Primera Profesión Religiosa del Hermano Elvis en Colombia

 

PRIMERA PROFESIÓN RELIGIOSA DEL HERMANO ELVIS QUINTERO 

EN BUCARAMANGA (COLOMBIA) 8 OCTUBRE 2022 

 

“Una sola cosa pido al señor, eso buscaré; habitar en su casa todos los días de mi vida”. Con estás sencillas palabras identifico este camino vocacional, lleno de sacrificios y mucha esperanza en el Señor; Doy gracias a Dios Padre, por regalarme el maravilloso don de la vocación, por concederme la gracia de permanecer fiel a Él. Hacer mi primera Profesión Religiosa significó para mí, sellar ese pacto de Amor con Jesús, que en su gran misericordia me invita a seguirle con un corazón desprendido y generoso. Solo me queda decir “gracias, Señor, gracias".

Ingredients of Sa-Fa vocation animation 17

How is my relationship with agents 

and recipients of vocational animation?

Human relations are necessary in all the activities that are carried out. In vocational animation relationships are established with other animators, priests, religious, catechists, directors, students, pastoral agents, teachers, professors, former students, parents, etc.; a part of the candidates.

Something fundamental in these relationships is that they have to be of fraternity and community, following and spreading the teachings and the Gospel of Christ. They have to be familiar, cordial, fluid and respectful relationships specially of the other's opinion, with serenity and affection. In the relationships we are not free from feeling tired, overwhelmed, worried. Strategies are needed to carry out activities with the best possible harmony, trying to find common ground to achieve the same goal.

The sustained dialogue with the animators and other agents helps to strength ties and establish positive work guidelines, especially when sharing organizational meetings and training, when sharing face-to-face retreats, or missionary activities. It is also important the interest of each animator in getting involved and in establishing connections with all the vocational agents.

In general, the relationships that are established are very good. You can almost always count on the active presence of the members who assume the role of vocational agents and relationships are achieved with good communication. A lot of trust and open dialogue and a positive interaction is built towards the development of vocational animation.

The advantage of being able to work in a school, knowing closely the functioning of a youth community or a catechumenate, or being in contact with a community of Brothers helps to have a richer and more global experience of the possibilities of finding candidates. Participating also in parish acts, in family movements, in Nazarene Fraternities also allows expanding links with other people and establishing closer and more fraternal relationships, feeling them valuable and necessary to generate a Nazarene style in regard to vocational animation. The priests or catechists usually collaborate by suggesting some young people who have any interest or possibility of doing the vocational process.

In regard to the relationship with the candidates, we must try to ensure that these be always close. The meetings with the candidates of vocational animation should be at first in a personal and regular way, through visits, holding regular interviews, sharing material. If this is not possible, at this time technology offers solutions to achieve a greater reach. The available means of communication help to maintain active contact to create a more constant and fluid relationship for cases where there are geographical distances. But we should never forget that they cannot totally replace the face-to-face encounter.

Empathy, trust, respect, understanding, harmony and perseverance are very important in relationship with the candidates to awaken in them an interest in what we are proposing, and to create the necessary attraction to carry out the accompaniment. In case of being a candidate for Brother, the relationship or contact with their family is also important because they need to achieve trust and closeness to create a relationship of empathy.

However, there are some unfavorable aspects to take into account as well. That is the fact that there are few people to offer vocational animation or in other cases it is not possible to follow up the performance of the candidate in particular. Another drawback is the clerical figure of the Church that usually insists only on the priestly aspect of the vocation and does not cover other vocational proposals such as consecrated lays people in the Church. On the other hand the involvement of probable vocational agents is difficult too, their participation is usually scarce at the moment; therefore the link with both the agents and the candidates of the vocational promotion is restricted. In short, very few people promote the vocation to be a Brother, very few people support the promoter of vocations and in some places there is no support from families.

As a conclusion to the issue of relationships, both with the agents of vocational promotion and with the candidates, we must consider that the fundamental thing above all is to favor relationships in a harmonious, welcoming and respectful way to achieve the proposed objective that is ultimately for the work of God, that means to bring more workers to His harvest. In this sense, Brother Gabriel taught us to cultivate and have a family spirit with which we can help and serve each other mutually, giving the best of each one, sharing responsibilities, accepting differences, fostering that family spirit.

Ingredientes de la animación vocacional Sa-Fa 16

 ¿Con quién me relaciono 

para llevar a cabo la animación vocacional?

