From 28 to 29 October this year, at the Augustinian Patristic Institute, there is an Italian Conference of Secular Institutes taking place under the patronage of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The theme of this gathering is: Beyond and in the middle. Secular Institutes: histories of passion and prophecy for God and for the world, and it is taking place on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesiae.
Dear brothers and sisters!
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesiae, the Italian Conference of Secular Institutes, with the patronage of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, has brought you together around the theme: Beyond and in the middle. Secular Institutes: histories of passion and prophecy for God and for the world. I cordially greet all of you and wish you all a fruitful encounter.
That document written by Pope Pius XII was in a certain sense revolutionary: in fact, he outlined a new form of consecration: of the lay faithful and of diocesan priests called to live the evangelical counsels in the secularity in which they are immersed by reason of their conditions of existence or their pastoral ministry. The novelty and the richness of Secular Institutes is therefore to combine consecration and secularity, practicing an apostleship of witness, evangelization - especially for priests - and Christian commitment in the midst of social life - especially for lay people, who experience fraternity even though they have not been constituted within a community, therefore they discover the gift of true communion.
In the path outlined by Provida Mater, you are called today to be humble and passionate bearers - in Christ and in his Spirit - of the sense of people and their history. Your passion is born from the ever-new wonder in the presence of the Lord Jesus, for his unique way of living and of loving, of encountering people, of looking at life, of comforting others. For this reason, your being within the world is not only a sociological condition but a theological reality which allows you to be attentive, to see, to listen, to suffer-with others, to rejoice-with others, to understand other people's needs.
This means being prophetic presences in a very concrete way. It means bringing to the world, to situations where you find yourselves, the word that we have heard from God. And this is precisely what lay people do best: knowing how to speak tis word that God wants to share with the world. Where to say doesn't always mean speaking, but rather acting. We speak what God wants to say to the world, acting in the world. This is very important. Especially in a time like ours in which, when we are faced with difficulties, we may be tempted to isolate ourselves in our own comfortable and safe intentions and retreat from the world. You too could fall into this temptation. But your place is to be within, like a transformed presence in the evangelical sense. Certainly, this is difficult, it is a path that leads to the cross, but the Lord wants to walk this path with you.
Your vocation and your mission is to be attentive, on one hand, to the reality that surrounds you, always asking: what is it?, not stopping at what appears on the surface but going deeper; and, at the same time, to the mystery of God, in order to recognize where He is being made known. Attentive to the world with your hearts immersed in God.
Finally, I want to suggest a few spiritual attitudes that can help you on your journey; they can be outlined in five words: pray, discern, share, encourage and sympathize.
Pray for the gift of God's unity, close to his heart. Listen to his voice in the midst of every one of life's happenings, living in the luminous existence that takes the gospel in hand and takes it seriously.
Discerning is knowing how to distinguish between essential things and ancillary ones; it's a matter of refining wisdom, something that is cultivated one day after another, allowing you to distinguish the responsibilities that must be fulfilled and the order in which they should be accomplished. It is a personal but also a communal journey, so it is not enough to expend personal energy over it.
Sharing the fates of every man and woman: even though the world's events may be tragic or obscure, means that we do not abandon them to the world, but that we love them, like Jesus did, to the very end.
Encourage: with the grace of Christ, never lose trust, which truly sees the good in everything. This is also an invitation that we receive in every Eucharistic celebration: Lift up your hearts.
Be sympathetic to the world and toward other people. Even when they do everything to undermine other people's efforts, be driven by sympathy which comes from the Spirit of Christ, who makes us free and passionate, who makes us motivated from within, like salt and yeast.
Dear brothers and sisters, may you be in the world like the soul of the body (cf Letter to Diogneto, VI, 1), witnesses to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This is my wish for you, accompanied by my prayers and my blessing for you.
From the Vatican
23 October 2017
Francis
Message of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
addressed to participants at the Conference
Dear brothers and sisters!
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution Provida Mater Ecclesiae, the Italian Conference of Secular Institutes, with the patronage of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, has brought you together around the theme: Beyond and in the middle. Secular Institutes: histories of passion and prophecy for God and for the world. I cordially greet all of you and wish you all a fruitful encounter.
That document written by Pope Pius XII was in a certain sense revolutionary: in fact, he outlined a new form of consecration: of the lay faithful and of diocesan priests called to live the evangelical counsels in the secularity in which they are immersed by reason of their conditions of existence or their pastoral ministry. The novelty and the richness of Secular Institutes is therefore to combine consecration and secularity, practicing an apostleship of witness, evangelization - especially for priests - and Christian commitment in the midst of social life - especially for lay people, who experience fraternity even though they have not been constituted within a community, therefore they discover the gift of true communion.
In the path outlined by Provida Mater, you are called today to be humble and passionate bearers - in Christ and in his Spirit - of the sense of people and their history. Your passion is born from the ever-new wonder in the presence of the Lord Jesus, for his unique way of living and of loving, of encountering people, of looking at life, of comforting others. For this reason, your being within the world is not only a sociological condition but a theological reality which allows you to be attentive, to see, to listen, to suffer-with others, to rejoice-with others, to understand other people's needs.
This means being prophetic presences in a very concrete way. It means bringing to the world, to situations where you find yourselves, the word that we have heard from God. And this is precisely what lay people do best: knowing how to speak tis word that God wants to share with the world. Where to say doesn't always mean speaking, but rather acting. We speak what God wants to say to the world, acting in the world. This is very important. Especially in a time like ours in which, when we are faced with difficulties, we may be tempted to isolate ourselves in our own comfortable and safe intentions and retreat from the world. You too could fall into this temptation. But your place is to be within, like a transformed presence in the evangelical sense. Certainly, this is difficult, it is a path that leads to the cross, but the Lord wants to walk this path with you.
Your vocation and your mission is to be attentive, on one hand, to the reality that surrounds you, always asking: what is it?, not stopping at what appears on the surface but going deeper; and, at the same time, to the mystery of God, in order to recognize where He is being made known. Attentive to the world with your hearts immersed in God.
Finally, I want to suggest a few spiritual attitudes that can help you on your journey; they can be outlined in five words: pray, discern, share, encourage and sympathize.
Pray for the gift of God's unity, close to his heart. Listen to his voice in the midst of every one of life's happenings, living in the luminous existence that takes the gospel in hand and takes it seriously.
Discerning is knowing how to distinguish between essential things and ancillary ones; it's a matter of refining wisdom, something that is cultivated one day after another, allowing you to distinguish the responsibilities that must be fulfilled and the order in which they should be accomplished. It is a personal but also a communal journey, so it is not enough to expend personal energy over it.
Sharing the fates of every man and woman: even though the world's events may be tragic or obscure, means that we do not abandon them to the world, but that we love them, like Jesus did, to the very end.
Encourage: with the grace of Christ, never lose trust, which truly sees the good in everything. This is also an invitation that we receive in every Eucharistic celebration: Lift up your hearts.
Be sympathetic to the world and toward other people. Even when they do everything to undermine other people's efforts, be driven by sympathy which comes from the Spirit of Christ, who makes us free and passionate, who makes us motivated from within, like salt and yeast.
Dear brothers and sisters, may you be in the world like the soul of the body (cf Letter to Diogneto, VI, 1), witnesses to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This is my wish for you, accompanied by my prayers and my blessing for you.
From the Vatican
23 October 2017
Francis
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