The formators of the Order gathered in Bogota to explore the profound art of spiritual accompaniment under the theme “Accompanying the journey back to the heart”.
During this meeting, they drafted a letter addressed to the entire Augustinian Recollect family in which they reflect on the role of spiritual accompaniment in initial formation, its challenges and hopes for today.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Our thoughts go out to all of you who are part of our Augustinian Recollect family: friars, nuns, religious, formandi, members of the secular fraternities, of the CEAR, of the JAR, of ARCORES, of the Monica Mothers; and to all those who feel sympathy with our way of living and serving in the Church.
The Augustinian Recollect formators/companions scattered throughout the world gathered in the city of Bogota, Colombia.
From these lands bathed by the faith and missionary dedication of so many of our brothers, among them St. Ezekiel Moreno, we would like to address a few words to them.
1. A look full of gratitude
Our eyes turn, once again, to the past, not with the temptation to think that the past was better than the present we are living, but to go back to our history and realize that there have been countless religious who have worn themselves out in formation and accompaniment, in evangelization and education, in mission and service to others.
Looking back on our history we realize that we are not the circumstantial product of a historical moment, but that we are part of the loving action of God who, in his goodness, wanted to raise up in his Church and for his people a very specific charism: the Augustinian Recollection.
And in this 21st century we are the heirs and custodians of this charism which we ardently desire to keep alive in the next generations.
2. The present time: challenges and hopes
In Pope Francis’ December 2019 address to the Roman Curia, he recalled that “we are not simply living in a time of change, but in a change of epoch.”
This change brings with it great transformations that we can all perceive and make themselves felt in society and in the Church.
We are also experiencing these challenges within our formation houses: the considerable reduction in the number of candidates, the accentuation of certain fragile traits in them, the lack of perseverance in the vocation, and the difficulty in forming stable formation teams.
However, we also note some glimmers of hope: young people who knock on our doors wanting to know our charism, youth groups eager to experience community life, people who come to our spirituality centers in search of an encounter with God, the innovative proposals of the Order’s School of Formation which calls many people to be trained in the art of accompaniment, the serious commitment to create safe environments in our communities, solidarity with the needy through various ARCORES projects , formators/accompaniers committed to giving their best in vocational itineraries, etc.
3. A new stage with the Redi ad cor
We experienced this meeting of formators of the Order as a moment of reflection and renewal.
We focused our energies on getting to know the document that will become the new Formation Plan, entitled: Redi ad cor et inde ad Deum.
We are convinced that this document does not represent a break with the past, but an adaptation to the challenges of formation at the present time.
This Formation Plan proposes the path of the return to the heart as the precise route to frequent one’s own interior space and, from there, to launch oneself to God without intimist reductionism.
It proposes a formation aimed at enabling vocational maturation processes in the Augustinian Recollect charism.
This document is a window through which the newness of God is introduced in the communities.
The light shed by this Plan is that initial formation is called to lead us all to ongoing formation.
4. The art of accompaniment
We consider that accompaniment is an art; not a merely human art, but a mysterious synergy between the divine and the human, in which those accompanying and accompanied discover themselves energized by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
In this sense, the Augustinian Recollect accompanier, a disciple of the humble Christ, accompanies personal processes based on attentive listening to the Word.
In such a way that he is moved not only by human reasons, but by the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
It did us formators a lot of good to remember the biblical image of the burning bush in the book of Exodus (cf. Exodus 3:4-5).
The companion, at the moment of entering the sacred and personal land of his companion, takes off the sandals from his feet and walks through it with delicacy, with absolute respect and with a great deal of charity.
He enters into the life story of the person accompanied, asking permission and giving thanks.
As formators/accompaniers we keep in mind that the first and foremost formator is God.
However, we know that this does not exempt us from the personal responsibility of forming ourselves to be more and more competent in the art of accompanying the processes of those brothers and sisters whom God has placed at our side.
5. The Augustinian Recollect Charism: A Gift to the Church
Our vocation is a gift from God!
These days of encounter have been for us a beautiful occasion to renew our vocation as Augustinian Recollects.
We returned to the heart, we shared the delight of being brothers united, and we reviewed the quality of our service in formation.
All these actions are the expression of the dynamism proper to our charism.
At the end of these letters, we ask you to pray for us with this simple prayer, so that we can carry out the formative accompaniment as a service of charity in favor of the Order and the Church.
You, Lord, are a Pilgrimand at our side you walk,you are our companion along the paths that give life.
In our service of accompaniment give us your kind words,that enkindle the heartand dispel inner doubts.
May we learn from you, Lord,to accompany our brothers and sisters, with their concrete stories, full of fragilities and joys.
Teach us to distribute your ointment which is infinite mercy,which is true rest,and divine love that humanizes.
That when we accompany our brother, we may not look for ourselves,but what you have dreamed for him,and may that be our only joy.
We pray to your Blessed Mother,Our Lady of Good Counsel,to accompany us in our service, and, like her, may we all be listening to your Word, which breaks all deafness.which breaks all deafnessand always calls to life.
Brothers and sisters, we bid you farewell and wish that “peace may come upon all of you who are united with Christ” (1 Peter 5:14).
Fraternally, the formators of the Order gathered in Bogotá, July 20, 2024.