Las relaciones humanas son inherentes a las personas ya que los seres humanos son seres sociables por naturaleza, además las relaciones son necesarias también para el desarrollo de ciertas actividades.

En el caso de la promoción vocacional, las relaciones son fundamentales no solo con los posibles candidatos, sino también con las personas con las que se trabaja, para establecer contactos y proyectos más fuertes y continuados.

Dentro del grupo de los responsables de esta tarea se tiene que intentar responder a las expectativas de los proyectos vocacionales. Las relaciones que se deben establecer tienen que estar en consonancia con los designios de Dios, ante todo los proyectos del Instituto, y las propuestas e ideas de los agentes de promoción vocacional, los destinatarios y personas que estén involucrados.

Entonces, ¿quiénes son las personas con las cuales se establecen relaciones para llevar adelante los proyectos de animación vocacional?

Según el proyecto en el que se esté trabajando hay que relacionarse con todo aquel que sea necesario. En principio, hay que tener en cuenta el contacto con la Iglesia local, otras veces con la diocesana o con las parroquias; luego con el Instituto, para cuidar el sentido carismático de la propuesta, o sea con los Hermanos de la Sagrada Familia, y a partir de ahí con los miembros de los equipos de trabajo y finalmente con los candidatos.

Para dar algunos ejemplos se pueden nombrar los espacios donde podemos relacionarnos, aunque no todos tienen como propuesta principal la animación vocacional: la iglesia diocesana, las distintas congregaciones de la zona, el equipo de pastoral de la Congregación, los miembros de la comunidad educativa. En todos ellos debería haber un cierto espíritu de animar vocacionalmente.

También con el sacerdote de la parroquia, los catequistas, otros consagrados y consagradas, con el Hermano asesor, con los maestros, los profesores, los padres, los alumnos, los exalumnos, sus familias; en programas de acciones sociales, amigos, clubes, etc.

Por desgracia, en algunos lugares no dan espacio a realizar estas actividades vocacionales, como por ejemplo algunos entornos de escuelas públicas, que no abren las puertas a las actividades de comunicación religiosa. En otros casos muchas personas responden positivamente y se unen a la Congregación, pero luego abandonan rápidamente. O a veces hay personas que al principio se entusiasman, pero luego tienen que decidir con los familiares y éstos no están de acuerdo en esa elección.

Un aspecto fundamental a tener en cuenta con respecto a las relaciones es la importancia del conocimiento mutuo entre los miembros de los equipos que trabajan y la coordinación e integración entre ellos para lograr armonía y profundización en las actividades.

Relacionarse y comunicarse es un aspecto esencial no sólo entre los animadores, sino también con las familias de los candidatos para darse a conocer, aclarar dudas, crear confianza y dar la información necesaria para que se resuelvan los inconvenientes para establecer un contacto y acompañamiento regular.

FORMACIÓN DE FUTUROS EQUIPOS DE ANIMACIÓN

En muchos lugares están aún en proceso de formación los Equipos de animación vocacional. Todavía no se han desarrollado actividades concretas, por ahora tan sólo se ha trabajado mediante la animación a través de las redes. Las relaciones que se están estableciendo son con los miembros del curso de animación, o con la red de animación SAFA o con el equipo Con Vocación SAFA.

Las relaciones que se establezcan en el aspecto de animación vocacional son un elemento prioritario para llevar adelante la misión. Es el anhelo de todos que haya muchas personas en el acompañamiento de los candidatos, para que descubran el llamado vocacional a vivir el carisma desde distintas presencias Sa-Fa.

Es necesario dar pasos en relación a la comprensión de la red de animadores para poder relacionarse con toda la comunidad Sa-Fa. Sólo a través de la creación de redes, de estar conectados y de intentar conectarse de las más variadas formas posibles, podremos llegar a un mayor número de personas. 

Durante el proceso es necesario, poco a poco, discernir la verdadera vocación de cada uno. En la animación vocacional, la llamada a cuantas personas o agentes nos relacionemos no está limitada en cuanto a número o lugar. Debemos estar más abiertos a cualquiera que quiera trabajar y colaborar. Así podremos sumar y aprender de las experiencias de las personas que nos rodean y con las cuales nos relacionamos.

Entrance to the Postulancy in India

 

“If every flower wanted to be a rose, nature would lose her springtime beauty.”

