The meeting of the CM Visitors began, as usual, with the celebration of the Eucharist. Around the Table of the Lord, listening to his word and strengthening ourselves by communing with his body and blood, we felt like a community called together by the Lord to carry out his plan of love for the poor of today.
In his homily, the Superior General urged the visitors to examine carefully the development of their responsibilities in order to guarantee that the ministries of their respective provinces would be an expression of fidelity to our vocation as followers of Christ, the Evangelizer of the Poor, to promote the spiritual well-being of the confreres under their responsibility, to be coherent that what we do mirrors our words, and to take great care in the formation of our local communities.
This was, without doubt, a mutual warm welcome of all of us before the Lord, who has summoned and assembled us.
Then, the morning was spent in many other signs of welcome in our own community circumstances.
The Visitor of Mexico, Fr. Luis Arriola, presented to us the land that welcomes us, the Church that inhabits this land and the reality of the province that is hosting this gathering. His words were full of realism and open to hope. He expressed in them the joy and the privilege with which his province welcomes the presence of such an important representation of the entire Congregation, coming from all over the world.
The president of the Executive Team made some practical observations for the good order of the meeting in a house which is practically unknown to everyone. This was also the moment to acknowledge the silent and difficult work of all those who made up the Technical Team, done to facilitate the entry of everyone into Mexico, and to be sure that the house of the Episcopal Conference of Mexico (CEM) would be ready in the best possible way.
The Vice-Visitor of Nigeria, Fr. Michael NGOKA, following the analysis of the replies of the visitors to the letter of the preparatory committee, explained the importance, need and urgency of Ongoing Formation, always in process.
Fr. Francisco Solas explained the methodology of the meeting by recalling its goals as set forth in the letter of the Superior General that convoked it, and Fr. Solas pointed out the four tasks that had to be accomplished to arrive at the goals: To deepen the theme of Ongoing Formation and to find the tools to carry it out in practice; to work on the agenda of the Superior General, by suggesting in open dialogue with him and his council, ideas for the good government of the Congregation; to meet in Conferences and to develop mutual relations in moments of common prayer, work, and rest. He described the different kinds of groups in which the visitors would meet, and finished by noting the committees that are still active, as well as certain duties, such as the synthesizers or the chronicler who would help in gathering ideas or in communicating with the provinces by means of https://cmglobal.org/es and https://cmglobal.org/en/news.
The Superior General introduced each of the new visitors, the ones who had begun their service since the last General Assembly, along with other participants in the meeting who are not visitors, but who are giving some service to the Congregation at the level of the generalate.
The various conferences had a festive presentation. Fr. Yves Bouchet, the visitor of Toulouse, accompanying himself on the guitar, sang a few verses in which were described the various Vincentian activities and concerns that were then attributed to each of the Conferences, and which the chorus received with a refrain. He was watching the raised hands in an invitation to work together to make effective their service of the poor, which is the service of Jesus Christ. In this way the various conferences, APVC, CEVIM, COVIAM, CLAPVI, NCE, were presented as bearers of the love of the Congregation, and desirous of sharing and realizing the hopes of the men of today, hopes burdened with the diversity of cultural riches, and ready to reflect and celebrate, being faithful to the spirit of Saint Vincent.
In the second part of the morning, the theme of Ongoing Formation made its appearance in the main hall through a well constructed and well presented conference of Fr. Hugh F. O’Donnell, Director of CIF. With this conference we began the first task of this meeting, of deepening and advancing in our appreciation, understanding and planning of Ongoing Formation. The afternoon was filled with group work under the expert and informed guidance of Fr. Patrick J. McDevitt, C.M., professor at DePaul University, Chicago.
