Undoubtedly, the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has changed many things in our lives. Each person, each family, each institution has sought the best way to adapt to the new ways of existing.
For us, as Teams of Our Lady, it has pushed us to look for other ways of communicating, of offering information, of accompanying, of creating spaces for meeting, of being concerned with formation, etc.
The ERI also wants to find the most appropriate ways to be present in each Super Region and Region, to bring a voice of encouragement and companionship, and to provide helpful elements necessary for living the charism that brings us together.
For this reason, the letter from the ERI has taken on a new form. We want it to be an element that contributes to the formation of the team members by creating a space that, while maintaining a common thread, develops the fundamental themes of the essence and work of the Movement. We want it to accompany the progressive development of the Orientations and the study topics that we offer during each period.
News, updates and testimonies will reach the team members through the bulletin “#loin-mais-proche”, which we believe has opened up new ways of communication and updates.
In the fundamental documents that support the life and the journey of Teams, we speak of the charism and the mysticism that characterise us. Couple spirituality is “the art of living in marriage, the evangelical ideal that Christ proposes to all his disciples”. It is this charismatic element the movement proposes and offers, that opens the door to the most authentic feature of the movement since its foundation. It is the certainty that each team meets in the name of Christ; that each participating couple lives fraternal love in the fourfold dimension of knowing how to give, how to receive, how to ask, how to refuse; and that each member of the Movement becomes aware of being a witness of God’s loving presence in the world. We see all this as the strength that the Spirit offers through END to the Church and to humanity.
In addition to the couples, the Teams include Spiritual Counsellors (SC) and Spiritual Accompaniers (SA). Both are equally enriched by the mysticism and charism. As they assume their ministerial role within the teams of which they are members, they experience the power of the Spirit that animates and strengthens.
In this period of our journey, we have proposed the General Orientation: “Do not be afraid. Let us go out”. This year, within this general orientation, we want to look more deeply at the Christian couple as a leaven of renewal for the family and society. Through this, and following the requests of Pope Francis, we are called to discover that the service of accompaniment and animation from the SC and SA, must be more than just passive assistance for meetings or events. Instead, it must energise the authentic sense of “going out”, and without fear, it launches us to the new horizons of evangelisation in the 21st century. Many needy scenarios await the presence that ferments and renews. It is a presence that we must encourage and strengthen.
If we properly understand the call we have received from the couples in our teams, we know that our mission is enriched by the witnessing presence of our brothers and sisters, and that our participation in the life and activities of teams couples will acquire a deeper and authentically pastoral meaning.
With the light and power of his Spirit, may it be the Good Shepherd who will enable us to fulfil our ministry.
Ricardo Londoño Domínguez
Spiritual Counsellor
→ Read ERI Letter April 2021
→ Read ERI Letter April 2021