It is a great joy for the community of Eluru and also a remarkable day for all the Brothers, Novice, Postulants and Aspirants. We have started the day with a celebration of BROTHERHOOD DAY in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. We had a special prayer service and beautiful points were underlined by Bro. Efraim, the Delegate of India, on the theme of “The Joy of Being a Brother” written by Bro. Teodoro Berzal. The day was filled with lots of happiness and joy.

After the positive report of the Formators of the Novitiate, the Provincial and his councilors have admitted 5 of our pre-postulants to the stage of Postulancy on September 20^th. Today, with the presence of our Delegate, we have celebrated the rite of Entrance to the Postulancy. This celebration was taken place in the chapel of Novitiate in the midst of the community Brothers and a Novice.

Bro. Sagar has commented on the article 168 from our Constitutions where it speaks about the stage of Postulancy. Bro. Efraim handed over the book of Liturgical Prayer of the Church to the new Postulants. Then it continued community prayer. We have prayed especially for these five postulants, so that they may rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and constant in prayer.

Month of vocations in The Philippines

 September: The Month of Vocation

A mission with a Brotherly Touch

Launching of the Vocation Month in the Archdiocese was held on September 1, 2022 at San Pedro Cathedral with the theme “Family: Seedbed of Vocation.” This solemn celebration was the opening of the activities pertaining to vocation -married life, priesthood, religious life, single blessedness- promotion within Davao, Digos, Tagum, and Mati (DADITAMA), to be participated by all parishes, catholic schools and colleges, and partner agencies from the local government units (LGU’s) and public schools.  

The Gabriel Taborin College of Davao (GTCD) organized its program for the annual vocation animation within the Archdiocese. The GTCD, from the vocation launching to the different public-school visitations remained consistent – the promoting vocations, and drawing students closer to God through the mission of the Brothers of the Holy Family.

The launching of vocation month in GTCD marked the response, and participation of the Brothers to the vocation promotion. The vocation promotion started with a simple but, with a strong opening – the parade of the representation of saints, followed by a short talk about vocation-sainthood, and its impact to one’s life as a baptized Catholic. Every Wednesday during the month of September, the morning prayer was conducted with the theme of one call story from the Bible at GTCD. And Every day, there was a post about vocation on many themes like what is vocation, what are the different types of vocations we have in the Church, who are called by God and why are they called etc.….          

The vast work for the vocation promotion was carefully planned by the Brothers headed by Bro. John Bosco Sebastin, FSF. Bro. Bosco started with the communications for approval of the public-school visitation; the Department of Education (DepEd) Regional, and Division offices of Davao Oriental, Davao Del Norte, Davao Del Sur (including the new province of Davao Occidental). And of course, this includes the religious schools -Holy Cross Schools- of the said provinces manage by the Religious Communities of sisters.

 

Brother Bosco, untiringly extended his school visitation by including Cebu City, and the island of Bohol. In the same manner, personally he handed letters for approval to the school administrators. And in such a way to be in contact with some of the religious communities who in one way or another is of help to the ongoing vocation animation program.    

The school visit focusing on the promotion of vocation in general, and emphasizing vocation for brotherhood for the Brothers of the Holy Family. Grade 12 was the target audience of the vocation promotion. However, because of their minimal number, grades 10 and 11 at times were invited to participate. Twenty to thirty minutes of encounter with the students -short introduction; short video presentation; collection of participants basic information- has been fruitful in one way or another, and this is followed with communication through messenger or text messages by the postulants.

         

Ingredients of Sa-Fa vocation animation 15

 Dreams and proposals to improve and expand

the scope of vocational animation

Nowadays it is becoming less and less common for families to practice the Catholic faith. Most of baptized people do not make room for God in their lives. Moreover, as the Word says: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” Mt. 9. 37-38.

We are in a society in which the Brother's way of life, among young people, is "not in fashion" and therefore it is difficult to make a vocational proposal.

However, this means that the dreams to achieve more vocations do not fade, but rather give impetus to new proposals to obtain more achievements in the mission as animators.

Hope gives the impetus to dream and desire more vocational fruits of consecrated men and women and of more christians committed to the evangelical mission. In the letter to the Romans 15:13 St. Paul says: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.

Brother Gabriel teaches us that we should go after our dreams always trusting in divine providence, regardless of difficulties or inconveniences. The important thing is to work for those dreams with faith and hope.

