On Sunday, October 30^th, a meeting of lay and religious Assumptionists took place in Mexico. hirty-four participants, lay men and women and religious came together from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain, the United States and Mexico.

The main goal of the meeting was summarized in the following terms: “With the decisions of the 2011 General Chapter regarding the Lay-Religious Alliance as our starting point, we would like to provide guidelines appropriate for our Latin-American context that would help us to become men and women of faith and communion, in solidarity with the poor”.

But there were also some specific goals like the following:

1. To meet and to celebrate our Assumptionist identity as lay and religious members of the Alliance.

2. To identify concrete ways to collaborate among lay Assumptionists from the different countries represented.

3. To implement the decisions of the 2011 Chapter regarding the Alliance.

4. To imagine ways of strengthening the Lay-Religious Alliance among members from Spain and Latin-America.

In this way, we hope to contribute to the process of reflection currently taking place in the Congregation on the theme of the Alliance.

The meeting began on October 30^th, at one in the afternoon, with a solemn Eucharist celebrated in the Parish of the Emperatriz de América. At this Eucharist, thirty-four Assumptionist lay people and religious from the countries mentioned gathered together in our parish in the San José Insurgentes neighborhood of the city.

The celebration was presided by the Provincial of North America and the Philippines, Fr. José Miguel Díaz Ayllón. The concelebrants included Fathers Luis Ramón Rendón from Argentina, Tomás González from Colombia, Francisco Huerta (“Paco”), Oswaldo García Sánchez, and Ngoa Ya-Tshihemba, all from Mexico.

After Mass, in honor of our visitors, Fr. Francisco Huerta, pastor, hosted the participants at an excellent meal, followed by a performance of Mexican songs.  We thanked our brother, Paco, and the parishioners of the Emperatriz for their warm reception.

Back at the retreat center of the Sisters of the Assumption at Las Águilas in Mexico, the organizers of the meeting officially welcomed the participants and presented the goals for the gathering, the schedule, a work plan and the daily schedule, as well as other organizational details.

At the beginning of the meeting we read the letter that the Superior General of the Congregation had sent on the occasion of this gathering. Fr. Benot Grière encouraged us to deepen our understanding of the General Chapter decisions regarding the Lay-Religious Alliance and to find concrete ways of implementing them. It is for this reason that the theme “Men and women of faith and of communion, in solidarity with the poor” was chosen.

We also listened to a message from Fr. Marcel Maciel, a.a., Assistant General in charge of the Lay-Religious Alliance for the entire Congregation. Both messages encouraged us and pushed us to consider the ways in which we want to live this Alliance and build our lives around faith, community, and solidarity with the poor.

In the evening, together we prayed for the light of the Spirit, using lit candles to symbolize our resolve to be light for the world, in fidelity to the Lord’s desire.

At the end of the day we shared a delicious meal and then gathered for a first festive evening, organized by the Mexican delegation: a game of loto, with delicious “botanas” typical of the country and delicious “margaritas”.

Oswaldo García Sánchez, A.A.