To Religious Men and Women (13 June 1984)
ShareOn Wednesday, 13 June 1984, the Holy Father addressed the Religious in Fribourg, Speaking of a decline in religious vocations, he said, “ Yes, the contemporary world, and especially the young, should discover, through your communities and their lifestyle, the value of a poor life in the service of the poor, the value of a life freely committed to celibacy to consecrate oneself to Christ and with Him to love especially the unloved, the value of a life where obedience and fraternal community discreetly contest the excesses of an often capricious and sterile independence.”
Praise be to Jesus Christ!
1. His promise to be present in the midst of two or three disciples meeting in his name (cf. Matt . 18:20) fills us with a spiritual happiness that is difficult to express. You have come in great numbers. I thank you warmly in the name of the Lord.
Together, we have raised praise and intercession to the Father, through his Son, our only Mediator and Redeemer, with the breath of the Holy Spirit. And now, I am keen to comment on the exhortation of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, heard just now: “I urge you to lead a life worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility, gentleness and patience, forbearing one another in love, striving to maintain the unity of the Spirit in this bond of peace” ( Eph . 4:1-2).
2. Your congregations and communities are concerned - I know - by the scarcity of candidates for religious life. This objective observation, partly explainable by socio-cultural reasons but also by religious reasons, is not inevitable, and above all must never lead you to discouragement. A renewal is possible, and, with the help of the Lord, you are capable of paying the price. Precisely, the encouragement of Saint Paul to the Ephesians is for all of you a pressing invitation to let yourselves be convinced that a new vitality of your institutes implies, among other things and necessarily, a renewal of community life . The past has known numerous communities, with the advantages, and perhaps certain burdens, inherent in this style of life. Today, these same communities have diminished both by the aging and disappearance of their members, by the scarcity of the next generation, at the same time as by the numerous creations of more restricted fraternities, wishing to adopt new forms of presence in the world of men (Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Allocutio ad religiosas sodales in urbe «São Paulo» habita , die 3 iul. 1980, Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II , III/2 [1980] 72). At present, it seems that a happy medium should be found or rediscovered.
To shine, a religious community must be visible and alive, composed of a sufficient number of people, and complementary in their gifts and in their functions; it is also important that it be marked by a great spirit of sharing, both humble and authentic in the search for the Lord, in apostolic joys and sufferings, and reasonably open to opportune initiatives.
Contemporary youth is not, as is too easily said, closed to the evangelical call. It can, of course, turn more spontaneously towards new institutes; however, it is also attracted by old congregations which show it a living face and remain attached to radical and judiciously presented demands. This has been proven for a long time: one only has to consult the history of the Church. Adaptations are sometimes necessary, but those which would be inspired by relaxation, or which would lead to it, cannot in any way seduce young people, who carry deep within themselves capacities for radical giving even if, at times, these capacities seem hesitant or blocked.
This renewal can be greatly encouraged by an active, trusting, intensified collaboration between your religious families, especially when they have the same spirit, similar customs and aims. Federations, associations and even unions, already envisaged by Popes Pius XI and Pius XII, encouraged by the Council and by Pope Paul VI, according to the indications given by the decree “ Perfectae Caritatis ” ( Perfectae Caritatis , 22) and the Motu proprio “ Ecclesiae Sanctae ” (Pauli VI, Ecclesiae Sanctae , 39. 40. 41), always with respect for the freedom of individuals, can be beneficial to the life of the Church and to the Institutes themselves.
In any case, community life cannot last and progress without self-denial , without humility. This is how it bears its fruits, such as the purification of sensitivity, the growing maturity of people, the authentic blossoming of human and spiritual qualities. In a divided world where particular interests, individual and collective selfishness, contempt for the person and his rights often triumph, the witness of true religious communities gathered by the Holy Spirit and living a real fraternity makes the Gospel credible and constitutes for the world a powerful sign of hope.
3. I would like to emphasize once again how the renewal of religious community life finds its source and its dynamism in the Eucharist , “sacrament of love, sign of unity, bond of charity” (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium , 47). The Eucharist will be the sure way to communion, that is, to union and unity with God in Christ, the sure way to the communion of all, one with another, in fraternal love. Is it not the Eucharist that will make the community “one Body and one Spirit”? ( Eph . 4:4) The Eucharist allows each member and the entire community to gradually fulfill its Passover, its passage from an existence more or less imbued with selfishness or weakness to a life more given to God and to others. Dear men and women religious, always give priority to the daily celebration of the Eucharist, both in the time set aside for the celebration and in the dignity, recollection and lively participation which must characterize every Eucharistic celebration and edify those who occasionally take part in it. A religious community bears witness to its authenticity and fervor, first of all, by the way in which it celebrates, venerates and receives the Body and Blood of the Lord.
