4. But who do you say that I am? (Mk. 8,29)
The image we present of Jesus is obviously closely linked to the evangelizing aspect of the consecrated life. Jesus’ question to the disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mk. 8,29) is wholly relevant to us today... how do we present Jesus, what do we say about Him... that too is part of our visibility. What do we produce with our sermons, our catechisms, especially those we make to young people... admirers of Jesus or believers in Christ? Certainly Christians admire Jesus, but many are admirers rather than Christians; simply because they do not proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is Christ, the Lord. This is probably one of the major problems of evangelization in our culture.

From the point of view of vocational promotion (and still more from the point of view of declaring faith in Jesus), approaching the image of Jesus stripped of his divinity involves theology which will meet with difficulty in stimulating religious vocations; sociologically it is possible that every day may see an increase in the number of admirers of Jesus as a "close friend", "prophet fighting for justice", "servant and liberator of the oppressed"... but, according to the research, every day also sees a continual lessening of faith in His divinity.

The image of Jesus in which the ethical aspect stands out so much that it stifles His other attributes awakens neither the necessity for a prayerful attitude, nor an intimate heart-to-heart relationship, nor the need to hear from His lips: "Son, your sins are forgiven". All it awakens is work, and probably at the same time "the expulsion of demons", "the cure of the sick". The contemplative dimension involved in following Jesus remains in the background.

Meanwhile, the picture of an ethical Christ does not lead easily to choosing virginity and opting to work for the poor whilst looking toward the Kingdom of Heaven, nor to the renunciation of one’s own will. The choice of a vocation is born from an experience of Jesus who is at once friend and Lord, prophet and Savior, who defends the poor and welcomes sinners; it springs from the experience of a Jesus who calls us "to be with Him" (Mk. 3,14) in the intimacy of prayer and to send us on a mission to care for the least and for those in need, because a vocation demands the free and total gift of oneself to God and such a choice does not result from a simple offer of work.

What we religious say about Jesus, the picture we present, is without doubt a revealing sign of what we live [and believe], what spurs us on and motivates us to follow Him in a radical way; but the ability to bring others to experience God is also an interior transparency, i.e. to lead others to the mystery, to let oneself be surprised and to open oneself up to the mystery that is within every human-being and the mystery that is God Himself. Quite a lot of young people today are looking for religious experiences and the need therefore arises to accompany them and point them in the right direction for these experiences to be Christian, experiences on which to found a life wherein they ask what God wants of them. Men and women religious, are we the experts on mystery these young people are looking for? Are we available to take the time to listen to them and accompany them in this work whose fruits cannot be quantified or measured in terms of human effectiveness? Or must they seek out other ‘gurus’ because the task we have in hand seems more significant to us, and perhaps more satisfying to our thirst for activity?