3 days, 3 hours. An appointment lived by 34 women and men, consecrated and lay people linked to the John Paul II Educational Centre of Huatusco, Mexico. The objective: to discover the Mennaisian roots from its history, its itinerary, to seek the source in truth, to deepen a way of life and to realize that miracles can be done, together, listening to the Spirit. Let us discover here in the story Nelhuayotl-Huatusco 2021, the testimony of Luz Martha de La Cruz Romero, Mennaisian laywoman.
Nelhuayotl I, Huatusco 2021.
In February 2019 in Argentina, “The Mennaisian School” left me convinced and more determined than before, with all the Mennaisian style and charisma, of this way of life. To feel this way, to live it already in this way, but above all to be able to share it and pass it on to others, as they did with me “because I gave you an example, so that you do as I did to you.” Jn 13:15
And sharing that feeling with Carlos, my husband, and also with Bros Mario and Guillermo, to acknowledge that it was a treasure and that it could not remain hidden. It was clear that we wanted to share in our Community all this wealth of experience and it was in the company of Bro Guillermo that this year we put our time and our disposition in the hands of the Holy Spirit, to bring this message and many others in our Community.
Bro Mario Couture, Bro Guillermo Dávila, Carlos Martínez and myself Martha de la Cruz, we have prepared to bring this experience to Huatusco
What has become and what claims to become Nelhuayotl?
“An invitation to delve deeper into the heart of Mennaisian roots, in order to discover the inspiration that Jean-Marie de la Mennais left us as a legacy to thousands of young people, Brothers, Educators and Laity. A legacy that makes it possible to become “the image of Christ”, through links, angel attitudes, a particular care of the vulnerable and the smallest of our society, farther from the borders “(Bro Mario Couture. Presentations of the document of the participants of Nelhuayotl 2021).
For three days, from March 29th to Monday 1st April, Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd of Easter week and just three hours a day, we met virtually through Zoom, about 34 participants to live this experience that allowed us to recognize more of the complexities of Mennaisian identity that we had already adopted, by identifying attitudes in our own people. Reclaiming our own roots, feeling proud of our origins to combine and harmonize everything with what God places on our paths.
It’s not a coincidence. “We can see once again how Providence (what God wills) has provoked the subtle «mysterious web» of our lives, which leads us to this moment of virtual encounter” (Hno. Guillermo Dávila).
Why Nelhuayotl ?
This term in náhuatl, the living language of Mexicas, refers to the “root”. Literally Nelhuayotl means “that which contains the truth”. In common use we find definitions such as: principle, foundation, beginning; root of all things.
We had to start from our personal roots to get a better understanding of all that is the Mennaisian charism. We had to start from our own pre-Hispanic roots and recognize ourselves with all the riches and inheritances. And after listening to talk about the origins of the Congregation, we had to feel part of a whole, connected providentially: the people who preceded us, crossed a path, they reacted, they gave themselves, so that we could meet in this place that is common to us and where we had lived and forged bonds of family and Community: we are all part of this history.
Already found in this atmosphere, it was easier to recognize the characteristics of the John Paul II Centre according to the Mennaisian charism, the attitudes and gestures that gave a particular colour that attracted us from the first time we entered it. These aspects are common to any other Mennaisian educational centre around the World.
Once we introduced the idea of Hospital School, clarified the biblical meaning of the word Miracle, we let in our hearts 4 texts of the Gospel, presented more in the human sense, highlighting the attitudes of Jesus at the times of his interventions. That we felt like the leper, touched and loved just because we exist. Let us open our eyes to a new gaze, the gaze of the heart after removing the bandages and our possessions, as Bartimaeus did. Let us lift up our bed and continue to walk, entrusting our paralyses and fears to Jesus, for it is he who lifts us, like the paralytic. Wake up to a new way of life, hand in hand with Jesus, like the daughter of Jairus.
And let us become aware of the great love of God that Jesus teaches us. To recognize that we, by wanting to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, through Mennaisian learning, do miracles. The witnesses of some participants are the confirmation and affirmation of everything we had already done. We wanted to continue to work miracles.
We finished this first experience of Nelhuayotl on Sunday, April 4th , during a Zoom meeting to celebrate together Easter Sunday, as a new family that wanted to continue on the path conforming the Kingdom of God.
It remains for us to discern whether we are called to become co-authors of the new page to be written in the reality of Huatusco, inspired by the Mennaisian charism (F. Guillermo Dávila).
Nelhuayotl. This word was rooted in the desire to share the charism with the Mexicans and that the Mexicans share their charism with the Mennaisians, that it become a charism with its own colour: Mexican Mennaisian charism ! (F. Gaétan Arsenault)
What participants found:
Interiority, spiritual reflection, self-knowledge, learning, shared life and family life, encounter with oneself and with the person of Jesus, personal connections, recognition of God’s love, deepening of God’s presence in life, healing, availability, recognition of identity.
Videos and powerpoint slideshows, songs that spoke to our hearts, that awaken us; witnessed of experiences that had left traces; let us look back to the past, perspectives of the future; four miracles of the Gospel that touched, who shaked, who moved and who made us feel the strong presence of Jesus in our lives, the bonds that are forged through the sharing of personal experiences and points of view in small teams.
On the following website, we left most of the materials we used during the animations.
https://sites.google.com/view/nelhuayotl/inicio
Luz Martha De La Cruz Romero.
Secular Mennaisian.
Personally, I felt very happy and grateful to have participated in this experience, to begin to sow joy in my hearts and to be able to share more of this feeling of love that pervaded me deeply.
Luz Martha De La Cruz Romero.
Mennaisian Lay Members
Let us discover two VIDEOS :
They came from these three days and place at the disposal of all, the Mennaisian treasures.
