Reflection on Con Gen 2011

Reflection on the Final Message of the General Congregation
“How to respond to those who ask” (Niagara Falls, 2011)

3. [...] IN THE MIDST OF THE PEOPLE.

• The material is for guidance only and can be adapted by each community.

1. Distribution of this leaflet.

2. Personal reading of the final message of the General Congregation 2011

3. Personal reading, before the community meeting, of the talk given by Michael Plattig: Practical examples of the meaning of Carmelite spirituality for the Church (Niagara 2011). This can be downloaded from the web site of the Order. The questions and issues raised in this reflection may serve to guide the dialogue of the community meeting.

COMMUNITY MEETING

4. Opening prayer. 1 Kings 17,1-16 (Vg.). "The Lord lives in whose presence I stand."

"The Order has always regarded contemplation as the heart of our calling or vocation." [1] In fact, "we are faithful to our charism if we confront different situations and cultures with a prophetic sense and an attitude of faith, to discover the God who lives and speaks in history. Each option for the service of our neighbour should proceed from and refer to this contemplative attitude." [2] For the contemplative, who experiences the total being of God, our service among the people is not a circumstantial addition to our charism, but is a logical consequence of contemplation. According to our history and spiritual tradition, any ministry emerges from the personal relationship with God (cf. 1 Kings 17, 1; Institutio I, 2). We cannot leave our prophetic mission or apostolic work to chance, spontaneity and dispersal. Our RIVC in fact insists that training for service, which is also an essential element of our charism is to be undertaken with the same dedication as for contemplation, prayer and fraternity (cf. RIVC 45).

What do lay people expect of us? Professor M.ª Dolores López Guzmán in her reflection "The hope of the religious life from the perspective of a lay woman” presented at the General Congregation (Niagara Falls 2011), noted some challenges that a lay person would see for religious “What do I seek from a religious ...? After the reflection so far, this question is easier to ask. This is so because it should only come from heart knowledge. For this reason most of my observations can only be understood correctly in the light of the previous reflection.[3] I will point out in brief the aspects which seem to me to be good to think about in order to increase the hope for a better future for all of us:

a)      That you be what you are called to be, that your calling excites you and that you believe in it. It is a shock and not all encouraging to meet with religious who are constantly downcast and moody.

b)      That you believe profoundly in God. It is not so easy to find "men and women of faith" and the world needs them.

c)      That you like to talk about the "things of God". Be people of spiritual conversation. St. Teresa wrote, "To speak of God or hear about Him almost never tired me" (Life 8, 12). People need different words than those which the world offers us. The Lord offers a different language that opens us to a new understanding of reality. It is essential to help people to grow in friendship with God, but this needs people who are experienced in the spiritual life and in spiritual discernment. 

d)     That you become aware that you are a sort of touchstone that generates peace in people. In the film "Of Gods and Men" [Xavier Beavois 2010], about the martyrs of Tibhirine, it is moving to hear the locals say that for them “the monks were the branches of the tree where they could rest." This creates accountability because in part it obligates you to be examples. Jesus said it clearly: I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you (Jn 13.15).

e)      That you be open to the signs of the times. This is essential, so that you do not get bogged down by money or particular people, or specific apostolates ... and thus maintain that universal outlook that characterises you.

f)       That you live simply because, among the three vows, poverty is the one with the greater visibility and is the first that people detect if it is not a stable part of your lives. A poor lifestyle leads to gratitude, because to the one who has nothing, everything seems a lot.

g)      That the style you cultivate in your shared mission is a style that contributes to an increase of mutual trust between lay people and religious; that you know how to appreciate professionalism (and not require from lay people that they be volunteers working 24 hours a day), and that you do not forget to value the lay vocation."

5. Reading of Final Message, No. 7-8.

6. Community discussion

• In our preaching do we respect and assume that people are mature? Do we just tell them what they are to do and not to do?

• Does work for Justice and Peace truly spring from the contemplative dimension of our charism? Are we politicians or prophets and people of God?

• What are our Eucharistic celebrations like? Are they just a precept, a place to instruct people? Is the Eucharist a service we offer to God, or is it a service that God offers people?

• In our spiritual accompaniment, do we lead people to moral perfectionism or spiritual freedom?

7. Our Father.

8. Marian Antiphon.

[1] CHALMERS, J., The God of Our Contemplation, (Rome 2003) nº 7.

[2] THUIS, F.J., In wonder at the Mystery of God (Rome 1983) 40.

[3] Whoever wishes can download the talk from the Order’s website: “The Hope of the Religious Life, From a Lay Woman’s Perspective”, given by Professor M.ª Dolores López Guzmán at the General CongRegation (Niagara Falls 2011).