VMY International President's Letter
Let us live our faith with joy!
With this international motto for 2013 we want to unite ourselves with the Church during this Year of Faith and we also want to renew our personal encounter with Christ, an encounter that is the source of joy which impels us to communicate enthusiastically our faith to the world.
At this time we find ourselves at the midway point between two General Assemblies. This is the time to internalize the commitments that were acquired in 2010 and this is also the time to begin to look forward toward the future. Therefore the motto for this year and for 2014 lead us toward the 2015 General Assembly and are in harmony with that which the Church and the Vincentian Family are living.
Full text below
February 2, 2013
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
To the Presidents and Advisors and all the members of the National Councils of the Vincentian Marian Youth Association
Dear Friends
Let us live our faith with joy!
With this international motto for 2013 we want to unite ourselves with the Church during this Year of Faith and we also want to renew our personal encounter with Christ, an encounter that is the source of joy which impels us to communicate enthusiastically our faith to the world.
At this time we find ourselves at the midway point between two General Assemblies. This is the time to internalize the commitments that were acquired in 2010 and this is also the time to begin to look forward toward the future. Therefore the motto for this year and for 2014 lead us toward the 2015 General Assembly and are in harmony with that which the Church and the Vincentian Family are living.
From January 18-21, 2013 the International Council held its ordinary meeting in Madrid (Spain). It was a time of discernment and reflection on the reality of the VMY on the national and international level. Below we present some of the decisions that were the fruit of this meeting.
Spiritual life
– During the month of February we will publish some material that will help the groups prepare members and follow up with members in the matter of the Marian Consecration.
– We encourage you to continue to deepen your knowledge concerning the recent documents of the Church: the Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, the document concerning the Year of Faith, Porta Fidei, the Pope’s Message for World Youth Day, the Lenten letters of the Pope and the Superior General. All of these different documents can help us deepen our faith and our sense of belonging to the Church,
Formation
– In November 2012 the International Council published a model of the Formation Process, whose contents should be adapted by each country. This document is intended to be a guide for those countries that either do not have their own formation process or that want to revise their program. One of the essential tasks of each National Council is to guarantee an excellent formation process for the members of the Association and we want to support all the councils in this task.
– In order to encourage formation we suggest organizing international meetings as indicated in the five year plan. At the end of 2013 we will publish further information for the International Meeting of Advisors that is programmed for 2014 (this will be the first time that the advisors gather together in this manner and is an event of much importance).
Service and Mission
– We continue to promote pilot projects in the area of “twinning” … projects that go beyond mere financial support.
– In 2010 we published the pamphlet Let us live in Solidarity which does not appear to be well-known by our members. We recommend that all the groups become familiar with this document that contains guidelines for the implementation of several important matters: budgeting and other financial matters, twinning, initiating projects, etc.
– We want to invite all the councils of the Association to encourage the groups to make a commitment of service that goes beyond financial assistance or occasional encounters with those who are poor. Throughout the year different articles on our web page and the International Bulletin will indicate some possibilities in this area of service.
Vincentian Family
– In July 2013 the Meeting of Vincentian Youth will take place in Belo Horizonte and we will celebrate World Youth Day in Rio (Brazil). These are privileged opportunities to discover the youthful face of our Vincentian Family and to reaffirm our Vincentian and missionary identity. We encourage you to register as soon as possible for both events. For further information you can communicate with the Vincentian Family in Brazil: secretariaadministracao@famvin2013.com.
– This year we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Ozanam, a young man who as a layman followed in the footsteps of Vincent de Paul. This is an opportunity to come to know the life and the writings of this disciple of Vincent who has much to tell us.
Self-financing
– Our campaign, “Something more from you!” is moving forward. In my letter of July 18, 2012 I stated that a foundation was willing to offer us $25,000 if the VMY raised that same amount of money before June, 2013. The countries of Europe and the Near East have committed themselves to raise this amount of money by May 31st, 2013. We thank them for their generosity and we invite the other member nations to participate in an active manner in this campaign. This is our campaign and you can initiate your participation by paying your annual quotas before June 30th, 2013.
– Any National Council that wishes to have a “virtual meeting” with the President on this theme can do so by requesting this meeting (with three week notice) and writing directly to our president at: presijmv@gmail.com
– The International Council has decided to extend the time of the self-financing campaign. It will close during the General Assembly of 2015.
– Do not forget that this campaign provides the National Councils with an opportunity to establish objectives and strategies for self-financing on a national level.
Other international matters
– We attach to this letter a report on the activities of the International Team and a financial report. Please feel free to write directly to the International President if you have any questions or concerns with these matters (presijmv@gmail.com).
– The International Bulletin is an instrument of formation and communication for all the countries. In recent years we have attempted to better its content and design. We encourage you to write the International Secretariat if you have any suggestions or recommendations so that we can better serve the International Association.
– International Encounters:
• The II Meeting of National Councils of Africa will take place in Yaundé (Cameroon) from July 3-7, 2013. We ask you to keep this meeting in your prayers.
