THE ENFIELD GROUP OF ASSOCIATES FOR THE MISSIONARIES OF OUR LADY OF LA SALETTE
Enfield and Lakes Region Associates with Shrine Director
Father John Patrick Sullivan, M.S. La Salette Triduum September 19th 2019
La Salette Associates
Who We Are And What We Do
We are a group of lay people who choose to bond ourselves closely with the spirituality, charism, ministry and community of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette in a setting of mutuality.
Mutuality recognizes that both professed Missionaries and Associates, although they have distinct and different rights and responsibilities within the La Salette Community, contribute to the La Salette mission in the world today. Each does this according to the particular gifts and talents received by God. Mutuality implies the emichment in ongoing relationships with one another on a personal and a community level.
Associates feel a call in response to the message of reconciliation that Mary proclaimed in her merciful apparition of 1846 in France and are inspired by her words. Through prayer, fraternal love, support, and encouragement, we dedicated ourselves to the service of God’s people, to spreading the message of La Salette, and joining in the ministry of reconciliation with the La Salette Missionaries. This calling inspires us to learn more about what Mary’s words mean to us today and how we can get the message across to others as Mary has called us to do.
We are all different. in our backgrounds. family lives. style of prayer, and depth of faith, but those differences allow us to express this calling in a variety of ways. We come together for prayer, faith sharing and to give each other the support and encouragement we need to carry out our mission.
OUR ASSOCIATE PROGRAM IN THE AMERICAS
Our Mission: Our program consists of groups of men and women committed to Jesus’s mission of reconciliation proclaimed in Mary’s message at La Salette. As a people of God. we are called in communion of spirit with the Missionaries of La Salette to bring love, healing. justice, and acceptance through our personal lives. our prayer, our spirituality. and our group activities to “all my people”.
Our Vision: Our program consists of diverse groups throughout the Province of Mary Mother of the Americas flowing from and linked by the charism and message of Mary at La Salette.
Our Expectations: We expect that each group adopt the above Mission and Vision and include in their guidelines a formation program incorporating the pillars listed below and a promise of commitment. There would be autonomy within each group to develop “group specific” guidelines.
Each Associate would be expected to
– Accept and understand – the mission and the vision of the program
– Understand- the message and Charism of La Salette
– Desire and be willing – to live out that charism in their daily lives
– Share – the message of La Salette with others
OUR FORMATION PROGRAM
Each group would develop their own formation program that would include but not be limited to the following four pillars:
- La Salette – the message and charism of La Salette, the history al1d formation of the Missionaries of La Salette, the structure of the La Salette religious order.
- Community – explore all types of community, including the other associate programs throughout the United States understanding the elements of forming “community”.
- Ministry – explore the types of ministry available to group members.
- Personal – Spirituality – understand that personal spirituality is a life-long process that is nourished by faith sharing community participation, and personal prayer.
Yearly Commitment: Once a candidate has been accepted a covenant commitment is written and renewed yearly as close to the feast of Our “Lady of La Salette” as possible. This event should be commemorated in the context of either a liturgical ceremony or other prayer service. The Covenant should include the following elements:
- a desire to FOSTER a La Salette devotion
- a desire to SHARE Eucharist with the La Salette Missionaries whenever possible
- a commitment to ATTEND regular meetings as outlined by the local group
- a commitment to ONGOING FORMATION that will encourage spiritual growth
- a desire to CELEBRATE special feast days and holidays with the community
