Feeling at one with the Church

The consecrated life has no meaning if it does not see itself as a charism of the Church and for the Church. We are well aware of the image of the Church in our society and the difficulties faced by a large number of practicing Christians in "feeling at one with the Church"; we also know the climate of ecclesial disaffection that is becoming widespread.

We too are surrounded by this climate and we feel these same difficulties; often we live with them in a situation of tension because we are conscious that our identity as religious is indissolubly linked to the Church and we would like that to be the case in practice.

This tension has, in a certain way, been reflected in a number of documents from the Holy See, such as "Mutuae Relationes", which states: "Every authentic charism implies a certain element of genuine originality and of special initiative for the spiritual life of the Church. In its surroundings it may appear troublesome and may even cause difficulties, since it is not always and immediately easy to recognize it as coming from the Spirit" (No. 12).

In his post-synodal Exhortation, John Paul II also recognizes that "In the history of the Church, alongside other Christians, there have been men and women consecrated to God who, through a special gift of the Holy Spirit, have carried out a genuinely prophetic ministry, speaking in the name of God to all, even to the Pastors of the Church." (VC 84)

We do not talk about the Church much, even less so with enthusiasm, and yet it is impossible to hear an authentic call from the Lord to follow Him if we are on the margins of the Church; and we can stay on the "margins" if we regard the Church as simply a human institution, necessary only for organization, and without making any reference to her mystery.

We should ask ourselves sometimes if we are seen as loving the Church and being involved in her hopes and sufferings; without forgetting that we are the Church and that that is how people see us, through our duty to contribute to make her recognized as more authentic, more credible, more evangelical, more serving.

In our different surroundings, we have an unequal experience of vocational promotion in this aspect of "feeling at one with the Church". There is no lack of somewhat ambiguous examples, as when candidates for the novitiate are motivated by the idea that in the consecrated life they can "find greater freedom in the Church".

Still, the religious vocation contains a high element of identification and cohesion with the institutional Church and we should dedicate ourselves more to developing an explicit appreciation of the Church amongst young people if we want to inspire them to religious vocations. Our identity as religious must also motivate us to rediscover an ecclesial mysticism, that is to say, an understanding in prayer of the mystery of the Church so that in this way we learn and teach others to regard her as the generator of saintliness, in whose midst we have been offered, as a gift, faith in Jesus.

It appears to me that our work in these few days and further consideration and decision-making by the Superiors General could be helped by summarizing a few of the aspects of visibility that I have just presented. I will do so now, in the form of statements and questions:

Do the Superiors General think that this visibility, in the form in which it has been presented, is one of the current determining factors for refoundation or renewal of the consecrated life in our cultural environment? Bearing in mind the socio-cultural and religious situation of our world, it would be necessary to promote, in a climate of discernment, open and sincere dialogue, in General and Provincial Councils and in our Communities, as to which modes of behavior and attitudes of our life and mission are obscuring the visibility of the consecrated life and which prevent a transparency that could inspire vocations. As too, it would be advisable to motivate reflection on why we are not "passing on" to young people the desire to share our life. Renewal of the consecrated life, in order to be able to promote vocations, necessarily has an effect on the revitalization of community life; that is to say, through the existence of communities where it is possible to be witnesses, to adopt transparent attitudes of welcome, simplicity of life, dialogue, poverty, solidarity, reconciliation... open communities, ready to share with others, prayer, liturgy, service. The mission occupies a privileged place in our vocation as followers of Jesus; as religious we dedicate a great deal of our energy and resources to it. It seems obvious that, from the point of view of a kind of visibility capable of passing on the desire to follow Jesus, we need to ask ourselves:

In our culture, what images are projected by our apostolic institutions and the pastoral work we do? Are we seen as a multi-function NGO (education, hospitals, work with the marginalized, culture... ) or as committed to publicizing the news of Jesus, which in itself involves our service and solidarity with those most forgotten by society? How do people (especially young people) who meet us see religious? As tireless workers, responsible, well prepared, concerned with service to the weak, ... evangelists, men of God seduced by Jesus, friends, people who are ready to help? Do we feel, personally or as a community, the passion of explicitly declaring the news of Jesus to our world? Do we make efforts to seek an appropriate language in which to hold dialogue with today’s culture, one that will make it possible for this declaration to be welcomed? The awareness and certainty of our own identity and the ability to formulate this are fundamental to vocational promotion. Do we have simple, comprehensible answers when people ask us questions like: who are we within the Church, why are we religious, what is special about our lives, what motivates our work? It is very difficult for contagion to take place, for the desire and attraction to a religious vocation to be inspired, if this is not seen by society in a form that can motivate a person to follow Jesus in a radical way.