiritual slavery which can end up in bodily slavery. The figure of over 10.500 students that we have, which means almost the same number of families, with the multiplying factor that it supposes, shows the grave responsibility we have before God and before the society if we do not duly dispense with our duties.
Q.- What can be done to intensify the mission efforts in Casanare?
A.- The mission can be intensified with the missionary spirit. We have to nourish with prayer the desire to give it all to announce the One who gave it all for us.
Vocation and communion
Q.- In some parts of the Order there is dearth of vocations while other parts there is abundance. How does the Province fare in this regard?
A.- With regards to vocations, the Province is in a precarious situation, not hopeless though. We are looking forward now to the profession of two novices, then the investiture of six incoming novices, and about twenty young men who are to undergo the propedeutic year.
“For as long as I grow, I do help the community”. Q.- What do you think should be done in order to achieve better communion in the Order?
A.- In order to achieve better communion in the Order it is necessary to inculcate the importance of the doctrine of the mystical body of Christ and the communion with the saints. For as long as I grow, I do help the community. Otherwise I will do it a disservice.
Q.- What do you ask of the Virgin of Candelaria for these four years?
A.- For these four years I am asking and imploring the help of the Virgin Mary so that her Son may assume this task I received in his name.