E) What images speak to the young?

One of the three questions given to the participants for the group work concerned what nourished their spiritual life. I have the impression that the English translation of this question somewhat changed it and transformed it into another question, which was, however, very interesting: What image speaks to you most? (or something like that). Now, the responses were very interesting. In my presentation, to show the biblical roots of the consecrated life, and to show also the role of the Holy Spirit right through from the beginnings of the religious life, I had used several biblical images, that is, biblical passages particularly pregnant with meaning, but the significance of which would not be revealed without an effort of meditation and reflection. And what was important for me was to create a global vision of various aspects of the spiritual life connecting all the images.

Now, in the workshops, hardly one of these biblical passages was referred to. The images mentioned as those that "spoke" to them were those of the Good Shepherd, of Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman, the parable of the Prodigal Son, etc. When all is said and done, very beautiful passages from the Gospel, but images which spontaneously arouse a good feeling. The danger then is to be satisfied with this good feeling, with this sentiment, important though it is, of feeling oneself loved by God. In the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, they stop at the fact that Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman, but seem to pay less attention to the message contained in Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman. Here we have a present-day tendency in teaching and preaching.

In the classic parable used by Jesus, the parable was constructed in such a way that it obliged one to reflect, and above all to make a choice. "Who was the neighbor of the man struck down by brigands?" - That is very different from the edifying, touching, interesting stories with which our homilies and testimonies are filled today, which create pleasant feelings - or unpleasant, depending on the choice of the speaker - in the assembly, but which often lead neither to a reflection nor to a personal choice. In this sense, the young are in some way the fruit of our homilies.