To celebrate Easter 10,000 km away from Madrid

The Spanish brothers Jose Ponce, his wife Isabel and Brigida, participated of the Easter Retreat in Buenos Aires, in 2001. When they returned to their country they presented the following report to their parish:

Our interest to know about other ways of expressing our religiousness, which we sometimes see as very rationalist, too much oriented towards social work and less towards an encounter with God and personal prayer, made us travel to Argentina.

In October 2000, Fr. Ricardo, general Pastor of The Movement of the Word of God (MWG), together with two consecrated laywomen of that Work, passed by Madrid on their return trip to Buenos Aires, coming from Israel and Rome. A general invitation was made in our parish through Fr. Lucas, in order to meet them and celebrate together October 12.

Following a particular methodology, they made us participate of an "Encounter in the Word", which was carried out by the thirty people who gathered at the parish. According to the testimonies which followed, everybody found the experience to be very positive, and some thought it was extraordinary, because it included three important moments:

1. To imagine and vividly experience the situation that the Word presented just as every one saw it.

2. To express what application that passage of the Word had for every one.

3. To say spontaneous prayers based on the Word.

The next day, on a tour visit of Toledo city, we were able to know more about these three Argentine people and the MWG; understand its success among young people, who were most of its members, and who had moreover taken their parents to the Movement. This support of young people seemed to be an important sign from God for us, as well as some experiences they told us about their expansion and the life of the groups. That is why when their invitation came to live the next Easter together with them, our attitude was favourable.

When we explained this to several members of the parish, it was agreed that Brigida Garcia and Isabel and Pepe Ponce might go first. We applied the methodology in a group at Our Lady of Atocha, to which Pepe and Isabel have belonged for twenty years. Throughout the years, different ones had been applied, and at present they were at a loss. Everybody considered the results to be very positive, and after some months, nobody misses a meeting, the Word becomes alive without pointless discussion, it is easily applied to personal life and common prayers are shared by everybody.

At the end of the year Fr. Jose Maria Aguirre visited Madrid. He is parish priest of St. Joseph, Workman, at Jose C. Paz, a satellite town of Buenos Aires. He is a friend and old parish companion of Fr. Lucas, and his visit was a final encouragement for us to travel to Argentina. We had several meetings with him (some large ones at the parish) because of his knowledge of the MWG through several groups in his parish. The following months he kept supporting and informing us constantly through e-mails that made us familiar with them before visiting them.

What did we find there?

A very warm welcome, a lot of spontaneous affection in their expressions and offers, which made us feel as the relations among the first Christian communities must have been.

Some families to share our lives with, who made us feel better than in our own homes for their loving and respectful attention and their willingness to provide us with everything we needed, as far as they could.

A paschal celebration full of love and spirit that we attended intensively with more than two hundred people at a school in the city, where we spent most of the three main days.

The activities carried out and their contents were similar to the ones we have here, but in their development we noticed some differences:

• Much participation of all.

• There the talks were announcements of the Word, made by lay people, based on their personal experience, as a result they were very striking.

• A lot of feeling adapted to the day, expressed fundamentally through the constant songs, well prepared and accompanied with guitars and expressive movements by everybody, and within a personal relationship which showed love in any situation.

• A good and proper organization of service, solving and seeing to every problem which arose, and good spirit of service from everybody.

• A great deal of youth participation (between 20 and 40 years).

• The fundamental thing from where I believe everything sprang: a deeply rooted belief in a living God that was constantly becoming manifest through different signs, which they took as clear indicators of His activity and His life. Grace could be seen flowing about, and the Spirit seemed to be animating everything.

• A determined evangelizing attitude, demonstrated by the fact that 40% of the participants of this Easter were newcomers.

• A very great easiness to pray, to stay in the Lord's presence making plenty of spontaneous requests to Him, to thank Him in private and interrelated way.

• A really Marian attitude, with the organization of special days about the Virgin.

• Gospel groups who share great fraternity among them, and a will to evangelize wherever they go, recovering drug addicts, setting up wardrobes, meeting needs, but the fundamental thing: to announce the Word, to pray, to take great trouble to evangelize.

• to appreciate those differences.

What can we do?

Tell this to anyone who wants to hear about some experiences in detail, which we can perhaps apply somehow, if the Lord allows it, in our parish journey. To answer questions that may interest them, to see a video that we have recorded, with situations in the parish.

Outline a project of collaboration for evangelization, interchanging experiences, people, prayers and support.

Brigida, Isabel & Pepe
Cristo Vive Aleluia!
Nº 128, p. 26 (2001)

© The Movement of the Word of God, a Roman Catholic pastoral community of disciples. This testimony was originally published by the Word of God's Publishing House and can be reproduced on condition that its origin is mentioned.