Concluding: "Put into practice what you have understood, and you will understand the rest"

It is not possible to fail to note the commitment and desires of the religious of this end of the century in finding ways to live the religious life radically; and to do so in a manner that generates fruitfulness and creativity within the consecrated life. However, we do well to remember that basically, in the consecrated life everything is a gift. In these reflections I have tried to be critical and constructive and I did so with a great conviction. My conviction is that of the importance of the charismatic and prophetic gift of the consecrated life for society and for the Church.

I tried to give you the enthusiasm to make the following step that begins in the previous time, in that which we are living today, and to shed a bit of light on what will follow when se pass from the dusk to the dawn and that during the night one waits for the new day. It is in these hours that one discovers the broadest horizons en that the Kingdom of the Father is dawning. Any genuine refounding must be situated within this horizon; basically, it is the Kingdom of God through the consecrated life. The Kingdom of God is life, abundant life, full life, and is incarnated in structures of life.

Hope is not synonymous with optimism. Beginning a process of creative fidelity does not seem optimistic; it is to put hope in an institute. We can hope that despite the situations in which we live, God has reserved for us the fruits of life. (No seria?) It is not the parable of Good Friday that best corresponds to the present time in the consecrated life. Personally I see the consecrated life in a time like Holy Saturday; waiting, and with hope in the Resurrection, a time of "yes", but "not yet".

It is paschal advice that the desert father gave to those who complained that they did not know how to act and did not understand what was happening in their life as initiates in the faith: "Put into practice what you have understood and you will understand the rest". Begin the refounding and you will understand what it is and the fruits that come from you and the price that must be paid to make it a reality.

It is good to recall that it is the young religious who ask for this dynamic because they need and want hope. In some groups of them refounding is already in process and they are experiencing in a very natural way the birth of something new and it does not bother them that something that must die is dying. Most of all this can be found among the young people for whom the Father is the one Lord of their life, who are seeking a special style of life, distinct from that of their other young friends, and with those with whom they share and live; many a time they do the same things as those other young people; what is different is the way in which they do it and the reason for which they do what they do. They believe in the necessity of prayer and they live the charisma of contemplation; they know that the consecrated life, if it is to be meaningful, must be a life rooted in the divine and immersed, day in and day out, in the mystical, moved by the Spirit, rooted in Christ, impregnated with mystery and nourished by the Gospel.

These young people study with seriousness, but without dejection, they find the time to converse, celebrate and to visit the imprisoned and victims of AIDS, and to be close to the marginalised and those who others do not feel count for much; they have a style of community life marked by fraternity, profound communication at the personal level. In a word, they have understood that the consecrated life is a sign for others that there is only one thing in life worth seeking: the face and heart of the Father at the centre of the universe and the justice of God in the midst of human suffering. They do not dream of a consecrated life that resembles a multinational corporation offering free services, but the voice of the Spirit and a sign that puts into context and makes relative the values that come from consumerism and neoliberalism. They want to be "transparent" witnesses who communicate the energy of the Gospel and a continuous reminder of God’s dream for humanity. By these comments I do not intend to "canonise" anybody, but shed greater clarity on a path of creative fidelity.

I would like to end this presentation with an experience I had two years ago in a place in the French area of Lorraine when I visited the Marianist noviciate. There I found a plant called "poligonio" that gave me a lot of thought and set the tone for this article. It is a shrub that is used for decoration, it has large, light green, delicate and red flowers. It has an ecological function since some birds come and alight in it and make there nest as well; the insects buzz around it from top to bottom and constantly stimulate it to grow. It is a stubborn and tenacious plant. If one plants a poligonio in the garden one will have a poligonio forever. It is difficult to get rid of it. One can look for its small roots and uproot it or pour some poisonous liquid in the soil and next year it will be back there again in the middle of the garden.

Why is there so much vitality? Specialists speak of a secret "connivance" between the land, rich in mineral salts, and the roots of the poligonio However, there is also a bit of mystery about this phenomenon. Every time I contemplated this plant I thought about the creative fidelity of the religious life and about hope.

A process of refounding helps to renew and remake the alliance between the charism, that is the plant, and the culture, that is the ground; the land does not remain sterile and the charism wants to be fruitful. In order to do so, it is necessary to make this pact since a genuine charism will always spring back to live without hope as long as it is sustained by love. And we must not forget, it will be difficult to make the consecrated life disappear.

From this culture in which it has strength and resistance and even solidarity and generosity the religious can enjoy the fullness of midday after having passed from dusk to dawn.