We receive and publish an article by Br. Fernando Ferrario, OFM, of the Province of St. Francis Solano, in Argentina, on some meetings held by the provincial vocational animation team on the theme of the 800th anniversary of the Regula Bollata.
In this year 2023, in which the entire Franciscan Family celebrates the 800th anniversary of the approval of the Regula Bollata, in the Province of St. Francis Solano in Argentina, we are giving priority to living this centenary, close to young people.
At the beginning of the year, the friars and lay people who make up the provincial vocational animation team asked themselves: how can we share this event with young people? How can we ensure that this text, written in a culture and language very different from those of the 21st century, could be close to them? Which path to follow to encounter the beauty, depth and provocation of the written pages of the "Rule and Life of the Friars Minor"?
We were deeply inspired by rediscovering that Francis of Assisi and the first brothers had to go through long processes of research, questions, comings and goings, discernment based on lived experience. We were seduced by Francis' intuition to convene the so-called Chapters of the Mats, where everyone had a say, where they met to dialogue, exchange experiences, listen to each other, correct each other, encourage each other. Indeed, we were enlightened by the tensions experienced in that famous Chapter of the Mats of 1223 due to the different positions that the brothers had on how to live together.
We therefore decided to invite young people to meet as the Mats Chapter and share: what are we young people experiencing today? What happens to us in our daily lives? What are we looking for, what do we desire?
Do Jesus and Francis have something to say to our times, to our own vocations?
There were three meetings, one in each of the three geographical areas with which we commonly organize ourselves in the Province, which in turn are three areas with very different cultural characteristics, challenges and possibilities.
We gathered under the motto "Everything that moves me, guides me" and the song "La esperanza despunta ya" ("Hope is rising now") resonated in those days like an incessant echo.
These meetings also wanted to respond to an insistent request from young people, which is the thirst and need for training. This is why we delve into the humanity of Jesus and Francis of Assisi. Firstly, by connecting with the great upheavals they experienced, which allowed us to realize that they were people who allowed themselves to be moved by reality, by their people, by the God present in history in many different ways.
Afterwards, in a personal and fraternal moment, we shared everything that moves us by answering the questions: what moves you? What do you want? What are your dreams?
The next day we took a further step and saw how in Jesus and Francis, when they wanted to walk guided by their desires and dreams, they went through difficulties, experienced crises and had to discern and choose.
Once again the moments of listening and dialogue served to respond and share some provocations: what are my difficulties, my fears, my uncertainties? What steps would I like, but dare not take? Everything that moves me, where does it take us?
Starting from this concern, some young people who have been on the path for a longer time and who have adopted Franciscan spirituality as a life option, shared with us their emotions and their steps taken in life. A young friar in formation shared, some young people who have trained and have opted for ecological and land care projects, others who through their professions have chosen to be at the service of people with addiction problems in marginal neighbourhoods; other young people accompany vulnerable families, or have taken action to create spaces of welcome and care for victims of violence, gender violence and for the rights and lives of children.
After these three meetings with over 150 young people, we perceived once again the gift of this way of living, of understanding and of being in the world. As we looked at each other before saying goodbye, to return to our homes, the words of the disciples after the personal and intimate experience with the Risen One were repeated in each of us: "Didn't our hearts burn on the way?"
They were days of celebration, knowing that we are not alone on this journey, but that we are a family, #SomosSolano.
