An inculturated and prophetic consecrated life

In the responses received during the preparation of the Synod many said that "consecrated life is appreciated for its activity, but is frequently not understood in its essence; it is often praised for its commitment in the world but, as often happens through the mass media, its image is distorted to the extent of rendering it a senseless reality in the eyes of people in general"

In places where secularization has penetrated into public and private life, what is in question is not so much its utility, especially in certain fields of service (we are appreciated as educators!), as its significance, the legibility of its testimony to God, its capacity for communicating the message which it purposes to give.

On the other hand, says the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, "the Gospel way of life is an important source for proposing a new cultural model. A great many founders and foundresses perceiving certain needs of their time, with all the limitations which they themselves recognized, have given these needs an answer which has become an innovative cultural proposal… The manner of thinking and acting of those who follow Christ more closely gives rise, in fact, to a true and proper point of reference for culture".

To be aware of and bear witness to the value and sense of God’s presence in life, in a cultural context which does not go beyond temporal horizons and gives priority to functionality and immediate use, implies a deep understanding of one’s own consecrated identity and its educative value, as a renewed capacity for insertion in the environment as prophecy and leaven.

But for this very reason we must render ourselves aware, individually and as communities, through discernment, creativity and coherence as to when and where certain criteria must be applied which lead to an efficacious expression of the option we have made: to take up from the environment whatever is lawful, insert in it what is new that comes from Christ, give or restore meaning to what is still ambiguous, and oppose what is harmful to the person.

Consecrated life cannot be whittled down to meet the current mentality. It needs vigilance, of mind and spirit in the first place, and the ability to interact and react, to make proposals and to challenge.