There were two meetings rolled into one: the first was directed at the RAY (the Recollect Augustinian Youth); the second was a gathering of the local vocation promoters and advisers. The participants in the RAY meeting were 52 persons – male religious, female religious and lay – coming from the Recollect geography of Brazil. In reality this is the great novelty: for the first time, all the districts of this immense South American country gathered together in response to the summon of the Secretariat of the Apostolate of Education and of the Pastoral of the Youth of the Order,.
The Recollect Brazil
In Brazil, where about 120 Augustinian Recollects work, three of the eight Provinces of the Order concentrate. One of them, that of St. Rita, has all its houses there and is formed by Brazilian religious. The Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, rooted there since its origins, has its headquarters in Spain, Brazil being an administrative unit with the rank of vicariate. For its part, the Province of St. Nicholas of Tolentino serves the mission of Lábrea and has two seminaries in the Northeast area; its rank is that of delegation directly dependent on the Prior Provincial, with the headquarter in Madrid. Anyway, to the 28 communities of friars must be added the six communities of the Missionary Augustinian Recollect Sisters, who were also represented in the meeting. We do not include the contemplative nuns of Guaraciaba, who did not attend.
The meeting took place in Rio de Janeiro on the 11th to14th of March, and the Superiors who were directly in charge of the jurisdictions likewise participated. José María Sánchez Martín, General Councilor in charge of the Secretariat was the Organizer and the President. The opening was done by the Prior General, Miguel Miró, who was in Brazil on a visit of renewal of the communities.
Miró addresses to the RAY
Miró addressed the youth with special warmth, assuring them once again that “the RAY are the gift of the Order to the youth of our ministries: colleges, parishes, missions”. And expressed his firm conviction that “a parish which does not have young people is a sad parish indeed; catechesis and sacraments alone are not enough. And a college that does not have groups of young people, I doubt could be a launching pad for evangelization”. In addition, he made his own the instructions of Pope Francis to the young people: “Be revolutionaries! Go against the current! Dare to be happy!”. And he stressed the characteristic feature of the Augustinian Recollect Youth: “We do not pretend to isolate ourselves, but to live in communion. To be groups that are open and welcoming, without secrets or extravagance.
Tasks and Commitments
The tasks on the RAY were carried out starting Wednesday, the 11th day, and lasted until the 13th. They were above all, of formative type, under the direction of the General Councilor. First, José María Sánchez made a thorough presentation of both the Manual and the Statutes, both recently approved by the General Council. But at the same time, the reality of the movement in the different areas and communities was studied; and common strategies for its implementation or strengthening, as the case may be, were drawn. Likewise, the topic on WYRAY 2016 was dealt with, because of the World Youth Day of Kraków. Finally, it was determined as an objective to be attained in a short period of time the creation of a coordinating team for the RAY of the entire nation.
In the morning of the 14th day, the Meeting of the Promoters and Local Advisers of Vocation took place, which agreed to put into practice three concrete actions, such as, the creation and consolidation of the vocation team in each community, the insertion in all ministries of a yearly vocational week and the participation in all vocation initiatives of the dioceses.
Secondly, the Comission on Vocation of Brazil, composed of five representatives from different Recollect areas of the country, met. Their objectives were eminently practical in nature, and they proceeded from the elaboration of common topics to having a next nationwide meeting of the vocation advisers, passing through the Augustinian Recollect Vocational Itinerary (ARVI), the vocational project of each community or the promotion in both electronic and printed means of communication.