98 Paweł Naumowicz, MIC The Marians of Tomorrow Possible Ways of Development My assigned topic sounds as if it involves something of futurology and of prophesying. I must confess from the start that I don’t know the future. I believe that God is the Lord of history, the Master of our past, present, and future. He wishes to guide us. He grants us inspirations, the light to discern His will, and the power to fulfi ll it. He also invites us to cooperate in the work of salvation of the world today, tomorrow, and the day after. In my presentation, I will attempt to outline, based on our situation today, what I believe to be the most important points of our Congregation’s renewal and some directions for possible growth and the realization of our Congregation’s mission. I realize that my refl ection is done mostly on the basis of my life and work experience in the Divine Providence Province, while I transfer my inferences to the entire Congregation. I take this liberty knowing that I’m not giving any ready solutions or programs for the Congregation, but only delineating certain points for further refl ection. Dying out Either vibrant or slowing down, the vitality of any congregation is hard to evaluate, especially by its own members. However, there are certain factors—although always imperfect—that may be regarded as indicators of the Congregation’s vitality. They are, among others: the ratio between the number of new vocations and departures from the community; the average age of its members; the members’ relationship with Jesus Christ and their desire to closely follow Him through their religious vows; their knowledge of and their living out the Founder’s charism as well as their relationship with the Founder himself. It includes the sense of belonging to the institute and the community of its members; the quality of the fraternal life and of interpersonal relations; the kinds of apostolic works of the Congregation and the ways that they are carried out. Analyzing some of these factors in regards to our Congregation ought to awaken at least some alarm.
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