St. Lawrence International Fraternity Formed in the Amazon
February 2nd, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, a.k.a. the Purification of Mary, a.k.a. the Circumcision of the Lord, has tradionally been celebrated in many countries as the Day of Consecrated Life. Pope John Paul II made it a worldwide celebration for the Church in 1997. Our Order, through the work of its Commission for Evangelization and Mission, chose that day to inaugurate a St. Lawrence International Fraternity in the Amazon, part of the General's effort to begin building Saint Lawrence of Brindisi Fraternities throughout the world.
The efforts have been inspired by our former General Mauro Jöhri who wrote in 2014: "We want to try a new path, establishing intercultural fraternities, which in the light of the Gospel and our Constitutions live prayer, fraternal life and mission in an authentic and coherent way. The resource of interculturality will give witness that brothers and sisters from different cultures, if they look to Christ present among them, can live and give of themselves to work together. We are sustained by the certainty that the charism of Francis of Assisi, lived and witnessed, still has so much to say and communicate to the men and women of our time.”
And, the following year, brother Mauro wrote "I wish to see the emergence of fraternities that live a pure and profound faith, where the quality of 
fraternal relations becomes a witness to God's Love, and a place of welcome capable of generating avenues for the following the Lord Jesus. We want to evangelize through our daily life, and we want to do it in communion with the local churches and with ecclesial realities wherever the Lord grants us to be present."
If you haven't yet visited there, check out the blogspot for our Commission for Evanglization and Mission, coordinated by our confrere Mariosvaldo Florentino, OFM Cap. (right on your PC) of the Province of Paraguay who is Secretary General of Missions at the General Curia. Mariosvaldo is also coordinating much of the work for the Pan American meetings in these years. He was present in these days to orient the men to the General's vision for the communities as they gathered together from various Provinces. He gave encouragement in their lives together, forming their fraternity and inspiring that spirit of brotherhood and communal prayer among the people they came to serve.
