In the preceding pages, we have drawn your attention to certain measures that need to be taken and certain areas that need further study by each of the various groups of the Lasallian Family, as they come to grips with the problems of present day society. We should now like to lay down a few guidelines which will help to ensure greater internal unity and vitality, not for the sake of having the satisfaction of seeing something well organised, but to make our work as educators and our apostolate more effective.

It is not a question of beginning all over again

By suggesting you take certain measures, and by calling for a greater degree of association, we did not mean to imply that we need to jettison the past and start again. On the contrary: we endorse what has already been undertaken and successfully completed. In many areas such work has been going on for a great many years. Many of you are are fully aware, as we in the General Council are also aware, of all that has been done all over the world in the last 20 or 30 years. It is obvious that great progress has been made: we find it very impressive and include many examples of it in our letter.

We feel that all this work should continue, and that it still has great potential. It reflects the power of the inspiration of Dc La Salle in our society, power that creates new life throughout the world. This explains why so many groups of young people say quite rightly: "De La Salle today? That's us!"

We do not think the time has yet come to try to enclose the numerous and varied forms of apostolic work that have sprung up within the confines of a more comprehensive and definitive definition. In the "description given in the Message of the 41st General Chapter to the Lasallian Family, Lasallian groups are shown as either already possessing a set of statutes and rules governing their apostolic work, or in the process of formulating them.

For the immediate future, we as a General Council, suggest the following areas for special study and action: we think they cnrich the life of the association; deepen its convictions and make it more effective; and help it adapt to the ;'eeds of present day society.

These then are our suggestions for the next few years:

1. Study arid reflect deeply on our common Lasallian educational and spiritual heritage. There is always something new to discover and explore, for the Spirit is there to help us each time we try. Such study will help us also to become clearer in our own minds about the kind of response to offer to our fellow men.

2. Express the results of our research in clear arid understandable language, taking into account the people among whom we live and their cultural background. For the most part, it is up to the people on the spot to do this, arid it depends on their ability to speak of the Founder in everyday terms. It is important in this context to avoid gobbledegook: some people find it difficult to cope with.

3. Each movement or association should examine where it is going, what its aims are, what work it does and how it functions, so as to be able to judge the extent to which it is faithful to Lasallian thinking and spirituality. The criteria to apply in judging are well known and show whether what is going on is truly Lasallian.

4. Organise more courses, set up more centres arid commissions so as to be able to offer more Lasallian training to the members of our educational communities. Appoint a sufficient number af qualified people to organise this arid to provide training. All this exists already to some extent, but it can no longer cope with the demands and needs that arise. Training is a sign of confidence in the future: it is also a key to open doors. We hope and pray that courses and other means will be organised everywhere to provide initial and continuing training for the members of our various Lasallian groups.

5. Increase the number of meetings between the various branches of the Lasallian Family: to ensure greater collaboration; provide mutual enrichment; coordinate apostolic work to a greater extent; become more conscious of belonging to a vast association; and to widen one's own horizons through contact with others. Such meetings can be organised by consultation and cooperation at different levels between those running the various groups.

With this call to you for consultation, cooperation and coordination there is also a call to seek ever higher standards: it is a personal challenge to you to surpass yourself and so contribute with everyone else to the building up of the Lasallian Family.

All of us, Brothers and lay people, are involved in this process of organisation, coordination and self-assessment.

First and foremost, we Brothers are involved. We have have been entrusted with this task and responsibility by the General Chapter and the Rule. In most cases, Lasallian lay people wait and explicitly ask for our help and guidance.

For our part, as members of the central administration of the Institute, we wish to assure you that, in addition to offering you our heartfelt encouragement, we want to help you in any way we can, because we realise the urgency, the extent and the importance of this task.

To be more practical, we would like to draw your attention to a number of things that are mentioned in recent Institute documents and which perhaps you are unaware of:

A) With regard to the Generalate

We think that it is on a local level - that of the Region, District or Delegation - that it is essential to establish and extend training programmes and Lasallian research, and to pool experience. Brothers and lay people must join together and collaborate to make the work of the groups more effective, and to ensure that Lasallian studies and research find a practical application both in schools and elsewhere. In this context, it seems to us, a priority is the training of assessors and the setting up of commissions and secretariats which will take in hand the support and guidance of various groups and communities.

This, then, is what we suggest to Districts and Regions: since the most effective arrangements for the setting up, guidance and development of the various Lasallian Family groups take place at District and Regional level, we would like:

C) With regard to Lasallian groups themselves

We are looking forward to having a great wealth of experience available in the years to come, experience offering a great variety of form, but similar in spirit. This experience will be built up as groups gradually come to define their own identity and aims, and manage to devise training and apostolic work programmes that suit their needs. We are well aware, in fact, that the main impetus will come not from us here in Rome, but from the efforts and achievements of groups at a local level.

And so we would encourage you to base your apostolic work on consultation, cooperation and good planning, with subsequent follow-up and assessment of results. Your work should be a response to local needs and in line with a Lasallian plan. Consequently, those who are in charge - Brothers and lay people -of the various local Lasallian Family groups should meet and agree on how to implement what is contained in this letter.

And so, far from wishing to centralise control, we want you to be genuinely autonomous. Such autonomy offers a much greater wealth of opportunities and fits in very well with our wish to promote association and inculturation. It is only when one is on the spot that one can really assess local needs and know exactly what measures need to be taken.

What is likewise important is to be prepared to let everyone else know what is being done arid what has been achieved. Besides being helpful, this acts also as a stimulus for others. In this context, the International Secretariat in Rome can play a useful role by providing information arid coordination, arid putting groups in touch with one another.