Vatican City, 11 April 2015 (VIS) –
“To live in Christ according to the form of life of the Gospel”
is the title of an international conference for formators of
consecrated persons, held in Rome from 7 to 11 April. This morning
around 1,400 participants were received in audience by the Pope, who
exclaimed, “Seeing so many of you, you would not believe that there
is a crisis of vocations!”, and went on to highlight the beauty and
importance of consecrated life for the world and for the Church.
However, he noted that the decreasing
number of new vocations is an undeniable fact, and “this make the
task of formation even more urgent”. He expressed his conviction
that “there is not a vocational crisis where there are consecrated
persons able to transmit, by their own witness, the beauty of
consecration. And it is a fruitful witness. If there is not witness,
there is no coherence, and if there is no coherence, there will be no
vocations”. He added, they are “not only teachers, but above all
witnesses of following Christ in their own charism”, as the mission
and task of formators is to “truly mould the heart of Jesus in the
heart of the young, so that they have the same sentiments”.
“In these days of the Resurrection,
the word that frequently resounded to me in prayers was 'Galilee',
where it all began, as Peter tells us in his first discourse. Events
occurred in Jerusalem, but they began in Galilee. Our life, too,
began in a 'Galilee': each one of us has had the experience … of
encountering the Lord, that encounter that cannot be forgotten, but
that many times ends up obscured by things, by work, by worries, and
also by sins and worldliness. To offer witness it is often necessary
to make a pilgrimage to one's own Galilee, to revive the memory of
that encounter, that wonder, and to start again from there. But if
you do not follow the road of memory there is the risk of remaining
stuck where you are, and also the danger of not knowing why you are
there”.
“Consecrated life is beautiful: it is
one of the most valuable treasures of the Church, rooted in the
baptismal vocation. Therefore, it is beautiful to be its formators,
as it is a privilege to participate in the work of the Father, which
forms the heart of the Son in those to whom the Spirit calls. At
times, this service may be felt as a weight, as if it draws us away
from something more important”, the Pontiff observed. “But this
is a deception, a temptation. The mission is important, but it is
equally important to educate in the mission, in the passion of
proclamation, of going everywhere, to every periphery, to say to all
that the love of Jesus Christ, especially for those who are most
distant, to tell this to the small and the poor, and also to allow
oneself to be evangelised by them. All this requires a solid
foundation, a Christian structure of personality that families
themselves are rarely able to give. And this increases your
responsibility”.
“It is not true that today's young
people are mediocre or not generous; but they need to experience that
'It is more blessed to give than to receive', that there is great
freedom in a life of obedience, great fruitfulness in a virgin heart,
great wealth in possessing nothing. From this there arises the need
to be lovingly attentive to the path of each person and evangelically
demanding in every phase of the formative journey, beginning with
vocational discernment, so that the eventual crisis in terms of
quantity does not lead to a far more serious crisis of quality. And
this is the danger. Vocational discernment is important: all those
who understand the human personality – be they psychologists,
spiritual fathers, spiritual mothers – tell us that young people
who at a subconscious level feel they … have some problem of
balance or deviation subconsciously seek out strong structures to
protect them, and to protect them against themselves. And here lies
discernment: knowing how to say no. Without driving them away –
this, no. “I will accompany you, go, go … and just as you
accompany them as they enter, accompany them to the exit, so that
they may find their path in life, with the necessary help”.
He continued, “Initial formation,
this discernment, is only the first step in a process destined to
last a lifetime, and the young people must develop with the humble
and intelligent freedom of allowing himself to be educated by God the
Father every day of his life, at every age, in the mission as in
fraternity, in action as in contemplation”.
“In this mission, neither time nor
energy must be spared. And we must not be discouraged when results do
not fulfil our expectations. It is painful, when a boy or a girl says
after three or four years: 'I cannot continue; I have found another
love that is not against God, but I cannot continue, I am leaving'.
This is hard. But it is also your martyrdom. Even missteps, these
missteps from the formator's point of view, can contribute to your
journey of continual formation. And if at times you may have the
feeling that your work is not sufficiently appreciated, know that
Jesus is following you with love, and the entire Church is grateful
to you”.
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