We have to dream that the Lord will continue to give us the precious gift of life to continue serving Him in the mission entrusted to us, whether as consecrated persons, parents, spouses or committed lay people.

In the case of the activities in the educational institutions, we must dream of a school in a pastoral key. We must not be satisfied with carrying out some pastoral activities but that tinges the whole school with evangelical colour and where each one can improve and advance in the commitment as agents and instruments of vocational animation. That vocational promotion should not be just one area or stage of work, but the interconnection of all the areas and stages of formation of the students for vocational awakening.

We must also dream that our Congregation becomes a universal congregation, to be able to reach some places that may have a good vocational potential and to extend the scope of the call for animation to open new educational centres, where the charism continues to be sown, with more aware collaborators, more immersed in the Sa-Fa spirituality and where a vocational pastoral can be proposed welcoming all these people, even women with the vocation of Sisters or consecrated lay people in our charism.

All these dreams must not remain just that, but on the contrary, we must work to make them a reality in a spirit of permanent search, offering these vocational spaces in an attractive way.

The proposals that can be generated to improve or broaden the scope of vocations promotion are many and diverse:  

# Generating, above all, a vocational ministry centered on Christ and his Gospel, with the horizon set on the realization of the Kingdom, presenting the different types of vocations that exist in the Church and in our Sa-Fa Family as a way to follow.  At the same time to integrate our vocation animation into the Church in order to enrich it by creating a greater vocational culture.

# Analyzing and discovering the vocations that the world and the Church need, to discern the signs of the times and to pay attention to what the Holy Spirit inspires us to do.

# Spreading the charisma as a vocational option, in a reliable and attractive way, going to more remote places, as quickly as we can.

# Expanding the spaces of promotion to other schools, communities, the hostels of christian universities, parishes, other educational establishments.

# Taking into account that digital media can be used constructively for vocational promotion. 

# Encouraging young people to encounter Jesus, inviting them to know the life of a Brother, showing it with enthusiasm, closeness and as a witness of life, and accompanying them to participate in experiences of discernment for their own vocational projects.

# Presenting a vocational animation project that helps people discover that they are loved by God, who has given us gifts to give and share. And raise in them the question about what is the will of God in their lives.

# Cultivating a personal and a community attitude of permanent discernment that allows us to live our vocation with creative fidelity, encouraging the listening to God, to others and to ourselves, being in contact with the Gospel, the incarnated spiritual life and the continuous formation as a way of deepening our own vocation.

# Generating social and solidarity spaces that work on personal introspection and social commitment, inviting participation in missionary and community activities.

# Seeking a methodology of responsible and close accompaniment that involves young people and adults.

# Making the pastoral ministry of vocations at schools something essential and systematic where everyone participates, trying to teach the charism of Brother Gabriel to the whole educational community, creating a single vocational team, in which everyone be a vocational agent, without overloading  smaller groups.

# Working in connection with all Sa-Fa schools of each Province so that each promoter shares the most appropriate ways of attracting candidates and exchanging experiences.

# Training ourselves constantly in order to be in line with the current reality, creating new ways, methods and testimonial proposals for vocational promotion, linking ourselves with the people and groups that were necessary for this purpose.

We must look for people with the intention of living the Gospel and the path to holiness, whether as Brothers or committed lay people, so that they may also be sowers of the Word. We have to intend that the family spirit and the Nazarene charism be sown in each school or Sa-Fa presence in the world.  We have to adapt to today's world, to the times and customs of young people who are not the same as before, as well as to the different family models.

 

If we want to improve the scope of vocational animation, we must have hope. If we do not have hope, we will not be able to move forward. We have to know that God himself is the Master and He is in charge of guiding us in our mission. And as Brother Gabriel said: “If this work is God's, He will make it prosper”.

Ingredientes de la animación vocacional Sa-Fa 14

La inquietud creativa en la animación vocacional

La creatividad es el resultado de la combinación de varios elementos: ideas innovadoras, conceptos originales, predisposición a inventar, aprovechar las oportunidades de otra manera, encontrar procedimientos o elementos para desarrollar labores de formas distintas a la tradicional. La creatividad es positiva y dinámica.

La animación vocacional debe contar con una actitud creativa en los animadores, para lograr no solo detectar posibles candidatos sino llevarlos a que experimenten ese nuevo camino de búsqueda vocacional. 

