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Thousands participate in encounter with the Founder of the CLM in Santiago de Guayaquil |
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Dec 07, 2009 at 04:12 PM |
 Close to four thousand people met with the Founder of the Christian Life Movement, Luis Fernando Figari.
At five in the evening, the ample space of the Simon Bolivar Convention Center was filled to capacity with enthusiastic participants who flew flags of blue and white, the colors of the city. They also sang cheers of the CLM while they awaited the entry of Luis Fernando.
The applause and songs intensified when the Founder of the Movement made his entrance into the auditorium, affectionately greeting the thousands of people who received him standing. In continuation of the celebration, a group of CLMers walked towards the stage in procession style with an image of Our Lady of Reconciliation. It was a liturgy of thanksgiving for the encounter.
Afterwards Luis Fernando addressed those present with a beautiful address about the apostolic mission of the CLM members in the world of today.
With the talk of Founder having finished, two delegates of the III Plenary Assembly arrived at the stage to give him as a gift, in the name of the entire CLM, an image of the Immaculate, which was wood-carved in San Antonio de Ibarra. It was given as a way to thank him for his presence and words in Santiago de Guayaquil.
The Encounter ended with an artistic presentation of songs and dances showing some of the countries where the CLM is now found.
LUIS FERNANDO´S WORDS
After deeply thanking God for being in Santiago de Guayaquil, the city of Christ and Mary, and for the intense and beautiful experience that has congregated hundreds of CLM delegates during these days, Luis Fernando showed his joy for having celebrated faith in this Encounter as a spiritual family. He looked to the example of the apostle St. James “whose name awakens closeness to Jesus and apostolic commitment.”
Before an auditorium that closely followed his reflections, Luis Fernando continued the conference reminding them that Ecuador was the first Latin American country to be consecrated to Blessed Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “That is our treasure and we cannot lose it and we are not going to lose it for any reason because this is our flag of faith,” he said.
Christian life, Luis Fernando continued, is not shown in sadness but in joy, “because we participate in the joy of the Lord Jesus, and in a particular way in our interior lives when we celebrate faith, in this encounter, with your prayers, with your jubilee, your songs, your cheers, and your messages.
With Mary, we rejoice in the Good News of Jesus, celebrating the Good News. We become an ardent flame of his heart, and we send forth a message of faith, of love and of enthusiasm to a world that suffers cold,” he explained. At that moment the audience sang and applauded strongly in a series cheers alluding to the joy of being Christian.
The Founder of the CLM recalled to those present that “a heroic life of love is needed from each one of you, one that responds to a generous self-giving. Let us think for a moment: Are you willing to follow Jesus to the point of giving your life?”
In the midst of an attentive audience, Luis Fernando explained that ignorance in faith is one of the principle elements that the devil has to attack the Church. He proposed to CLM directors in Ecuador to establish catechesis schools.
At the same time, he reminded them that “it is necessary to take the love of God seriously, to open up to him, to go out to him in each moment, because Christ comes to us. He calls us, knocking on the door of our hearts and invites us to receive him, to open to him our interiority so that his fire enters into us, a fired that is not extinguished.”
Luis Fernando reflected on the Biblical passage of the Rich Young Man explaining that like the person from the passage, there are many who experience the love of God, but that this love encounters many different barriers to respond to it authentically.
“How many times do we close ourselves, rejecting the love of God? We do not want to accept that the love of God is calling us because turns out to be uncomfortable…The Lord Jesus comes to us. Abandon everything that is an obstacle so that you can give your life, so that you can give yourself to love,” he exclaimed.
“If God calls you,” he continued, “respond as Blessed Mary who took the risk and gave herself fearlessly to the Plan of God.”
To end, Luis Fernando invited CLMers to opt for the Lord Jesus. “You choose, you choose,” he emphasized. “What more could the Lord do for you so that you reach salvation, perfection, joy? You can shut him out or open all of yourself to Him and give yourself totally to follow the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…Opt for life, opt for love, for the freedom that the Lord Jesus reveals to us,” he concluded. |
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Last Updated ( Jan 13, 2010 at 10:07 PM )
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