"... And wheresoever the brethren are and meet one another, let them show themselves familiar to each other, and yes..." (Rb. VI)
The Lord, giver of all good things, granted us to celebrate our Chapter of the Mats 2024, according to the guidelines drawn up by the Order. The meeting took place from the 23rd-25th September at the "Beato Bartolomé Laurel" House, in Celaya, Gto. The friars of the different branches of the Franciscan Order, present in the territory of the Province of St. Peter and St. Paul of Michoacán in Mexico, namely: the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of St. Clare, the Order of the Immaculate Conception, the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, the Secular Franciscan Order and the Franciscan Youth attended.
The activities of the Chapter were aimed at reflecting on the fundamental nuclei of the Charism inherited from the Seraphic Father Francis, under the method of seeing-judging-acting.
The work of this Chapter was carried out through working groups. Each of these tables was made up of one of the participating branches of the Franciscan family. In the different moments of work, in groups and in the plenary session, we reflected on the reality of the experience of the Franciscan charism in our Province, identifying strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and challenges. The characteristics of the charism and the witness of life that should emerge from it were deepened. Finally, enlightened by the previous work, activities were proposed that help us to live the Franciscan charism more faithfully in today's world.
The celebration of this Chapter of the Mats was, without a doubt, a moment of grace for all the participants, because it was possible to experience the joy that springs from the Gospel, which is Christ, to breathe the charismatic fraternity that unites us and to live the charity of fraternal corrections.
We thank God for the opportunity he has given us to open our horizons, perhaps very focused on ourselves, with the help of the brothers and sisters of our other Families who generously and charitably accompanied us and who, it is worth emphasizing, also felt reflected and challenged in this exercise of fraternal dialogue and discernment.
We hope that the fruits of this Chapter can be concretized little by little in the life project of each brother and of each Fraternity, so that we can advance together in the conformation with our Lord Jesus Christ, source and culmination of our journey as Friars Minor.
