About thirty volunteers of all ages and ministries participated on Saturday, October 22, in the first meeting of ARCORES Volunteers, which took place at the Augustinian School in Madrid, directed by the Augustinian Recollects.
Everyone arrived at the school campus in Madrid on time. Thirty volunteers participated in this encounter, bringing their own experiences, enthusiasm, and expectations. ARCORES, the international solidarity network of the Augustinian Recollect Order, organized this first gathering of volunteers in Spain. It was a day to learn about the work done by local and international volunteers.
The meeting began with a prayer led by Lorenzo Pérez de Eulate, Augustinian Recollect Friar and vicar of the Province of La Candelaria. In the prayer, he recalled that everyone was a participant in the greatest revolution in history: the towel revolution that Jesus made when serving and washing the feet of his disciples.
Friar Jaazeal Jakosalem was presented as the new president of ARCORES international. Javier Sánchez is the director of ARCORES, and José Manuel Gonzalez Duran, Augustinian Recollect Friar, is responsible for the volunteer program. Everyone had a chance to present themselves and briefly share where they were volunteering. Participants came from Motril and Monachil (Granada), Chiclana (Cadiz), Zaragoza, and many from Madrid. The youngest participant came from Valladolid, and the one from the furthest came from Panama.
Multiple projects are being done worldwide: Support for schools, soup kitchens, aid to Fortaleza (Brazil), and international projects in the Philippines and Ecuador. With the direct participation of Augustinian Recollect friars, Recollect Missionary Sisters, members of the Augustinian Recollect Secular Fraternity, lay people, and students in Recollect Educational Centers. Sometimes, it seems a project is so independent and even isolated, but in meetings like this one, you discover they are an essential part of a more extensive network.
The day’s highlight was a workshop and reflection guided by Friar Enrique Gomez, Augustinian Recollect. The theme was “Christians and Social Transformation.” In the first part, he gave some clues on how to change our vision of things and shift from an insensitive, harmful, or frustrated opinion of reality to a more hopeful vision of things that humanizes the dehumanized reality. We must reach an attitude that dreams of liberating and transforming our reality.
This presentation was followed by some questions to guide the work done in smaller groups of reflection on how to pass from utopia to actual projects. Hope is not passive. In our environment, there are more seeds of the kingdom than stones. Hopeful commitment always leads to happiness.
The most emotional moment was reserved for the end, when, to the surprise of all present, the ARCORES Board presented the first edition of the Sister Cleusa Volunteer Award. The prize was presented to Friar Simon Puertas, former president of ARCORES, who appeared virtually since he now works as a missionary in Brazil. He preferred to acknowledge Maria Victoria and Margarita. They have genuinely committed themselves to ARCORES at its headquarters’ office; even at their advanced age, close to ninety, they go daily to volunteer.
The award was designed by the Augustinian Recollect, Friar Jaazeal Jakosalem, who also concluded the encounter with a prayer and thanked everyone for their assistance and their dedicated work. He encouraged everyone to continue strengthening this network by being a family that walks together in this shared dream of transforming reality.
