Easter 2018 – Letter of the Coordinator No 1 (29.03.2018)
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. … He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you…
Matthew 28, 5.7.
Dear Confreres,
Dear Lay Missionaries of the Most Holy Redeemer,
Dear Partners in Mission,
For us Redemptorists and for our partners here in Europe, the current year is marked particularly by the Extraordinary Visitations of the General Government in the different language areas. The 25th General Chapter commissioned the General Government to give impetus for the renewal of our lives and our mission. This is the purpose of the Extraordinary Visitations, and all Redemptorists and our partners are invited to participate in preparatory meetings in the communities and in the meetings of the language regions.
In the meantime, visitations have taken place in southern Europe; and a meeting of the provincials and their councils with the General Government took place in which the visitations were evaluated and consequences considered. The results will be integrated into the Apostolic and Restructuring Plan for Europe. It is remarkable that more than half of the confreres participated in one of the five meetings to which they were invited. Likewise, a number of our partners have participated, some of them during the entire four-day meeting, others at evening meetings with the visitators. They have all taken the opportunity to understand more fully who are the most abandoned in Europe, to capture more fully our wounded world and which people are particularly affected by these wounds. They have all helped to better understand our mission as Redemptorists in Europe. I thank all those who have participated in the visitation, in one or other of the different ways, for their commitment. Also for the coming visitations in Northern Europe and Eastern Europe, I once again invite all Redemptorists and our partners to participate.
Last week, for the second time, the Commission for the Apostolic and Restructuring Plan met in Rome. This group includes the two General Consulters from Europe, Fr. Alberto Eseverri and Fr. Pedro Lopez, the Coordinator of Europe Fr. Johannes Römelt, as well as three confreres from the three areas of our Conference: Fr. Jacek Zdrzałek (East), Fr. Brendan Callanan (North) and Fr. Rui Santiago (South). At their meeting, the confreres reviewed and evaluated the results of the visitations and the responses to a survey of the Units in Europe. Likewise, the results of the future visitations will go into the work of the Commission.
As the year progresses, a series of encounters will also follow. At this point I would just like to point out two:
From the April, 9th to April, 13th in Trois-Epis all those who are responsible for the different stages of the formation in Europe will meet. This meeting was prepared by the previous Formation Secretariat and serves to reflect and work together on the issues of Redemptorist formation.
In the summer of this year again, a European Youth Meeting of the Redemptorists will take place. From July, 25 to July, 29 young people, young adults and Redemptorists will meet in Granada, Spain. In the past few days an e-mail has been sent to all the Redemptorist Units in Europe by the confrere responsible for the preparation in Madrid, Fr. Miguel Castro Castro, with a request for feedback. If you want to find out more, you will find everything worth knowing on the webpage alltogethergranada.com. For those who want a taste of Granada, there is also a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ES11S-ywnY (Spanish with English subtitles).
When we speak of the wounds of our world and the people who suffer most from them, we touch upon the mystery of the days we are about to celebrate, the mystery of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we believe and trust that Jesus Christ preceded us and prepared the way to a life that is stronger than all the forces of death. We follow him as Redemptorists in different countries and in very different personal, social and pastoral situations – together with the people with whom we share the journey.
I wish that the celebration of the Holy Week and Easter days strengthens you all on our common way; and I also wish you a blessed and happy Easter!
Johannes Römelt CSsR
Coordinator of Europe
