The Centers of Augustinian Recollect Spirituality (CEAR) continue their development and expansion in the countries where the Order is present. These ministries seek to exercise the Augustinian Recollect apostolate, based on the direct relationship between charism and evangelizing mission, living in communion with the Church. 
Javier Monroy’s recent visit to Mexico, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Panama, where he met with those responsible for the CEARs.
The CEAR are born from the charism, at the service of the Kingdom and in shared mission with the laity.
According to its statutes, “the CEAR are born in response to the call of St. John Paul II to a new form of presence in our Church, dialoguing with the men and women of the 21st century in various ways. Pope Francis exhorts us Augustinian Recollects not to remain in a restructuring that does archeology or cultivates useless nostalgia, but to kindle the flame of the Spirit, to see and touch the wounds of Christ and to feel challenged by the wounds of humanity”. Javier Monroy, General Councilor of the Order, “only in this way will we be able to go out to the peripheries to heal and cure ourselves. The CEAR are born from the charism, at the service of the Kingdom and in shared mission with the laity”.
In the area of Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, several CEARs have already emerged, some of them with a long history, such as the one in Costa Rica or Querétaro (Mexico). However, the growing interest in this new form of apostolate has led to the planning of new CEARs in other areas.
It is a ministry that expressly seeks to exercise the apostolate from the close relationship that must be established between charism and evangelizing mission.
During several weeks in October, Fr. Monroy held informative and formative meetings with religious, lay people and the CEAR teams already formed. “The RECs are one of the various initiatives of the Order in the process of revitalization and restructuring. Each CEAR develops its evangelizing ministerial function from the charism, at the service of the Kingdom and in shared mission with the laity. 
Charism and mission are, therefore, the two words that merge in the definition of a Center of Augustinian Recollect Spirituality (CEAR). It is a ministry that expressly seeks to exercise the apostolate from the close relationship that must be established between charism and evangelizing mission”.
The objectives of the CEAR include evangelizing from the Augustinian Recollect spirituality through courses, workshops and faith experiences; accompanying and helping people to grow humanly and spiritually according to God’s plan for them; promoting solidarity, participation in human and spiritual development projects, and accompanying situations of marginalization and periphery; as well as forming leaders for evangelization.
“The laity are enthusiastic about the possibility of working as a team, together with the religious, in this new ministry,” said Friar Monroy.
“There is a lot of availability, and it will be important for us to accompany the development and objectives of each new CEAR.”