The ministry of accompaniment in local Secular Fraternities is a service that entails personal and family challenges. Those who carry it out in Mexico have gathered to strengthen their commitment and learn from one another.
With the purpose of understanding the current situation of the Secular Fraternities in Mexico and seeking strategies to improve and ensure their accompaniment, the assistants, presidents, and formators of the country’s Fraternities met at the House of Recollection in Ahuatepec (Morelos) on July 12 and 13.
A total of thirty representatives from nine Fraternities met: Avante, Tecamachalco, Hospitales, Postulantate, and Saint Monica in Mexico City; Querétaro; Cuernavaca in Morelos; Ahuacatlán de Jesús in San Luis Potosí; and Macuxtepetla in Hidalgo.
Dialogue and joint reflection were the backbone of the meeting, with proposals for improving the formal and informal accompaniment of the local Fraternities, whose specific situation was presented according to the well-known model of defining strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. To arrive at their conclusions, each fraternity had previously prepared a discussion in its own space with all the fraternities present.
Augustinian Recollect Fabián Martín, president of the Coordinating Team of the Secular Fraternities of the Augustinian Recollects, presented a topic divided into three sections: Sharing the Charism with Hope; Saint Augustine and Discernment; Accompaniment and Its Aspects. It was an interactive presentation full of questions and clarifications in open and sincere interventions.
The following day, group work took place, with a rich exchange of wisdom and experience. Practical cases were proposed to demonstrate how to apply the theory of the Instructions for the Accompaniment of Secular Fraternities in real life. The meeting concluded with revitalization strategies based on accompaniment.
Augustinian Recollect Martín Luengo, Vicar of the Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Province of the Augustinian Recollects for Mexico and Costa Rica, presided over the closing Eucharist and shared greetings and congratulations with all those present.
Particularly significant was the effort of those who came from further away, from Ahuacatlán de Jesús and Macuxtepetla, eight hours away by bus. Several participants combined their stay at the meeting with their work responsibilities, taking advantage of online connections at night.
Giving faces and names, listening to opinions and experiences, encouraging one another, and learning to then take what they learned back to each local Fraternity were the most valued experiences. One of the final requests was that this meeting be repeated annually, given how much it helps those who live this commitment to their local Fraternity in special responsibilities.
