2. A presence that is poor, free and freeing

This is the indispensable condition for making our presence evangelical and for building a religious, missionary fraternity. "And leaving everything, they followed him…. Go, take nothing for your journey…". If the consecrated life is to win back the truth about itself, its credibility, and express its prophetic aspect, it must rediscover its "lightness", its simplicity and freedom. Weighed down by too much "property", by too much attention to itself, by too many things to do, more than being concerned to be God’s, the consecrated life is "mortified", vilified, incapable of expressing itself fully. Having, power, l’apparire in all its forms, immerse the consecrated life in the world without giving it the opportunity to remain distinct from it (cf. Jn 17:15-19). Yet, purified by poverty, the consecrated life will again become mobile, free, obedience, vital, prophetic. Unless the consecrated person is radically "expropriated", he is no one.

1. A fraternal presence
Our world needs group signs and witnesses of fraternity. It is clear that a "collective holiness" cannot be developed without individual holiness. However, we must go beyond an "individualistic mysticism" because "in the communion of saints the spheres of those who love mutually penetrate one another".

The "global village" is still but a dream, or probably a threat, because division and fragmentation of all kinds are the reality in which we live. A sound, spiritually solid fraternity is a cornerstone on which God builds his house, it is a prophetic message for today’s man and woman.

In order to create such fraternities that are meaningful and prophetic, it is necessary to:

Be convinced of the importance of the fraternal life and commitment oneself to building it, as a priority value; Move from the individualism that is contrary to all Christian logic to the fraternity in Christ; Overcome the self-sufficient competitiveness to develop a constructive collaboration; Understand that the fact of continuing to do everything, and to do it alone, is not only impossible, but also counterproductive; Be open to dialogue, in the awareness that listening in truth is "parturitio novae vitae", and can truly regenerate our fraternities.

2. Some hints for redesigning our fraternal presence
Among the many possible paths for redesigning our fraternal presence, I would like to insist upon the following:

Take a fresh look at the relationship between values and structures Rethink and evangelize the service of authority; Create a "holistic" project with a plurality of composition and action Build a fraternity for the world.

a) Take a fresh look at the relationship between values and structures
The dynamic and constructive tension between values and structures will be part and parcel of our personal and community life until the day we die. There are no values without structures, nor structures without some reference to values, and this is logical. It is equally self-understood that for living certain values in specific eras and times, structures must of necessity be adapted. The clearer and stronger the values are, the more new forms are created and invented. "The person who is sure of his values is ready to change". The person, however, who finds his stability in structures does not manage to understand the need for change.

Now, let us ask ourselves:

Are structures at the service of values or do they rather hide or deform them? Are the lack of creativity and the difficulty of taking a fresh look at our structures merely a lack of imagination and courage, or is it rather indicative of the absence of genuine values?

If we are to reachieve our charisms, a true interior conversion is necessary.

b) Rethink and evangelize the service of authority;
From the viewpoint of the Gospels, and with our Rules and Constitutions as the starting point, there should be no doubt of the authority’s nature as diakonia.

The Code of Canon Law is extremely clear on this point (cf. Canons 618-619). It speaks of a "service received from God", of "docility to the will of God", of "listening to one’s subjects", of "respecting the human person", of "building a fraternal community in which God is sought above every thing", of dialogue, etc.

However, the concrete way of expressing this authority is often quite different, and leaves much to be desired. In certain cases it is a question of "protagonism"^* and of "political" and administrative self-centredness, which does not serve to create communion, but generates fear, exaggerated individualism, an idea of efficiency "no matter the cost". It is a thirst for and exercise of authority as the world does. Authority becomes power. It would be a grave mistake to identify one’s own self with authority structures; it would no longer be service, but self-affirmation. In this case, even creating new groups or new presences would certainly not improve our evangelical witness in the area in which we live. It would simply be another institution, perhaps one that is also efficient, but not a fraternity according to the Gospel.

Other times we seek to reconcile our spiritual diakonia with our "protagonism". In this case too service can be a means of self-affirmation. This ambiguity is the source of tension and inner suffering for the one who exercises it, creates confusion in seeking it, and causes confusion within the institute. There is also a "laissez faire" authority, which has lost all hope. They let the Institution go on with no one to lead or stimulate it. It is difficult to approdare a true and fruitful revision of our presence as fraternity in today’s world without the Gospel leadership that comes from authority.

c) Create a "holistic" project with a plurality of composition and action
If we really want to begin a new type of presence as fraternity, we cannot continue merely facing structural emergencies, the most immediate needs, the needs of the institute or the individual brother left to his own personal fulfilment (all of these are "good" in themselves), but it is necessary to create a true fraternal relationship between the members of an institute. If we want to be faithful to our founding charism, we must overcome the superficiality of improvisations and draw up a provincial community plan. This does not mean denying the Spirit room to act by making our plans too detailed, or of paying attention to the selfish and efficientist individualism, which are always justifiable, or of today’s needs, reflecting adequately on the charismatic role of our institute in the history in which we love and towards which we are headed.

It is necessary to have a well-thought out project, one that is agreed upon, fulfilled and evaluated together, with the contribution of the gifts of each member, without excluding the collaboration of the laity.

A common project, yet one that admits of a plurality of ways of fulfilling it. Within this unity each community should find, recreate and periodically evaluate their own project, with the help of all. One can serve the Church and the world while remaining faithful to the spirit of an Institute both through the fraternal presence of contemplation or insertion, as well as through an itinerant fraternity of evangelisation. This plurality fosters and develops the charisms of the individual members, respects unity and community, and helps us to broaden our horizons to the Kingdom of God.

d) Build a fraternity for the world.
In order to be evangelical, a fraternity must go beyond itself. It is the place in which one lives, grows and is formed, but to be sent into the fields of the world. Missionary living is not only the logical consequence of a fraternity that is led by the Spirit, but it is also the charismatic consciousness of its task: always going beyond itself, towards those who are far off. A fraternity creates ministries and services to the degree in which it takes an attitude of listening and serving God and the world in which it lives. This creativity of non-institutional ministries is more urgent than ever. If on the one hand there is still diakonia to the Spirit in ecclesial communion, on the other hand it must be concretized beginning from the many appeals that come from a world that is thirsting for values. It is necessary to "ire inter gentes", to go "among the peoples", as St. Francis would say: not above them, not at their side, not even becoming confused with the logic of the world, not even using the same methods of power and appearance, but according to the "logic of the seed", establishing a true dialogue with everyone.

The task of the consecrated person, through a deep discernment of the signs of the times and a healthy dose of kenosis, expropriation and evangelical mobility, to achieve this multiplicity of services and thus cooperate in the building up of the Kingdom of God. In this diakonia of fraternity for the world, it is good to be concerned about the recipients and methods of evangelisation, but it is even more important to rethink how to live and incarnate the Gospel in this concrete culture, with its particular traits. This is the ever urgent and timely problem of inculturation.

The "missionary fruits" of a fraternity in the world will grow proportionate to its capacity for expropriation: that is, leaving room for the Spirit that he may act as the main agent. The laws of human effectiveness are replaced by those of divine fruitfulness, and are therefore not able to be measured or evaluated, but are rather infinite. It is essential not to forget this "pneumatic" perspective, animated with hope.