I. Charism - La Salle.org

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VI. EIGHT TESTIMONIES FROM LASALLIANS
Community of St. Raymond and especially of Brother Richard, his
wholehearted love of the young, his tendency to give me responsibility
and to have confidence in me, slowly - but surely - developed
my feeling of belonging to the Lasallian Family and forged my
identity. To pick up the expression of La Salle, there was no turning
back…
If my “birth” in the Lasallian Family took place in my native village,
one could say that I had a real baptism of fire 5,000 kilometers to
the south… In fact, in 1992, I took part in a continental meeting
of Young Lasallians in Mexico; where, at the time, I could speak
neither English nor Spanish. Handicapped therefore by my tongue,
I opened my child’s heart… and contact was immediately established
with young Lasallians from everywhere, and through them
the Lasallian spirit “spoke” to me.
On my return we completely ‘renovated’ the stamp club in order to
give it a mission in the truly Lasallian tradition of “together and by
association”. Then, quite naturally, the young Lasallian of St.
Raymond that I was, contributed to the birth of the Young
Lasallians of French-speaking Canada, paired with the Quebec participants
in Paris ‘97; and later, the young Lasallian of French-speaking
Canada appealed to his brothers and sisters from all over the
Institute to take a further step in association during Quebec 2002.
This short history brings out several aspects of my understanding of
the Lasallian charism and how I live it today. First of all, it is undeniable
that the movement of Young Lasallians is for me the
favoured place where I can express and live the Lasallian charism.
The movement expresses itself in many ways, going from the most
practical to the most general, as well as from the local to the national
and even the international.
Without taking up all the aspects of the movement, I would like
nevertheless to lay stress on what is for me a crucial element: com-