Mission "is the Churches way of being,
and in her, that of consecrated life”, it is part of the "identity" of
religious, urging them to "bring the Gospel to all, without boundaries.
Mission, sustained by a strong experience of God, a robust formation and
life in community, is key to understanding and revitalizing consecrated
life".
Mission, together with "seeking God" and "fraternity" is part of
the "essentials" of consecrated life which Benedict XVI referred to as a
way to "revive" religious orders.
Speaking to the participants attending the biannual
general assembly of the Union of Superiors General (USG), he said "you
are by vocation seekers of God. You consecrate the best
energies of your vocation to this search. You pass from secondary
concerns to the essential, to that which is truly important; you seek
the definitive, you seek God, always keep you gaze turned towards Him”.
"Seek God in the brothers and sisters that he gave you, with whom you
share the same life and mission. You seek Him particularly in the men
and women of our time, to whom you are sent to offer with your life and
words, the gift of the Gospel. You seek him especially in the poor, the
first recipients of the Good News (cf. Lk 4:18). You seek him in the
Church where the Lord is present, especially in the Eucharist and other
Sacraments, and in His Word, which is the highway in our search for God,
it leads us into conversation with Him and reveals His true face.
Always be passionate seekers and witnesses of God”.
"The fundamental renewal of consecrated life - he continued – begins
with the centrality of the Word of God, and more specifically the
Gospel, the supreme rule for all of you, as the Second Vatican Council
Decree Perfectae caritatis (cf. n. 2) affirms and as your Founders well
understood: consecrated life is a plant rich in branches rooted in the
Gospel. This is demonstrated by the history of your institutions, in
which the firm will to live the message of Christ and to configure you r
life to it, was and remains the fundamental criterion of vocational
discernment and your personal and community discernment. The Gospel
lived daily is the element that gives appeal and beauty to consecrated
life and introduces you to the world as a viable alternative. Modern
society needs this from you, the Church expects this from you: to be
living the Gospel. "
Another "key aspect" of consecrated life stressed by the Pope is
fraternity: "Through it, in fact, passes the witness of your
consecration. Fraternal life is one of the things that most young people
seek when they approach your life, it is important a prophetic element
that you offer in a highly individualistic society. I know the efforts
you are making in this area, I also know the difficulties that community
life entails. We need a serious and constant discernment to hear what
the Spirit says to the community (see! P 2.7), to recognize what is from
the Lord and what is not (see Consecrated Life, 73).
Without
discernment, accompanied by prayer and reflection, the consecrated life
is in danger of giving in to the criteria of this world: individualism,
consumerism, materialism, criteria that lessen fraternity and cause
consecrated life to loose its appeal and drive. Be masters of
discernment, so that your brothers and your sisters take on this habitus
and your communities may be a powerful sign to the world today. You who
are in the service of authority, and that have the task of guiding and
planning the future of your religious institutions, remember that an
important part of spiritual animation and government is to seek common
ways to foster fellowship, mutual communication, warmth, and truth in
relation with one another. "
"One last item I want to highlight is mission. Mission "is the
Churches way of being, and in her, that of consecrated life, a part of
your identity, it urges you to bring the Gospel to all, without
boundaries. Mission, supported by a strong experience of God, a robust
formation and life in community, is key to understanding and
revitalizing consecrated life. Go therefore and in creative fidelity
take on the challenge of the new evangelization. Renew your presence in
the Areopagus of today to announce, as did St. Paul in Athens, the
"unknown" God (cf. Homily at the Collège des Bernardins).
Dear Superiors
General - concluded Benedict XVI - the current moment denotes for many
institutions a numerical reduction, especially in Europe. This
difficulty, however, should not make us forget that consecrated life has
its origin in the Lord: wanted by Him for the building and the sanctity
of his Church, and therefore the Church will never be without".
SIC: AN/INT'L