We are at the beginning of a new social year and everything seems to set on motion: energies are daily oriented towards the realisation of projects planned in due time. Sometimes it is difficult to start a new year, mainly when, the lack of a deep motivation nails us to unpleasant experiences, which lead us back to the boredom of doing always the same things; to the fatigue of having more mountains to climb to the end of answering the expectations of others, or to a state of sadness that does not allow us to see anything new in the horizon. In our daily managing of getting along, it seems that existence depends exclusively on us and that God is there just as if he did not really exist; with our wandering about we, too, consecrated persons, behave like acclaimed atheists.

Yet, if we read again our past history and look around us, we discover that there are many elements confirming us in the faith of having already experienced the presence of God. The consecration of men and women has its sense if it takes shape in the daily life of truly human persons who, like Abram, leave behind everything and follow a God that, along the journey, may ask even the sacrifice of  one’s unique son;  or, like Jacob, fight against and surrender themselves to a God who breaks the bones; men who, like David, go on sinning and then confess their faults before God unscrupulously; or, like Elijah, go and sit  in the shadow of a juniper with the desire of dying and then recognise the presence of God in the whispering of a light breeze; men who, like Jonah, flee away from the Projects of God, take shelter under the castor oil plant, finishing by surrendering to Him; or, like Matthew, leave behind their economic securities to follow the invitation of Jesus radically; human beings who, like Peter, give in to passions, deny Jesus and then cry before the faithfulness of His friendship, following Him up to martyrdom; or, like Martha, get upset and scold Jesus and the, like Mary, live the depth of their relation; like Mary, the Mother Of Jesus, pronounce their ”yes”, in the certainty that nothing is impossible with God.  

There are persons who live in faith.

The fight of life is experienced by everybody. It is one with the individual, mainly when a man reserves his own time and, anchored to the coming and going of a swing, lives the euphoric or depressive instant, while God with His loving relation keeps on trusting him and handing over to him the course of his existence.

In a time when every man believes to be the centre of our global village, God goes on seeking somebody ready to love till the end, like His Son. He trusts man and keeps on revealing to him the love poured into his heart by the Spirit, to make Him visible in history.

While we use our energies to leave behind an indelible vestige of our passing along, God seeks persons of faith who live, also in the fragility of their daily life, their everlasting “yes” to Him; a yes, which is not just dependence, but free surrender of self for the sake of love, so that others may see and experience the faithful love of God for humanity.

God asks the consecrated persons to be at the side of all living beings, from whatever language, people, nation, religion, so that their life of faith, lived in love, may reveal the presence of God in history.

The presence of persons with as much faith as a little mustard seed is urgent, if we want, like the Samaritan, to render visible the proximity of God to humanity.

We need to let ourselves be moulded by the Word of God, despite the fragility we experience like all other human beings, in order to become bearers of hope among those who attempt to cut off the roots of human life from God.    

We feel the need of men and women who, by entering freely the circuit of the Trinitarian love, remain solid on the rock without allowing the current fashions to affect them: by being in relation with all men and women, they become companions of journey, mainly of those who wander without any goal.

We urgently need men and women who are not afraid of witnessing their faith in God, who are mature enough to interact with today’s thought, without opposing it  or considering it as a threat, but looking for unifying elements in the direction of what is beautiful, good and true” (Pastoral Note after the 4^th Ecclesial Congress in Verona, 13).

By recognising a common ground where humanity is born, grows, develops and rises again, we do not consider different men and women as a threat, but welcome them as persons who remain what they are even when they expose their own different vision of human knowledge. He who has a clear vision of his own identity, does not defend himself, but assumes a respectful attitude of listening to the other without being aggressive against him.

We urgently need consecrated men and women who, together with all the Christians, do not live their faith in an intimist way, but as credible witnesses of total adhesion to Christ and His message. We need consecrated persons ready to offer their life faithfully till death and death on a cross, like Jesus. All consecrated persons are called to witness of their belonging to Christ, to reflect the eternal love of God for humanity and his presence in their daily existence.

The evangelical freshness that opens us to hope can pass only through the “encounter with the Risen Lord and our faith in Him” (Pastoral note after the 4^th Ecclesial Congress in Verona, 5).  Each of us can learn to be like Christ in the daily events by living the depth of our relation with Him.  While the world tries to undermine the roots of God’s existence, we, Consecrated beings, can no longer delay in disputes, which lead us outside history: people do not understand us, above all when we defend in our life something that is not Christ alone and His Gospel.

Perhaps today we need a return to what is essential, more than a multiplication of events; we need to live our faith at least as much as a mustard seed, in order to confirm the presence of God through the liturgy and to reflect the face  of the Son in charity. God alone knows how much the world needs consecrated beings as custodians of the “agape”, the gift of the Spirit lived in faith, in a world where individualism is knocking down the Mystery and the bridges of solidarity.

Diana Papa
Monastero «S. Nicolò» c/o Oasi Francescana
73017 S. Simone (Lecce)