PROVINCE OF SPAIN – GABRIELITE SHARED MISSION – Online formation meeting for Associates and collaborators
Remaining serene in the midst of difficulties – Montfort and the Cross.
On Saturday 20 February, the associates and collaborators of the Province of Spain held a virtual meeting, simultaneously in Catalunya and Madrid-La Aguilera areas, to reflect on how to face the problems and difficulties that life presents to us, taking St. Louis Marie de Montfort as our model. The dynamics of the session consisted of a review of the information previously sent to the participants and a joint reflection.
Thanks to the study of neuro-linguistic programming by José Luis Sandoval Romera, a Montfort missionary, we learned the strategies that Montfort used to face the “crosses” that he experienced, as a consequence of: his radical way of following Jesus, his abandonment to Providence, his pressing call to live the Gospel and the demands of baptism.
Our founder’s aim was to please God, an eight-step process:
- Waiting for the cross with determination
- Putting oneself in God’s hands
- Feeling bigger than the cross
- Seeing the wealth hidden in the cross
- To have hope
- Avoid rubbing wounds
- Becoming aware of our personal identity
- Seeing all things in the light of their final objective.
Montfort taught others to live each day as it came in order to live in peace, because fear and tension cause passivity and anxiety. Louis-Marie’s belief in God’s Providence is a great help to all of us who need to respond to the demands of this complicated world and, at the same time, to avoid stress. This belief, abandoning ourselves to Providence, far from making us resign ourselves, will make us always more active in the search for alternatives and solutions and at the same time happier.
During the time of reflection that followed, brothers and laypeople gave their opinions on the subject, their life experience in the face of difficulties, the strategies that they found most difficult to carry out…
In the meeting that took place in the Catalunya area, there were 33 connections. In the Madrid-La Aguilera area, there were 34 connections and via Youtube there were more than 77 visits at the end of the day on the 20th. We are especially grateful for the presence and contributions of Brother Dionigi Taffarello, Vicar General, who wanted to share this meeting with us from Rome.
The joy of seeing each other again and the dialogue we were able to establish, which enriched us all, makes us look forward to the next meeting on 17 April.
We look forward to seeing you!
FORMATION TEAM FOR THE MCG-Spanish Province