This reality which is at the heart of your life cannot minimize or even replace other moments and other forms of contact with God, which are exercises of spiritual breathing absolutely indispensable to the life of every religious man and woman. We all know that respiratory insufficiencies are harmful to physical health, and sometimes disastrous. Help one another to safeguard or restore to good place the Office of the Hours, personal prayer, the reading of the Scriptures and the Fathers, Eucharistic adoration, Marian piety in conformity with the teachings of the Magisterium, the monthly retreat, the regular and fervent practice of the sacrament of Reconciliation, which generates a resumption of the path of conversion. May these ways of approaching the Lord be ordered with balance in each religious family.
For those of you who are engaged, under the guidance of the bishops, in various apostolic activities, the Eucharist, but also other spiritual exercises, are the source of a joyful fidelity to the Lord and of a devotion according to his spirit which inspire and enliven pastoral work, whether parish, health, social, or school.
And you, dear men and women religious devoted to the contemplative life, draw from the Eucharist and the other forms of community or individual prayer used in your monasteries the secret of your silent radiance among retreatants or passing visitors. May the secret of your own happiness be to have left everything for the Lord and to accomplish your spiritual mission, in the name of the Church, for a humanity that allows itself to be taken up by constraining tasks, by absorbing worries, and also by the glimmering of earthly goods.
For you, Brothers and Sisters, who have been forced by age or illness to give up your generous apostolic activities, whether in your country or in mission lands, and who feel - at least on certain days - some sense of uselessness, the Eucharist and all your times of prayer lead you to deepen and live the mysterious fruitfulness of the oblation of Christ, he who knew the immobility of the cross.
Yes, may the Eucharist model your persons, consecrated fundamentally by baptism and later by religious vows, on the mystery of Christ Jesus radically available to God his Father and totally given to all his brothers, especially the poorest!
4. Dear religious men and women of all Switzerland, keep courage and confidence, by regaining awareness of the greatness and importance of your religious vocation, for yourselves, for the Church today, and even for contemporary society!
In the apostolic exhortation “Redemptionis Donum” that I was keen to publish at the end of the recent Holy Year, I wanted to reread and meditate with men and women religious throughout the world on the very words of Jesus concerning vocation, such as these, which are at the very least moving: “Looking at him, Jesus took a liking to him” ( Mark 10:21) and said to him: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” ( Matthew 19:21). Jesus’ gaze and call always rest “on a specific person”. It is “ a love of election ”, which has “a nuptial character”. The love of Christ “embraces the whole person, soul and body, whether man or woman, in his personal and absolutely unique ‘I’” (Cf. Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Redemptionis Donum , 3).
In responding personally and freely to Jesus of Nazareth, the Redeemer of the world, you have agreed to abandon a life program centered on “having” in order to embark on the narrow and magnificent paths of “being.” I ardently hope and ask the Lord that each and every one of you will discover the splendor and relevance of your religious profession. In its humble daily realization, it can and must be prophetic, in the sense that it can and must show the men and women of this time what truly builds the human person, through the search for, the development of convictions and ways of being that transcend the variations of time and morals. Your vocation, like the Christian vocation but at a much more resolute level, is eschatological. It should contribute to freeing the world from its engulfment in consumer goods and in a certain number of counter-values (Cf. Ioannis Pauli PP. II, Redemptionis Donum , 4-5). Yes, the contemporary world, and especially the young, should discover, through your communities and their lifestyle, the value of a poor life in the service of the poor, the value of a life freely committed to celibacy to consecrate oneself to Christ and with Him to love especially the unloved, the value of a life where obedience and fraternal community discreetly contest the excesses of an often capricious and sterile independence. “May this testimony become everywhere present and universally decipherable! May the man of our time, spiritually weary, find in it support and hope! . . . "May the world of our time . . . receive the Good News, not from sad and discouraged evangelists . . ., but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives radiate fervor, who were the first to receive within themselves the joy of Christ " ( Ibid . 16; Pauli VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi , 80).
Having come among you as the servant of unity and truth, I pray to God, who is “Light”, “Love”, and “Life”, to inspire a new evangelical spirit in your communities and fraternities. And I entrust to the Virgin Mary, model of consecrated life, the fervour and perseverance of each one of you. My prayers always accompany you. Please also be kind enough to accompany my apostolic service with your spiritual support.
In the name of the Lord, I wholeheartedly bless your persons, your institutes, your monasteries and your service of the Gospel.
© Copyright 1984 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
