INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF THE COMPANY OF SAINT URSULA
SECULAR INSTITUTE OF SAINT ANGELA MERICI
ROME 22-26 JULY 2009
CONSECRATED SECULARITY
23 July2009
Mons. Adriano Tessarollo, The Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Council of the Federation
Talk 1
“… It is not eating and drinking that make the Kingdom of God but the saving justice, the peace and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit. It is the person who serves Christ in these things that will be approved by God and respected by everyone. (Rm 14, 17 – 18).
The value of consecrated lives
When addressing the participants at the International Conference for Secular Institutes in 1970, Pope Paul VI said, among other things:
”In this way, the path leading to your holiness is clearly outlined: the offering, for which the consent was freely given as part of the plan of salvation, as revealed by the word of God, the acceptance of what life has in store for us,
- accepting the will of God as a gift, in all the events that take place in world.
At the same time we can clearly make out the characteristics which define your mission as secular lay people:
- such as testimonies of human virtues, like “justice, peace and joy” (Rm 14, 17)
- “the moral lives you lead”, (1 Pt.2,12) as quoted by Peter in his first letter, echo the words of Our Master found in the gospel of Saint Matthew: “In the same way, your light must shine in people’s sight, so that seeing your good works, they may give praise to Your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5, 16).
It is also your duty and mission, as secular lay persons, to strive hard in order to build a society where every individual is treated with dignity and respect; where there are sound moral values to achieve it; in politics, economics, education, health or scientific research.
Our experiences in life, our work and personal interests, while forming part of our daily routine have a different meaning because our ultimate aim is to unite ourselves with the will of the Son of God, who entered this world for our salvation”. And he urged us on saying:
”Therefore involve yourself in every painful situation, in every act of injustice, in the constant struggle for truth, beauty and goodness, not because you have a solution for all the problems, but because in all that concerns the well being of mankind, you can be a living testimony of God’s plan of Salvation. This is what you were called for. Your consecration is a testimony of the graces given by the Holy Spirit, to help you live your vocation to the full; on the other hand, you willingly and submissively commit yourself to God’s plan, revealed through His Son Jesus Christ, whom you were called to follow”.
Secular consecration reflects the two aspects of Christian life. Firstly, the relationship with God, that is, belonging completely to Him, by means of the consecration and with the help of the word of God. Secondly the relationship with our fellow men, this can be seen from our behaviour in daily situations. Above all, it is the second aspect which will be dealt with in this meeting. We belong personally to the Heavenly Kingdom by means of our vocation and our consecration, and our mission is we help others to form part of this Kingdom. The definition of vocation and mission can be found in Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans.
“A privilege of yours must not be allowed to give rise to harmful talk…For it is not eating and drinking that make the kingdom of Heaven, but the serving justice, the peace and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit. It is the person who serves Christ in these things that will be approved by God and respected by everyone “. Rm 14, 17-19
The words of Saint Paul help us to understand that man is not an island but is in constant relationship with God and man. He who serves Christ in these things will be approved by God and respected by everyone. What are these things and which are the ways that help us to serve Christ and are acceptable to God and allow us to attain the respect of our fellow human beings? I am not sure, says Paul; some laws, traditions and particular customs come from men but with the help of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul mentions the peace, the justice and the joy brought by the Holy Spirit.
These are the gifts which make up the Kingdom of God on earth.
The lay consecrated person builds a relationship with others and influences them by his behaviour. Therefore, our private religious life carries less weight than the evidence we give by our examples of sound moral values, which belong to the Kingdom of God, because they are the blessings of the Holy Spirit. The service and solidarity we render to our fellow men, is itself a service rendered to Christ and can only be achieved through obedience, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul emphasises that this can only be achieved by “the help of the Holy Spirit”. It is for this reason that a steady spiritual life, sustained by prayers and the Sacraments, helps the Christian to lead a life similar to Christ’s because, if a person allows the Holy Spirit to lead him, his actions become the result of the Holy Spirit.
One can attain the heavenly kingdom of God while still living on earth, by serving Christ through the help and intersession of the Holy Spirit who gives justice, peace and joy.
Saint Paul’s way of seeing things is very enlightening and of vital importance to the way of life the consecrated secular person leads, it is, above all, how a Christian should live. The words justice, peace and joy complement one another and should not be separated. In Saint Paul’s letter the word “justice” is considered first and foremost the action of God: it is a merciful justice which was rendered to us through the Redemption of Jesus Christ and by means of which He has reconciled us to Him, thus bringing back the lost peace. As a result of the justice of God, peace reigns within our hearts. Together with the word peace, Saint Paul adds the word “joy” because justice correlates to peace and joy, that is, to the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The virtues which are characteristic of the life of every Christian are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit urges us on to do good deeds in our Christian life. If we have faith and allow God’s “justice” to lead us, we can perform good deeds because His justice offers freedom, forgiveness and holiness. Thanks to the Holy Spirit we are saints, sons of God, temples of the Holy Spirit and new beings, capable of performing good deeds. The instability in our spiritual life comes from our continuous struggle to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us on to do good and the possibility to withdraw from the actions of the Holy Spirit and give in to the “weaknesses of the flesh”.
