Echoing Mary of the Passion’s dream to integrate the laity into the evangelizing task of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary community, the group of Lay FMM Associates of Colombia-Ecuador began in 2011. Their first meeting was in July, at Santa Rosa de Cabal (Risaralda- Colombia). For this occasion they relied on the participation of delegates from Ecuador and Colombia (Quito, Medellin, Cali, Bogotá, Neiva and Santa Rosa de Cabal).

“The laity are called by God, so that, carrying out their own professional role guided by the evangelical spirit, they contribute to the sanctification of the world and manifest Christ to others, first of all by the witness of their life. The Church needs lay people who will take risks, get their hands dirty, not be afraid to make mistakes in order to go forward” (Vatican Council II).

The lay vocation does not appear in a sudden manner, but develops from every person’s growth, his or her experience, work, maturity and stance towards life and reality. Faced with this, FMM laity seek to accomplish God’s will, making it present  in daily life, inspired by his Word as people of God fulfilling the church’s mission.  This activity is based on the presence of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary sisters, their charism, their mission; as laity we are committed to continue following them as brothers and sisters.

For nine years until 2019, we met in person at Santa Rosa de Cabal, a place which served as a shelter that welcomed us, and we always felt the affection, motivation and dedication to go more deeply into different themes of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary: Mary of the Passion’s charism, the spirituality of Francis and Clare of Assisi, the Marian dimension of the Charism, Universal Mission,  and the Eucharist as center of FMM spiritual life; all these, approached from the biblical and ecclesial dimensions of Mary of the Passion and Francis of Assisi. We left each meeting strengthened in faith, in spirituality, and with the firm resolve to continue walking along the path of service, witness, love of God and neighbor.

In the year 2020, the dream of reuniting was not snatched away from us by the pandemic. We launched out into the experience of virtual reality, with excellent results: dynamism and creativity, in-depth discussion of the themes with which we dealt, unity in the different communities, and a sense of fraternity despite the distance.

Mary of the Passion wrote her sisters: “I give myself entirely to you, despite my crosses, my poor health, my misery.  But rise up and walk! I pray, walk in pursuit of Jesus,” and this reached us, the Lay Associates of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, like a shout rising from her vibrant being. Permeated by the charism, we allow ourselves to be attacted by her profound conviction for the Gospel. Her “walk!” signifies that there is a path, a route someone has already crossed, a listening sense to find the direction, a firm faith so as not to stagger on the road, and a destiny that is: Jesus.

To discover our path was not accidental;  it was written in God’s plan that we find ourselves in this life with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, to arise and walk together with them. And today we follow, sometimes with footprints shorter, longer, slower, quicker, but we follow as we make this pilgrimage.

Thus it is that at one of our annual meetings and as a response to this request of Mary of the Passion to arise and walk, when she revealed it by means of the deepest expression of her soul, that we said our yes, with  steadfastness to give continuity to her legacy and, above all, to her mission that we have known by means of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary who are this living reflection of Mary of the Passion. As a consequence, the call has a response and, in this journey, Mary has been the inspiration for the laity by means of a hymn. We respond to her community project with these words that we share with the world, which, as she said, is also our homeland.

“Today we evoke thanks for this woman, Mary of the Passion, for the transcendence of her legacy which we have known from the charism, self-surrender, service, and witness that the sisters entrusted to all of us.  It is thanks to all of them that today we are Franciscan Lay Associates, who bear with pride a great mission, to announce the Gospel having as an example Francis and our Mother Foundress, and Jesus in the Eucharist at the center. Those are the fundamental pillars of the Franciscan Missionaris of Mary”: fragment from the Mary of the Passion song as inspiration  (Lay FMM hymn of the Colombia-Ecuador province).