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TOC |
SFO International Council - Quarterly
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VII Latin America Congress - Summary In a fraternal spirit and with the theme "Called to Serve in Perfect Joy", the VII LATIN AMERICAN CONGRESS SFO/FRANCISCAN YOUTH was held during the days of July 5-9, with the theme subject "CALLED TO CONSTRUCT A FRATERNAL AND EVANGELICAL WORLD", that included the participation of 9 countries: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Republic Dominicana and Cuba; the attendance of more than 60 brothers and sisters, and 9 Spiritual Assistants of the SFO and Jufra. Also in attendance was the President of the Franciscan Family of Paraguay. As representatives of the CIOFS Presidency in attendance was brother General Vice-minister, Rosalvo G. Mota, OFS; and for the Conference of the General Assistants, Fr. Armando Trujullo Cano, TOR, as friar witness of the participation of the First Order, the TOR and of the Church. The Congress held a solemn opening with the Eucharistic Celebration of inauguration presided over by Mons. Luis Sainz, Bishop of Cochabamba. During the Congress there were several exhibit presentations of interest for the OFS and Jufra de Latin America. They were: "Aspirations and yearnings of the Latin American community", "800 years of Franciscan charism", "History of SFO and FRANCISCAN YOUTH in Latin America" (each delegate made their own presentation), "The Gospel put its store in Latin America", "Saint Elizabeth of Hungary", "So that the SFO and the FRANCISCAN YOUTHA have life and have it in abundance", and "The profession of the Secular Franciscan and their sense of belonging in the SFO". The Congress had many opportunities for group reunions, moments for fraternal meetings, a stroll by the countryside of Cochabamba, moments of prayer and celebration. Upon the closing referred to of the last indicated subject, we proceeded to transcribe in continuation, as the framework proposed within the subject corresponding to the next General Chapter. "The Profession of the Secular Franciscan and their Sense of Belonging" INTRODUCTION: We live in the days of deep social, economic, cultural and religious transformations, times of uncertainties and instabilities. We ask ourselves: Who is who? What is it each of us wants from their life? Our Secular Franciscan fraternities are participants in the transformations of our present world; they breathe the postmodern air; they know the missteps of an accelerated society; which is consumer driven, immediate, and inclined towards "material things". Upon these fraternities rests the mission to make the Franciscan charism continue the life that it was given by the Spirit for the revitalization of the Church in the force of the Gospel. In this their identity shall consist. We know that some fraternities are very different from others. There are groups that display energy and enthusiasm. Sometimes there are numerous brothers in the formation stage. There also spring up sympathizers, who find joy in fraternity life and the accomplishment of the apostolic tasks. Many fraternities are, indeed, sanctified in the order of love. On the other hand there are brothers or fraternities isolated on the whole, who’ve allowed the loss of energy and enthusiasm. There also exist those who lose the evangelical and Franciscan motivation for different reasons: personal crises, fatigue, routine, deficient formation, pastoral activism, involvement in other movements of spirituality, at the same time as they ask themselves what is the sense of their presence in the Order. They undergo moments of inconvenience at the time of assuming services. They also exist who regularly are absent in the meetings of other programs. CHALLENGES: 1. All the brothers of the SFO profess to membership in the Order, not of a determined fraternity. 2. To return to the essential form of our way of life, rereading it and reincarnating it in the cultural reality of today. 3. To take the basic ideas of St. Francis and live them, updating them to the context in which we live. PROPOSALS: 1. Each brother and sister is to consciously and deeply meditate upon these questions. Afterwards to share in their fraternity and National Advisers: Why did we enter the SFO? What is it that first attracted us to Franciscan life the most? Who encouraged us? How can we nourish our sense of belonging to the SFO? Why we have abandoned our first love? How was the time of our formation? In the sense of belonging, do you think that the way you live today, corresponds, in a genuine way, to what the Order truly is-in its nature and its mission? Or is it rather about something which belongs to the past or to a personal concept of the Order? It has become evident that we need to look deep within ourselves in order to reach the depth of our nature. There exist some tools for this new rediscovery of our identity, encounters with others and a sense of belonging: know how to create a distance from the immediate things, certain capacity of contemplation, of reflection, and of esteem and silence. 2, To revalue the liturgical gesture of the Profession, its preparation, its renovation and to assume the commitment in the daily life.
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