On Sunday 21 April, we had a wonderful meeting of all the Associates of the Religious Congregations of Peru, in Lima.
The theme was: ‘The challenge of living synodality and our Christian commitment’.
Father Raúl Pariamachi helped us to underline the importance of our role as lay associates, in our different groups of associates in the Church and in the world, to re-read little by little how we live the synodal process in our lay community and in the pastoral field. The Father told us that all the baptised are responsible for the mission, each according to his or her vocation, experience and competence. Consequently, all of us, lay people, religious and priests, contribute to imagining and deciding on the stages of reform of Christian communities and the Church, so that we can experience the sweet and comforting joy of evangelisation.
For us, it’s a grace to be able to share the charism and spirituality of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, which enables us to meet once a month, to share the Word of God, to listen to each other, to share moments of joy and sorrow, and to reflect on our commitment to the Church. It’s a sign that we’re trying to walk together, to live out the synodality that the Pope expects of us, to assume our role as lay people in the Church without taking the place of priests, to live out the shared mission because we are all co-responsible for the good of the Church. We have heard the strong call to continue to be leaven for our world with our life witness and the challenge to continue to strengthen the lay vocation in the Church and in the Congregation, while respecting the charism of each one. We confirm, once again, that bringing our spirituality to others is enriching in these very difficult times in which we live. It is a duty to live the spirituality of listening, coordination, understanding, respect, constancy and dialogue, to come together to discern and make decisions together.
We realised how important it is to learn to live in community by sharing the diversity of our missions. We felt that we have the same goal that unites us: faith in God and love for others. We need to walk together with Jesus Christ, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus: approaching, accompanying, questioning, listening, discerning, dialoguing and acting, so that we can be a beacon of hope for our world today.
We ended our day with Mass and activities in keeping with the synodal dynamic.
It was a wonderful day of meeting and sharing.
Thank you to Sister Pascaline, our counsellor, for giving us the opportunity, through this conference, to take part in a training course.
Cesar Augusto Ypanaque Laos, associate of Huaura/Perú. Published on 6 May 2024