La inquietud creativa debe estar llena de esperanza, debe ser alegre, curiosa, atractiva para ir probando diferentes caminos y formas de animar. Se deben aprovechar todas las oportunidades que van apareciendo por insignificantes que parezcan hasta encontrar la que se vea más fructífera. Requiere estar siempre en búsqueda, abrirse a otros conceptos, parámetros, estilos, miradas para lograr mostrar y ofrecer un nuevo camino o estilo de vida que sea atractivo para las personas.

Como siempre la oración debe acompañar los procesos de creación, para meditar y reflexionar sobre las circunstancias que rodean el trabajo de animación. También la formación es necesaria para aprender metodologías, técnicas, recursos nuevos para enriquecer la misión y comprender mejor las nuevas generaciones.

¿De qué manera podemos poner en práctica la actitud creativa?

En principio, todas las personas que conozcamos y muestren interés son posibles candidatos. Esto significa que tenemos que estar atentos siempre y hacer que nuestra misión sea más creativa año tras año. No tenemos que conformarnos con lo establecido, hay que estar siempre en la búsqueda.

Hay que aplicar el “método de Jesús”: acercarse a las personas, escuchar, tomar la iniciativa de diálogo, caminar a la par, ya que lo más importante es el encuentro con el otro y con la comunidad. Estar siempre en camino, tratando de encontrarle sentido evangélico a la realidad y empatizando con las personas para que descubran los llamados de Dios en sus vidas.

La actitud creativa nos exige salir de la zona de confort, enfrentar nuevos retos, con espíritu de salida, buscando nuevos horizontes, explorando nuevos territorios, nuevos espacios, nuevas culturas sin límites geográficos. Es salir al encuentro de candidatos en los lugares menos pensados y más necesitados. Es ir por más, redoblar la apuesta, animando a otros a descubrir sus dones y dar lo que tienen. Para esto hay que dedicar tiempo y ganas para seguir buscando.

La inquietud creativa debe ser constante. En cada momento se debe pensar en algo nuevo, diferente, enriquecedor para poner en práctica, pidiendo la colaboración de otras personas y contribuyendo al crecimiento, la evolución y la mejora de todos. Hay que ser persistente en acompañar a los candidatos y tener en cuenta que hay que ir más allá de las expectativas. 

      

RECURSOS Y MEDIOS

La animación vocacional debe estar actualizada siempre y los modos de llevar adelante la actividad también deben ser más creativos e interesantes para las nuevas generaciones. En la actualidad se cuentan con muchas herramientas y recursos para las actividades creativas. Se pueden usar nuevos elementos e incorporar otras maneras para ayudarnos a obtener mejores resultados.

Los medios de comunicación son la mejor forma de comunicarse con los candidatos interesados y se deben aprovechar para acercarse a través de ellos. El contacto regular con los candidatos por medio de llamadas telefónicas, Facebook, Instagram, videoconferencias, WhatsApp, Messenger, cartas, YouTube, Zoom, etc. permiten compartir información que despierte su interés por nosotros, creando una relación de empatía y acercamiento.

También el uso de la música, las canciones, los trabajos comunitarios, los grupos de oración, las peregrinaciones… deben ser utilizadas de maneras nuevas, ingeniosas, atractivas, a la altura de los intereses que tienen los jóvenes o las personas adultas en la actualidad.

Podemos concluir entonces que la inquietud creativa es fundamental para seguir adelante con la misión de animación y da lugar a más y más trabajos a favor de las acciones que se deban realizar. No se puede estar satisfecho con lo hecho sin intentar buscar nuevas maneras de obtener los propósitos que se buscan. Tenemos que contribuir cada vez más para que surjan nuevas vocaciones y no conformarse. Es obvio que para ello hay que sacrificar la tendencia a la comodidad y a hacer siempre lo mismo.

En nuestro camino como animadores vocacionales nunca debemos decir que lo que hemos realizado es suficiente. Siempre hay que estar atentos a las señales y signos que nos van llegando para intentar ser parte de una experiencia humana y tratar de llegar a una experiencia religiosa.

Tenemos que ser capaces de caminar tras las huellas de Cristo y tener la fuerza de estar siempre disponibles para todas las ideas nuevas que surjan intentando cosas innovadoras que otros no hacen; aprovechando todas las oportunidades que aparecen por insignificantes que parezcan y poner toda nuestra creatividad e imaginación en pos de conseguir los objetivos planteados.

Hasta la próxima….