From Monday, November 24 to Friday, November 28, ten vocation promoters from the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Augustinian Recollects met at the Casa de la Recolección in Cuernavaca (Morelos, Mexico) for a training meeting convened by the coordinator, the Augustinian Recollect Víctor González.
The first day was dedicated, in the morning, to a preparatory spiritual retreat that focused on the value of interiority according to St. Augustine. In the afternoon, the organizers reviewed the conclusions and commitments made at the previous meeting, which took place at the St. Augustine Formation House in Las Rozas (Madrid, Spain) in September 2024.
The other starting point was the Report of the provincial prior on the state of the Province, in preparation for the 129th Provincial Chapter which will begin in May 2026. Therefore, there was a joint reading of what pertains to Vocational Pastoral Care in this report.
The organizers proposed six points for evaluation and programming, the ultimate goal of which would be the joint presentation of proposals for the Provincial Chapter, a matter that was discussed throughout the days to improve its wording and establish consensus.
On Tuesday, the ongoing training began, which took place in several sessions with six talks and discussions by José Ángel Mendoza Esqueda, a specialist in Vocational Pastoral Care and a member of the Brotherhood of Diocesan Worker Priests.
The specialist presented the “Pastoral Elements for the Dissemination of Vocational Culture”, “Vocational Accompaniment”, “Vocational Culture as a Response to the Reality of Current Culture”, “The Means for Personal Vocational Accompaniment”, “The Means for Group Accompaniment” and, as a closing, “Influencer of God”.
The vicar of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Augustinian Recollects for Mexico and Costa Rica, Martín Luengo, visited those gathered at this meeting on Wednesday and offered them some words of encouragement, before they all shared lunch together with the religious from the central zone of Mexico who came to their day of rest at the Finca Centenario in Ahuatepec de Morelos.
During the gathering, bonds of fraternity were strengthened through shared prayer in close fellowship, creating informal spaces for mutual encouragement, sharing materials, and clarifying positions. On Saturday the 29th, some of them were able to share a Mass of Thanksgiving at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Of the ten participants, only two are free to dedicate themselves fully to Vocation Ministry, while the rest combine it with other responsibilities. Those present were Francisco Oyanguren and Héctor Molina (promoters in Spain); Jorge Mateos and Eric Crelencia (United States); Eduardo Chávez and Víctor González (Costa Rica); and Manuel Antonio Flores, David Molina, José Antonio Hernández, and Bernal Guerrero (Mexico).
