Part Four
WITNESSES TO LOVE
Knowing and Serving Christ
33. A life transformed by the evangelical counsels becomes
a prophetic and silent witness and at the same time an eloquent protest against
an inhuman world. It calls for the promotion of the individual and for a new creativity of charity. We have seen it
in the holy founders. It is manifested not only in the effectiveness of their
service but especially in their ability to identify with those who suffer in
such a way that the helping hand is experienced as heartfelt sharing. This kind
of evangelization, realized through works characterized by love and dedication,
ensures an unmistakable efficacy to the charity of words.105
In its own right, the life of
communion is the first message of consecrated life, since it is an efficacious sign and persuasive force which leads to belief in Christ. Thus, communion itself is
mission, indeed “communion begets
communion and is essentially a missionary
communion”.106 Communities once again find themselves
wanting to follow Christ on the paths of human history,107 with
an apostolic fervour and a witness of life which conforms to their individual
charism.108 “Those who have come into genuine contact with
Christ cannot keep him for themselves, they must proclaim him. A new apostolic
outreach, which will be lived as the
everyday commitment of Christian communities and groups is needed”.109
34. When one starts afresh from Christ the spirituality
of communion becomes a strong and solid spirituality of disciples and apostles
of his Kingdom. For consecrated persons this means
committing themselves in service to their brothers and sisters in whom they
recognize the face of Christ. In the exercise of this apostolic mission being and doing are inseparable because the mystery of Christ constitutes the
absolute base for all pastoral action.110 “The contribution
of consecrated persons, both men and women, to evangelization is, first of all,
the witness of a life given totally to God and to their brothers and sisters,
imitating the Saviour who, out of love for humanity, made himself a servant”.111
Consecrated persons do not limit themselves to giving only part of their
time but rather give their whole life to participating in the mission of the
Church.
In Novo Millennio Ineunte, it seems
that the Pope wants to make even greater strides in concrete love for the poor.
“The century and the new millennium now beginning will need to see, and
hopefully with still greater clarity, to what length of dedication the
Christian community can go in charity towards the poorest. If we have truly
started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him
especially in the faces of those with whom he himself wished to be identified: 'I
was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and
you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me' (Mt 25:35-36). This Gospel text is not a simple invitation to
charity, it is a page of Christology which sheds a ray of light on the mystery
of Christ. By these words, no less than by the orthodoxy of her doctrine, the
Church measures her fidelity as the Bride of Christ”.112 The
Pope also offers a concrete direction of spirituality with the invitation to
recognize in the person of the poor a special
presence of Christ which imposes upon
the Church a preferential option for them. It is through such an option
that consecrated persons also113 must witness to “the nature
of God's love, to his providence and mercy”.114
35. The field in which John Paul invites us to work encompasses
the whole world. Facing this scenario, consecrated persons “must make their act
of faith in Christ by discerning his voice in the cry for help that rises from
this world of poverty”.115 Finding the proper balance
between the universal breath of a missionary vocation and its insertion into
the context of a local church will be the primary challenge for all apostolic
activity.
Despair at the lack of meaning in
life, drug addiction, fear of abandonment in old age or sickness, marginalization
or social discrimination are new forms of poverty which have been added to its
traditional forms.116 Mission, in its traditional and new
forms, is first of all a service to the dignity of the person in a dehumanized
society because the greatest and most serious poverty of our time is the
callous treading upon the rights of the human person. With the dynamism of
charity, of forgiveness and of reconciliation, consecrated persons strive in
justice to build a world which offers new and better possibilities for the life
and development of the individual. Having the spirit of one who is poor,
cleansed of self-interest, ready to exercise a service of peace and
non-violence in a spirit of solidarity and full of compassion for the suffering
of others is essential for this intervention to be effective. The way of
proclaiming God's word and carrying out God's deeds, begun by Jesus (cf. Lk 4:15-21) and lived by the primitive
Church cannot be forgotten at the end of the Jubilee or the passing of a
millennium, but presses to be realized with greater urgency in charity towards
a different future. One must be ready to pay the price of persecution because
in our day the most frequent cause of martyrdom is the struggle for justice in
faithfulness to the Gospel. John Paul affirms this witness: “even recently this
has led to the martyrdom of some of your brothers and sisters in various parts
of the world”.117
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