This will help us understand the importance of receiving the grace from God, the importance of prayer which enables us to receive it, and the strengthening of our faith, as we become more apt and submissive to the will of the Holy Spirit. In this way we will be able to win our inner struggle between the strength of the grace of God and our personal freedom, so that we will be able to lead a life of sound moral values. We read again in Saint Paul’s letter “Each of us must consider his neighbour’s good, so that we support one another. Christ did not indulge His feelings either” (Rm 15, 2-3).
In order to be “the new man”, in order to lead a real, mature Christian life, which is deep rooted in our intelligence and freedom of will, it is necessary that we change from within. Faith helps the Christian to accept God’s gift which will gradually change him and help him to understand, discover and contemplate on the mystery of God’s plan. Furthermore, Pope Paul VI said that the consecration reflects the special graces which are given by the Holy Spirit, to help you fulfil your vocation and bind you completely, willingly and submissively to the will of God the Father, revealed through His Son Jesus Christ, whom you were called to follow. Every time we meet Christ we have to change our way of thinking but for some, as was in your case, His request was more demanding; leave everything behind, because God is all and He will be your all in life. This does not mean that you will relate differently to Him or bind yourself to Him; it means that God has chosen you and He asks you to put your full trust in Him. To shape one’s life on that of Christ, keeping these words in mind, to adapt to Christ’s life, through the advice given in the Holy Scriptures, is fundamental and binding and requires zeal and tangible example.
This new way of looking at things establishes in us a deep ray of hope and with it the joy of being able to announce and share it with others. This is made possible by the help of the word of God and by our way of living according to the Gospels.
INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF THE COMPANY OF SAINT URSULA SECULAR INSTITUTE OF SAINT ANGELA MERICI ROME 22-26 JULY 2009
CONSECRATED SECULARITY
Talk 2 by Mons. Adriano Tessarollo,
2. “… those who are involved in the world, as though they were people not engrossed in it, because these world, as we know, is passing away. (1 Cor 7, 31).
The attitude of the secular consecrated person
I believe that the isolated deeds of evangelic Christian life are not only beneficial and bound to particular incidents in our life; they also tend to become habits. However, we must be very careful where it concerns these attitudes or habits and make sure that we are treating other persons and things, as well as our relationship with them, correctly.
We are living in a world where persons who instill hope in us are missing. Man has become self centred and relies only on what he plans for himself and on his actions. We need something that goes beyond man’s actions and capabilities. Today man believes that every situation is to be exploited for his own good, but not as a means of finding a real reason for living, understanding God and his fellow men. In so doing, he fails to understand God’s plan for him as revealed in the Bible, whereby God Himself directs and animates man’s action in the management of the world.
It is Christian hope which determines how man should behave in the Christian world. We must life the “present” well aware of the past and of a much greater future for us. We must take the opportunity to abide by God’s plan which surpasses man’s intelligence and is being accomplished now. For the religious person time is immeasurable. The very thought of meeting the Lord prevents man from acting according to his own wishes. Every believer passes through a period of tension when faced with the problem of wanting to remain in this world or longing for future life. Inspired by this, Saint Paul writes: ” Because this world as we know is passing” (1 Cor 7, 31).
The passage in the First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 7,29-31) confirms that while the Christians “are involved” in the world like all the other human beings, at the same time they live “as though they were people not engrossed in it “. Saint Paul wants to make it clear that the Christian who really believes in Christ puts his trust in Him. He is well aware that his time on earth is a short passage between Christ’s victory (death and resurrection) and His Glorious manifestation (His second arrival or meeting with Christ). This period of time is a time of waiting, of divine patience, of penitence, of struggle, but above all, a time of grace. In awaiting the coming of Christ, the church is already from this moment in time “the Kingdom of God” on earth. The reign of Christ is a reality which is still being built and in which, thanks to the gifts of the Holy Spirit; believers are regenerated and made holy.
How should we react when faced with the problems in the world today? The presence of the Church in the world is “eschatological”, that is, it anticipates those who live in this world as though “they do not belong to the world” (Jn. 17,16), So, they are living in waiting and consider all that has to do with the world as transitional.
