3.      Laity in the context of institutes of consecrated life

Now we come to a third type of lay persons, those directly connected to our Institutes. They are

those who ask to share our spirituality and mission, animated by the charism of the Founder. It is truly a new chapter in the experience of consecrated life in these years. The General Chapter of the OMI’s in 1992, for example, stated that, expressing what is happening all around to some extent: “A new reality is being born: families, couples, single persons, young people desire to commit themselves more closely with us, showing a special attachment to our charism… This phenomenon, relatively new, is a sign of the times. We are not owners of our charism: it belongs to the Church. We are therefore happy that some lay persons, called by God, want to share it.” (TCA 40)

            The Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata affirms in a very positive way that “Today, often as a result of new situations, many Institutes have come to the conclusion that their charism can be shared with the laity. …a new chapter, rich in hope, has begun in the history of relations between consecrated persons and the laity.” (54) It recognizes in this phenomenon “one of the fruits of the teaching on the Church as communion, presenting again the relationship of communion and collaboration with laity as a type of effective response to the challenges of our time. “A significant expression of lay people’s sharing in the richness of the consecrated life”, we read in n. 56, “is their participation in various Institutes under the new form of so-called associate members or, in response to conditions present in certain cultures, as people who share fully for a certain period of time the Institute’s community life and its particular dedication to contemplation or the apostolate. This should always be done in such a way that the identity of the Institute in its internal life is not harmed.” (VC 56)

            In this experience of communion we do not see only an occasion for a better implementation of the apostolic and pastoral work, but an authentic and positive reciprocal fertilization. The laity, sharing the fundamental values of the charism, “will experience at first hand the spirit of the evangelical counsels, and will thus be encouraged to live and bear witness to the spirit of the Beatitudes, in order to transform the world according to God’s design.” (55) The consecrated religious, on their part, will be led to deepen, thanks to the contribution of the laity, some aspects of their charism.

            Starting Afresh from Christ recalls that “Whereas at times in the recent past, collaboration came about as a means of supplementing the decline of consecrated persons necessary to carry out activities, now it is growing out of the need to share responsibility not only in carrying out of the Institute’s works but especially in the hope of sharing specific aspects and moments of the spirituality and mission of the Institute…Whereas in times past it was especially the task of religious men and women to create, spiritually nourish and direct aggregate forms of laity, today, thanks to an ever increasing formation of the laity, there can be a mutual assistance which fosters an understanding of the specificity and beauty of each state of life.  Communion and mutuality in the Church are never one-way streets.” (31)