• The meeting that had been planned for the National Councils of Asia and Oceania (2013) has been rescheduled for 2015, some days before our General Assembly.
– All the National Councils are encouraged to maintain on-going communication with the International Council and the International Secretariat. This can take the for of providing us with information about the various events, accomplishments and challenges of the Association in your respective country. We would also ask to be informed about changes with regard to contact persons, changes in e-mail addresses. We ask that you confirm the reception of documents when they are sent to you and also ask that you respond to our requests.
– We remind you of the following dates for sending specific information to the International Secretariat:
• When necessary: send a report on the different events that are held (meeting of National Council, regional or national meetings, etc), inform us about elections or other significant events, share prayer intentions.
• New National Councils: send a work plan for the time that you will function as a team.
• January 30: send a report on activities of the past year and a financial report
• February 28: send a calendar of events scheduled for the present year.
• May 30 and November 30: send a list of those persons professing their Marian Consecration (this enables us to send you certificates)
• Celebrations of the different Marian feasts, especially July 18th (first apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Saint Catherine, foundation of the VMY), November 27th (feast of the Miraculous Medal), December 8th (feast of the Immaculate Conception)
We invite all the National Councils to study the contents of this letter and the attached reports. Today we are called to create a strong foundation for the Vincentian Marian Youth Association so that we might remain faithful to our mission, bold in responding to the signs of the time and creative at the time of responding to the challenges that are presented to us (within our association and outside our association).
Let us live our faith with joy! This is not merely a desire or an invitation, but it is an affirmation. With these words we reaffirm our commitment to deepen our faith in Jesus Christ and to give witness to our faith through our lives that are lived with joy. May this be a reality for every members of the VMY.
To Jesus with Mary
Yasmine Cajuste (International President of the VMY)
Report on the Activities of 2012
This report is intended to offer you an overall view of the activities of the International Council and the International Secretariat during the year 2012. We remind you that you can find a detailed description of our duties and obligations in articles 17, 20, and 23 of our International Statutes. Here we limit ourselves to a presentation of the accomplishments as outlined in the annual letter of the President and a presentation of those events of special importance.
On-going tasks:
– Follow through on the commitments of the 2010 General Assembly
– Communication with the various countries and the other branches of the Vincentian Family on matters concerning the life of the Association.
– Maintaining the means of communication: web page, Facebook, Twitter
– Translation according to the needs of the Association.
Meetings/Visits for Formation and Encouragement of the Members
– Meetings of the International Council: Feb, 16-18 in Madrid (all members physically present); virtual meetings took place on June 3 and September 30.
– January 13-15: Anh Thu Nguyen Thi and Ghislain Atemezing (Counselors) participated in the International Meeting of the Vincentian Family in Rome (Italy).
– March 8-11: Argelys Vega (Counselor) and Fr. Pavol Noga, CM (Subdirector) participated in the Meeting of Advisors from Central America. Said meeting took place in Guatemala.
– March 30 – April 1: Ghislain Atemezing and Sister Isabel Higueras (Advisor of the VMY in Spain) participated in an evaluation of the previous World Youth Day celebration. Said meeting took place in Rome (Italy).
– July 15 – August 6: the VII Latin American Missionary Meeting was held in Ecuador under the theme of In light of our faith convictions we are witnesses of hope!
– August 22-26: Bienvenu Fouda (volunteer) participated in the XXVIII National Meeting of the VMY in OPortugal.
– August 22 – September 9: Yasmine Cajuste (International President) visited the VMY groups in Central Africa (Rahwanda and Burundi) and participated in their first Provincial Assembly.
– November 13-28: Yasmine Cajuste (International President), Joshua Rey Saavedra Albarina (National President of the VMY in the Philippines) and Novita Nursaina (member of the VMY in Indonesia) participated with a delegation of the Vincentian Family in a visit to Hong Kong and continental China … the object of this trip was to “come and see” a land of mission whose past is marked with a Vincentian presence.
– November 22-25: III Meeting of National Council of Europe and the Near East gathered in Naples (Italy) with the participation of some members of the International Team, namely, Ghislain Atemezing (Counselor), Fr. Gregory Gay, CM (Director General) and Fr. Pavol Noga, CM (Subdirector General).
Other Events and Tasks:
– Certificates for the Marian Consecration were sent to the different national councils.
– In November we published the document on Formation Processes, a model which ought to be adapted by each country, especially those that have no established process.
– Cléber Fabio Oliveira (Brazil) completed his time of service at the International Secretariat. The Secretariat welcomed Rita Bemposta (Portugal) in September 2012 and awaits the arrival of other volunteers in 2013.
– We continue the campaign Something more from you! whose objective is the self-financing of the International VMY.
– During the course of the past year there were 15 appointments (3 Presidents, 12 Advisors).
– No National Statutes were approved during 2012 although there are many countries that are in the process of revising their Statutes.
To download the letter in pdf from the site.
Tags: Vincentian Marian Youth, VMY, Yasmine Cajuste