It has always struck me that our beloved convent of Talavera has ended up being a museum. Nice destination for a place full of meaning for us and that today contains pieces and more pieces of that technique that, since the Neolithic, has been accompanying humans: ceramics.
Fragile and durableThe process is constantly reinventing itself, but with a process that is repeated from craftsman to craftsman: the lathe and the kiln. Always the same, but always different. Like the Recollection. We bear little resemblance to the friars of the chapter of 1588, just as pre-Columbian vessels bear little resemblance to Lladró figures or curd jars, to mention something more prosaic.
However, we have retained two or three characteristics from our first Recollection that we also share with the ceramics that we find out there.
Its versatility. We are good for everything. We have had hospitals, schools, parishes, social works, missions -many missions-, study or spirituality centers. Like ceramics, we adapt to the needs, possibilities or assignments that a collective or a group has asked of us.
The teachers of the Colegio Agustiniano of Madrid are struck by the fact that, when the Recollects arrived in this neighborhood of La Estrella with their school under their arms, we had been dedicated to education for no more than 30-40 years. ” It seems that you have always had schools”, they say.
We are not defined by what we do; we are not defined by what we serve, but by who we are. Today we are a jar of nuts and tomorrow a vase for flowers. Same being, different mission. Like ceramics.
And perhaps that is why, wherever we are, we always manage to do something good: to serve the people, so that they benefit from our presence. Our communities, our presence as religious men and women, is simple, but necessary and luminous. Wherever we go, we generate bonds of closeness, friendship and trust. They love us and we love the people.
Long-lasting. Like ceramics, we are an enduring reality. We have our years as a charismatic movement. Perhaps some of the younger religious will even celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Recollection. And, the truth is, we are well behaved. Like those dishes that, put in the cupboard for the holidays, dust them off and they shine like new. We have had moments of much dust between our pores, moments of deep uncertainty; sometimes for historical vicissitudes, others for internal circumstances. But there has always been someone who has shaken us up a bit, cleaned us up and made us shine: a Eugenio Ayape, a Sister Cleusa, an Ezequiel Moreno, an Enrique Perez. In other words: burning lamps that have given us even a certain splendor.
And the most endearing characteristic of ceramics: its fragility. fragility. That is why it is always necessary to have an appropriate place to store it. Without stacking it too much, taking care that it does not break. Be careful that movements or blows do not shatter it.
Note one thing: the Recollection now has two groups in Spain for which we must take special care. Three of our four theologates and several residences for our elderly and dependent friars. It is a blessing for all of us to have this task as a community of brothers and sisters. Because it connects us with the words of Jesus that we heard today in the Gospel: “Love one another as I have loved you”. Or what is the same thing: “Take care of one another”. If there was one thing that Christ had in his heart, it was caring for his own, caring for those who are not self-sufficient, those who need help.
I am convinced that this is now the fundamental mission of the Recollection in Spain: the care and protection of the environment. care. To the young, in their discernment and in the accompaniment of their vocation. To the elderly, in the sometimes rigid serenity and, there yes, in the accompaniment of the doctor. Older people taking care of older people; young people accompanying older people. In short, as the Hakuna song says: “All for all.”
This is our Collection. And so it lives on, in our houses and ministries, in our fraternities and monasteries, among the young and with our students. Like a good vessel that is filled with the fresh water of the Spirit, from which we can continue to drink so that it will never, God willing, end up in the showcase of a museum.