VI. How should a refounding be conducted, and with what dispositions?

It is clear that there are groups that are seeking and desire this dynamic of a profound revitalisation. However, they do not know how to begin or proceed. It is not a process that has been done much or repeated much. We cannot forget that it is a path of the Spirit and there are no clear signs marking the road. Therefore, it would be well to offer a bit of advice; most of all, these refer to the attitudes with which this task must be performed.

Concentrate

Silence is not simply the absence of noise, which causes us to "disperse" much, as the absence of the ego that paralyses us because it shuts off the genuine sources of vitality. Scatteredness is not good for the days, or better yet, for the times of profound revitalisation. Neither does "weak thinking" help to advance. It is necessary to identify and concentrate efforts in the little bit that is essential and to combine everything that is dispersed and perhaps separated. It is necessary to combine the forces of individuals and groups. It can be that when people think about refounding, they are thinking about a leap into the void, of overnight changes or Copernican transformations made without even a plan for how to proceed. However, the spirit of a refoundation must be accompanied by a clear, general but broad outline – leaving room for the workings of the Spirit – fleshed out in simple, inspiring, personal and structural accomplishments that allow the action of the Spirit to be seen.

This concentration must also refer to the level of the mission. Institutes were born while listening to the people and in order to respond to their needs; they are renewed and refounded in response to the real needs of persons. When these needs have changed, our ministry or our way of exercising it must also change. We cannot do everything, but we must do what is most opportune, and do it more adequately.

Decentralise

The harmony and strength that is being sought does not come from control but from surrender and generosity. However, in order to conduct a good refounding, it is necessary to go beyond one’s self; and the consecrated life must go beyond itself and its world, beyond what protects it and sometimes makes it "sterile"; and give shape to a plan that responds to the needs of the Church and society today in fidelity to the Kingdom of the Father, the intuition of the founders, and what is needed by the Lord’s favourite people, the poor and marginalised of the earth. All too easily, and sometimes without even realising it, we can live cut off from reality and this can have very serious consequences.

In a process of profound revitalisation it is necessary to look at and pay attention to the margins, the fringes, the frontiers and the persons who are in those places and who ask us to come out and go beyond ourselves. Perhaps this is where a real refounding begins and here we find very concrete, precise criteria. We cannot expect everyone to have the same ability to react. However, some of them have much to offer. With them we can find the yeast that will leaven the dough. In these processes we must reckon with a reality that is as human as diversity. In them we can shed light on the divisions that already exist in a province. They do not need to be increased.

Centre

Be centred on the Lord. A revitalised religious life is seeking a spirit and structure that corresponds to a form of life centred in the Lord and a reinforced and intensified theological dynamism. This disposition will be evident in the distribution of time, space, energy and in the quality of the options and decisions. Only from here will come the radicality that is required and only in this way will the Lord’s presence be meaningful. Contemplation is the great force behind every refounding process and requires many hours in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, of humble prayer to Mary and of silent prayer and at the same time, of fasting and the various forms of asceticism. The result of this contemplation is a more dynamic understanding: proclaiming the love of God is essential to the consecrated life and part of its mission, and hence charity is central to it. This means that the signs of communion are more urgent than our services. Only a fraternal society can be a just society, a society without poor or marginalised people.

We can conclude this part saying that every process of revitalisation is a process of discernment. It asks of us to pay attention at all times to the movements we sense in ourselves and see if they come from the Spirit. It is the Spirit who will remind us that when it is a question of refounding it must be done at the right time and done well: that the new paradigm of the beginning period does not necessarily constitute an intuition; that there is no obligation to see the end of a process of refounding but what cannot be lacking is the sense of urgency to begin it; that the obstacles will be great; that it is not right to be greatly distracted by little problems; that the profound revitalisation of a group must involve the young; that in some cases it is imperative to begin and set out, , as the popular song says: "Awake, o singers, the echoes are dying, the voices are starting"; everything that is done to refound the institute should be inspired by the logic of love.