1. The charism itself

What seems to be important, even before presenting the content and eliciting a reinterpretation of the charism is to clear up certain ideas and interpretations about it.

1.1 Psycho-dynamic meaning

Before anything else, one has to clarify the psychodynamic meaning of the charism, that is, the function it has in the whole process of shaping the person’s identity. The individual has to understand that the charism (Rc) of his institute constitutes his identity, it is part of his being, it is the name God has given him, it is the essence of what he is now, as well as what he is called to become, it is what gives stable and radical meaning to his existence and what makes him part of a new family: the Institute to which he belongs. If this awareness is missing, it would be useless to explain to him the content or expecting him to identify with the charism itself. But if the young person learns to capture the revelation of his own "Self", then he will be able to display a strong and genuine interest which will enable him to get personally involved in the effort of understanding, discovering and living out this charism either individually or in community. He will be capable of this in the initial formation as well as in the permanent one.

1.2 Form and Norm

If thus understood, the charism Rc becomes the central point of reference of one’s life, whatever gives shape to one’s living at all levels (from the spiritual life to the dynamics of relationships, from the apostolic service to the sense of belonging), it becomes the principle of being and doing. It is, therefore, something very concrete and at the same time very central and normative in one’s life and something with which the young person ought to confront himself constantly. It is what, everyday, he has to implement and examine in the light of the Rc whose power is able to illumine and integrate the day, making all things meaningful and attractive thus permeating all life… all these will become a sure indication of the person’s creative and unique attitude. If the Rc is at the centre of one’s life directing as it were, the life of the consecrated person (it is its form and norm), then it will necessarily be the object of a process of new understanding that keeps it always relevant and young. On the contrary, the religious "strayed dog" or one who has no point of reference or whose regula vitae – rule of life is not according to the charism, will not have the right disposition and neither perhaps the interest to understand and refound anything new.

It is a very serious problem today, to find consecrated people who do not possess an identity, or a unifying centre that directs their life. These are people who are incapable of carrying out anything, they are unproductive or at best, they are simple repeaters, with no passion or imagination, simply disobedient or peacefully indifferent towards any rule…

1.3 Gift and Commitment

Lastly, the charism is not a fixed monolithic block or a series of values waiting to be interpreted, it cannot even be defined once for all, rather it is a gift which comes from above, from the Spirit who is the wild and calm imagination of God and who still continues "to inspire" that inexhaustible gift. The young person has to understand that thanks to the religious vocation, he has been given the capacity to understand and reinterpret that gift discovering new aspects that he alone is able to understand in a given way. When the person joins the institute, he entrusts himself to the religious family and this in its turn, entrusts itself to him; from that time on, the vitality of the charism depends on him too.

The educational itineraries must underline more and more this general responsibility while stressing the importance of the individual interpretation. In a culture which tends to keep the young people in a state of dependence, turning them into "consumers" of a well-being brought about by others (even on the level of the spiritual, strange as it may seem), it is not always easy, but all the more it becomes indispensable to form in this regard, a responsible and creative mentality.