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The Face of Christ in Trials
27. Living spirituality in a continual starting afresh from Christ means
always starting from the greatest expression of his love—and the Eucharist
relives the mystery of this moment—when on the cross Jesus gives his very life
as the greatest gift of self. Those who have been called to live the
evangelical counsels through profession must frequently contemplate the face of
the Crucified One.84 He is the source from whom we learn
what love is and how God and humanity should be loved, the source of all
charisms, the summary of all vocations.85 Consecration, a
total sacrifice and perfect holocaust, is the way suggested to them by the
Spirit to relive the mystery of the Crucified Christ, who came into the world
to give his life as a ransom for many (cf.
Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45) and to
respond to his infinite love.
The history of consecrated life has
expressed this configuration to Christ in many ascetic forms which “have
constituted and continue to constitute an authentic path to holiness.
Asceticism... is truly indispensable if consecrated persons are to remain
faithful to their own vocation and follow Jesus on the way of the cross”.86
Today, consecrated persons, while maintaining the experience of the
centuries, are called to find forms which are consonant with our times. Forms
which assure a generosity of service and support the fatigue of apostolic work.
Today, the cross which they take up daily (cf. Lk 9:23), such as the age of the Institute, structural inadequacy,
and uncertainty regarding the future, can also take on collective value.
In the face of so many personal,
communal and social sufferings one can hear the cry of Christ on the cross,
“Why have you abandoned me?” (Mk 15:34),
reechoed in the hearts of individuals or of whole communities. In that cry,
addressed to the Father, Jesus makes us understand that his solidarity with
humanity was so radical that it penetrated, shared and assumed every negative
aspect even to death, the fruit of sin. “In order to bring men back to the
Father's face, Jesus not only had to take on the face of man, but he had
to burden himself with the 'face' of sin”.87
Starting afresh from Christ means recognizing that sin is still radically present in the heart and
life of all, and discovering in the suffering face of Christ that offering
which reconciled humanity with God.
Throughout the history of the
Church, consecrated women and men have contemplated the suffering face even outside themselves. They recognized it in the
sick, the imprisoned, the poor and the sinner. Their battle was primarily
against sin and its fatal consequences: Jesus' proclamation “ Convert and
believe the Good News” (Mk 1:15)
moved them to reach out to others and provided the hope of new life where
discouragement and death reigned. Their service has brought many men and women
to experience the merciful embrace of God the Father in the Sacrament of
Penance. Today too, there is a need to strongly repropose this ministry of reconciliation (cf. 2Cor 5:18 ) entrusted by Jesus Christ to
the Church. This is the mysterium
pietatis88 which consecrated men and women are called to
experience frequently in the Sacrament of Penance.
Today new faces are appearing in
which to recognize, love and serve the face of Christ where he has made himself
present; they are the new material moral
and spiritual poverties produced by contemporary society. The cry of Jesus
on the cross reveals how he took all this evil upon himself in order to redeem
it. The vocation of consecrated persons continues to be that of Jesus and like
him they take upon themselves the pain and the sin of the world, consuming them
in love.
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