The spark of fire

Participants at this Lay Marist Gathering come from four regions or administrative units - Melanesia, New Zealand, the Sydney Province and the Melbourne Province. Time today was spent in reflecting on the different ways each unit animates its lay Marist involvement. We then moved to reflecting on our Marist document 'Gathered Around the Same Table' which, in Melanesia is called 'Gathered Around the Same Fire' highlighting a cultural difference. What goes on around a table in the West goes on around a fire in Melanesia.  The discussion led us to focusing on an explicit discernment process in which we take the theological dimensions of our discussions and make them practical and we map the shifting of our structures as we continue on our shared journey. We then reflected on key Marist moments across our lives and what made them significant, how they have brought us to where we are today and how they may even sustain us in our Marist lives into the future.  Marist moments for us included receiving a call from an individual, experiencing accompaniment, prayer experiences be they individual or communal, the witness of others, opportunities to evangelise, Marist togetherness and being loved through our struggles. Michael Callinan showed us a new video on the influence of being connected suggesting 'With everything connected, our world changes.' This took us finally to a review of our shared formation experiences and the nature of 'deep formation'. In our administrative units we discussed how we might provide programs that lead us all into deep formation, thereby nurturing our relationship with God in our Marist way.

John McMahon