On the weekend of January 26-28, a group of 12-year-olds from the Romareda School in Zaragoza made the retreat “Heart on the Way” at the Fray Luis de Leon Hostel in Guadarrama, Madrid. With this retreat begins the Carthage stage of the itinerary of the Augustinian Recollect Youth -JAR-.
In December, the team of friar advisors of the Augustinian Recollect Youth met to program a series of retreats to strengthen the identity of the ARY groups formed in the academic year 2022-2023 in the different Augustinian Recollect communities in Spain.
Following one of the directives of the Augustinian Recollect Youth Synod, held during the summer of 2023 in Salamanca, Spain, it was deemed appropriate, to begin with the retreat “Heart on the Way”, which is aimed at adolescents who are part of the Carthage stage of the Augustinian Recollect Youth itinerary, whose age ranges between twelve and thirteen years old. Twenty-two teenagers from the JAR group of the Romareda School (“Restless Hearts Club”) participated, most of whom have already completed the Tagaste and Madaura stages and were very excited to have their first retreat experience living together as a “small JAR community.”
The first day of the retreat was a day of integration. The teenagers went on an excursion to Madrid to return to the Fray Luis de Leon hostel in the evening. On the first night of the retreat, the group of students of the Cartago Augustinian Recollect Youth from the Romareda School dealt with the pillars of the Augustinian Recollect Youth and formed the work teams for the whole retreat.
On Saturday, through ice-breakers, reflections, and games, the following topics were discussed according to the methodology proposed by the Pope’s post-synodal exhortation of Christus vivit: “God is love. He shows himself as a loving father who plays with his children (cf. Hos 11:4). At other times, he appears as a loving mother (cf Is 49:15). He even appears as a lover who goes so far as to tattoo a person on the palm of his hand (cf Is 49:16). He loves us so much that He knows how to see our beauty, that which no one can recognize (cf Is 43:4). It does not bother Him that you express your questions to Him. He exhorts us: “Come and let us discuss” (cf Is 1:18).
Christ saves you. Only what is loved can be saved. Only what is embraced can be transformed. Christ saved us on the Cross from our sins. Never forget that “He forgives seventy times seven.” Let yourself be saved because those who let themselves be saved by Him are freed from sin, sadness, and inner emptiness.
The Spirit gives life. The Holy Spirit prepares you and opens your heart to welcome the grand announcement: God loves you, and Christ is your Savior. Invoke the Holy Spirit every day. Let yourself be compelled by Him to fall in love with God; fall in love! And everything will be different.
In addition to this proposal of evangelization with the help of creative, didactic, and fun resources, without losing the depth of our Christian faith, the adolescents carried out a gymkhana on the parts of the Mass, had a penitential celebration highlighting that passage of the Gospel of Matthew that speaks about the reign of God (Mt 13:44-48). Indeed, Jesus (the Son of God) is the greatest treasure of all; Jesus is the best thing we have. He is so valuable that all possessions are “sold” to buy that field where a treasure (Jesus) is hidden. Jesus is so valuable that a person sells all his possessions to have “that pearl of great price” (Jesus).
The last part of the retreat dealt with the theme of the Augustinian Recollect Youth, explaining the different stages of the itinerary and the objectives of each stage. Afterward, the Eucharist was celebrated, closing the “Restless Heart” retreat.
This retreat was possible thanks to a few people who organized or supported its development. Thus, three young people from the JAR Getafe of the JAR Milan stage, Daniel Peñarando, Alba Peñarando, and Elena Tejerina, helped as monitors, whose closeness and testimony were highly appreciated by the adolescents; Nieves Losilla, a mother of students from the Romareda school accompanied the 22 adolescents with her attentions and care; the Augustinian Recollect religious Francisco Oyanguren and Héctor Molina directed the retreat.
