The following address was given by Teresa Maya, CCVI at the 2017 RFC Congress.
Introduction: Called to This Time and Place
Why the urgency to re-imagine formation around the call to encuentro? Why would encuentro, and I am using the Spanish intentionally, be so critical to our life as religious and to our initial and ongoing formation? We must begin with this question as we gather from across the country, and even from different parts of the globe, with the single purpose of having a conversation about formation in religious life that will help us recognize Grace in the Now: The Gospel of Encounter.
I am certain that we come with a sense of urgency. There is no way we could have lived through the last few months without asking ourselves over and over again “What is ours to do?” Of course, we have always known the answer: to witness to the Gospel.