Prior General invites to “value the vocation” of SARF

Fray Miguel Miró, OAR addressed a fraternal message to the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity on the occasion of the solemnity of Pentecost.

The evangelizing mission of the Augustinian Recollect family does not correspond only to the religious; it also corresponds to the laity. The Prior General of the Order of Augustinian Recollects, Fray Miguel Miro, OAR, has made a call to the co-responsibility of religious and lay people. He asks the religious to “value the vocation of those lay people who feel called to live the Augustinian Recollect spirituality”. On his part, to the consecrated lay people he calls “to embrace their lay vocation, to assume their identity and autonomy, and to commit themselves to be part of the Augustinian Recollect family”.

Fray Miró has sent a message to the religious and members of the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity within the framework of the celebration of the solemnity of Pentecost to be held this Sunday. The Prior General reflects in the document on the role of the laity in the Augustinian Recollect family, to whom he indicates that “the time has come in the Church”. Mentioning St. John Paul II, the superior general of the Order points out the importance of sharing the charism with the laity, keeping in mind that in this union one can “discover unexpected and fruitful implications of some aspects of the charism”.

The Prior General also asks if any religious doubts that the laity of the SARF really share the charism: “Do we really believe it?” He asked the Augustinian Recollects to “welcome, encourage and accompany them”. “On this feast of the Holy Spirit, I want to call on the religious to accept the Augustinian Recollect vocation of the lay faithful as a gift from God”, he said. Along these lines, Fray Miró attached the document ‘Joy in Hope’, in which he asked the religious “to be interested in getting to know the fraternities, taking into account their identity and autonomy”. He also comments on the new formative itinerary for the new members of the SARF, as well as the first international meeting of secular Augustinian Recollects to be held in 2021 (originally it was in 2020 but has been postponed).

“Let the Spirit dwell in our hearts”

On the solemnity of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Prior General invited us to open our hearts: “Let the Spirit dwell in our hearts; let us be inspired and moved by Him”. In this sense, he affirms that “He calls us and leads us to follow Jesus, to be united to him and to be with passion and simplicity prophets of the Kingdom”.

Likewise, Fray Miró indicates that to live in fraternal communion and to live the Gospel it is necessary to receive the grace and strength of “the joy of the Spirit”. “The Spirit heals the wounds of our heart and gives us the strength to approach, like the Good Samaritan, those who suffer and are in need in these difficult moments that humanity is living”, he says.

Virtual meeting for Pentecost

For the day before Pentecost, the SARF has organized a virtual meeting on May 30th for all the lay Augustinian Recollects. The meeting will begin at eight o’clock in the morning (Mexico time) with the office of reading, lauds and holy rosary, transmitted from the Facebook page of Mother of God Parish in Czestochowa.

Later, at nine o’clock in the morning (Mexican time), on the Youtube channel of CEAR Television Network, the Pentecost retreat will be available for the SARF in a video of approximately one hour. The virtual day will conclude with the celebration of the Pentecost Eucharist from the church of San Ildefonso and Santo Tomás de Villanueva in Rome, broadcast by CEAR Television Network on Facebook and Youtube.

The Augustinian Recollect Francisco Javier Monroy, General Councilor in charge of the Fray, invited the participants to participate in this gathering by connecting the different platforms to the different moments of prayer. He especially asked to “live Pentecost as Augustinian Recollects”.

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