Participation
The Light-Life Movement is an ecclesiastical movement for people of all ages and states in life: children, teenagers, university students, adults, families, priests, nuns, monks and members of secular institutes. One may start their way in the movement at any age because for each person there is a slightly different path of spiritual growth (the so called formation). All of these paths lead to the same goal: a holy life on the earth and salvation in Heaven.
The Children of God Oasis
The Children of God Oasis is the kindergarten of formation. It gathers school children in small groups (up to twenty people). There are no age limits though the younger children may find it difficult to concentrate and understand some matters. During the formation year, which is the same as the school year, children meet once a week. The meetings are organized by leaders (called animators) who are only a few years older than the participants. The priest-moderator and the responsible watch over the spiritual side of the meetings.
Children are being engaged in service in the Church according to their capabilities. Meetings are also the time of great fun, incomparable to that provided by any computer games. During such gatherings the participants set a common table for the all good things to eat that each of them brings.
During summer holidays 15-day retreats are organized for children ages 10 and 11. They leave their homes not only to play and rest but also to learn independence and responsibility for themselves and for the community. Just like during the school year, the participants are divided into small groups, each with its own animator. There are one or two priests in charge of each Oasis formed of several dozen children.
Oasis for the Youth
Anyone will find their place here, no matter whether they attend a junior high school, a high school or a university. Young people meet once a week in small groups and go for retreats together during holiday vacations. Jesus Christ is the One who gathers them. They come first of all to strengthen their bond with Jesus. It is an opportunity to meet other people for whom God, faith and the Church are important. It gives them a sense of security and strengthens their faith, hope and love. Oasis is also the place where everyone can discover their talents, multiply them and share them with the others. The young not only pray together, read the Bible and participate in the holy mass but they also go together to the cinema, to concerts or parties.
It is easier to believe and to defend one’s faith when around us we have friends who can support us and give advice at any time
LLM Adult Faith Formation
The Light-Life Movement is also a good place for adult people and one must admit that the offer for the mature Christians is much richer than the tasks for children and the youth. Richer does not mean different. Two types of activity form the foundation for all the oasis groups: Christian formation and service in the local Church. These two are nothing else but an incessant work on oneself, one’s humanity and relationship with God (formation) connected with the concern for one’s parish or diocese (service, diakonia). It is obvious that these tasks will be realized in a different way at each level of formation because every age has its rights.
Sometimes the adults in the Oasis have been in the Movement since their childhood. Some of them say that they have passed the so-called ‘initial formation’ and they have some experience as group leaders (animators). They gather in small groups which take up various types of service in the Church in so-called diakonias. Those ‘service groups’ deal with various issues: singing, music, liturgy, prayer, evangelization, communication, etc. Everyone will certainly find something for themselves among the numerous topics.
An adult person who had no opportunity of belonging to an Oasis as a child or a young person is by no means ‘too old’ to join the Light-Life Movement. The formation (described as the New Life Oasis) is just for such people. They join the community in order to pursue Christian maturity and become more conscious participants in the history of salvation. They follow a proven plan, identical for all the Oasis groups: small group meetings according to the accepted schedule (once a week or once a month), short or longer retreats, discovering God’s design in everyday life.
The Domestic Church and Communities for Priests
Evangelization and formation in the Light-Life Movement need not be interrupted when people receive the Sacrament of Matrimony or the Sacrament of Priesthood. Married couples in a natural way find their place in the Domestic Church, a community of mutual sanctification in family and through families. The priests become moderators, receive formation during special retreats for priests and serve during the summer Oasis gatherings. There are communities of the candidates to priesthood in numerous seminaries and the seminarians are an invaluable help during the summer retreats.
Priests who discern a deeper level of belonging to the Movement and its charism join the Union of Priests of Christ the Servant.