Yasmine Cajuste International President of the VMY writes in her introduction to the February issue of the Vincentian Marian Youth Newsletter…
“Living our faith with joy.” Our motto for the year 2013 is an affirmation, not an invitation.
During this Year of Faith let us continue to rediscover that which is fundamental with regard to our faith, namely, a personal encounter with the living Christ, an encounter that transforms and gives meaning to life and also strengthens and encourages us to communicate the Good News to others, especially to those men and women who are most poor.
The faith that we profess is “our” faith, a faith that we accept and live in communion with the universal Church and, more specifically, a faith that we live in communion with the members of the local church community. Let us deepen our faith by spending more time in silence with the Lord, by participating in the sacraments and by listening to and reflecting on the Word of God. If the center of our faith is Jesus Christ, then the Church’s tradition enriches and explains the meaning of our faith in the midst of today’s world. In this sense the Year of Faith presents us with a wonderful opportunity to come to a fuller knowledge of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and to participate more actively in the life of our parish and our diocese.
Faith on a more personal level can only be fully lived in communion with other believers and thus faith leads us to an intrinsic joy. This joy is the result of being in awe as a result of knowing that we are loved by God and thus urged on to communicate this faith with enthusiasm to a world that hungers and thirsts for God. Our faith is nourished by the conviction that the Lord is present in all the events of our life and all the events of history. Our faith is revealed in our words but above all our faith is revealed in our daily life, in the decisions that we make to build a more just world.
The motto of 2013 initiates our journey, as an Association, toward the General Assembly of 2015. Together with the Church and in communion with the Vincentian Family, let us continue to discern the signs of the time and let us also continue to respond to the challenges of our world as we take on the role of being messengers of the Good News and bearers of hope.
May our Lenten journey lead us to become joyful and holy persons who have been transformed by the Spirit and therefore have also become more authentic witnesses of our faith, more closely related to God and to our brothers and sisters!
The full VMY February Newsletter is available in PDF format and contains reports of their activities around the world, perspectives on formation and news of their international Secretariat.
Visit VMY international site
Tags: JMV, newsletter, VMY, Yasmine Cajuste
