As we begin our fourth week, we arrive at the heart of the Chapter’s work: visioning a future of the Lasallian mission for the next seven years. The reporting and evaluation stages are complete. In the Superior’s and International Mission Assembly’s reports, we received a realistic assessment of the present moment with suggestions for going forward. The Young Brothers’ and Young Lasallians’ reports offered us seeds of hope. Brother Álvaro has identified them as “Generation H” – the Hope Generation. Our young Brothers ask us “to be true prophets who both announce hope and transmit it by assuming a conviction at all levels of the Institute that is creative, takes risks, and responds to challenges that arise from present day realities.”
Over the weekend, the Chapter delegates were organized into seven thematic groups. The themes, though familiar, must be seen with the “eyes of faith” in a new and refreshing manner inviting us to be architects for the new evangelization we are all called to by our baptismal vows. From mission to vocation, from formation to accompaniment, and from governance to stewards of resources, we are in association with all Lasallians as Brothers for the 21st Century.
And so we begin our work with these hope-filled words of Pope Francis: “…God is already present in this world and is growing, here and there, and in different ways: like the small seed which grows into a great tree (cf. Mt 13:31-32)…and can always surprise us” (EG no. 278). Our task these days is to be attentive to the small seeds of life and growth already present in the Lasallian mission; to nurture and cultivate them in dialogue with the poor who are our evangelizers.
By Brother Robert Schieler, FSC, General Councilor for the Lasallian Region of North America (RELAN)