So all the things that are made use of in the world and the time in this world are also considered transitional: “What I mean, brothers, is that the time has become limited and from now on, those who have wives should live as though they had none; and those who mourn as though they were not mourning; those who enjoy life as though they did not enjoy it; those who have been buying property as though they had no possessions and those who are involved in the world as though they were people not engrossed in it: because this world as we know is passing away! ” (1 Cor.7. 29 —31)
So, the biblical term “hope” means living our life awaiting for that day when God will call us all to Him, as His chosen people, will pour forth His Spirit on every desire of the flesh and will send us the Redeemer, who will gather the lost sheep of the people of Israel.
Hope and patience are the main characteristics which determine the behaviour of the Christian person when faced with the values of the present day world. The word “hope” can also be interpreted as joy as quoted in Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans. “Be joyful in hope, persevere in hardship, keep praying regularly …” Rm 12, 12: keeping in mind however that your life now and in the future depends on “being one with Him”.
The relationship we have with Christ through faith gives a better meaning to the second coming of the Lord. The core of the eschatological message is represented by our relationship and participation in the life of Christ, in short we can say «in Christ», when referring to «with Christ». To be in Christ» today, prepares us to be «with Christ» in the future. Eschatological tension means going through a period of expectation until you meet the Lord, in order to be “taken up in the clouds and meet the Lord in the air” and to be “with the Lord forever” (1 Th 4, 16-17). The focal point of this hope is having faith in the Risen Christ.
In his encyclical Gaudium et Spes, Pope Paul VI writes: “Together with all men of good will, the Christian is dedicated to the task of building the world and contributing to the good of humanity, operating in accordance with the legitimate autonomy of the terrestrial realities. In fact, this new relationship does not in any way alter or diminish the natural order and even though it might involve a rupture with the world in as much as it is a reality opposed to the life of grace and the expectation of the everlasting kingdom, it also implies the will to work in the love of Christ for the salvation of the world. That is to say for leading men to the life of faith and as far as possible reordering the temporal realities according to God’s design, so that they many contribute to man’s growth in grace for eternal life. (Apostolicam Actuositatem 7).
It is by living this new relationship to the world that the baptized cooperate in Christ for the world’s redemption. Consequently the secularity of one baptised here seen in its most general significance as existence in this world and participation in its manifold activities can never be understood outside the framework of this essential relationship whatever concrete forms it may assume. “
Various citations from the letters of Saint Paul help us to look at our present life and foresee what awaits us in the future.
- I Cor 15, 19: “If our hope in Christ has been for this life only we are of all people the most pitiable”.
- 2 Cor 3, 11-12: “For if what was transitory had any glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts forever. With a hope like this, we can speak with complete fearlessness … “
- Eph 1, 18-20: “May He enlighten the eyes of your mind, so that you can see what hope His call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage He offers among His holy people and how extraordinarily great is the power which He has exercised in raising Him for the dead and enthroning Him at His right hand in Heaven … “.
- Col 1, 5-6: “… because of the hope that is stored for you in heaven. News of this hope reached you not long ago through the word of truth, the gospel that came to you.”
- 1Tm 4, 5-6: “you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ and show you have really digested the teaching of the faith and the good doctrine which you have always followed …”
- Heb 6, 18-19: “We who have fled to Him might have a vigorous encouragement to grasp the hope held out to us. This is the anchor our souls have …”
- Heb 10, 23: “Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is trustworthy”.
Company of St.Ursula, Secular Institute of St.Angela Merici Federation
International Meeting – Rome 22 – 26th July 2009
I’m very pleased to give you the welcome in this house which, for the second time, receives us for our International Meeting.
From me, the Council of the Federation, all the Companies and all the Groups, in this first occasion that sees us re-united in greater number, I give the salutations to the Assistant of the Council of the Federation, Mons. Adriano Tessarollo. We want to renew him our deeper gratitude for its accompaniment and confirm him our constant memory in prayer for the new task that the Holy Father has entrusted him, like Head of the Church of Chioggia, elevating him to the Episcopal dignity!
With joy I give my salutations to all the participants to this meeting, to all who are here and also to those who have not been able to take part, but accompany us with affection and prayers.
It was May of 2007 when we came here, so numerous, to remember the bicentennial of the Canonisation of our Saint Mother and Founder Angela Merici.
Now we are here again, for this annual appointment, which is ordinary but very important for every one of us, for our Companies and for our Groups.
That’s a fundamental moment to grow the common belongings to the Institute and to continue to grow in the faithful adhesion to our call to live and testify today the Merician Charism that was put in “our hands”!
The Council of the Federation, in its task of planning the activities, wishes to continue to put in the centre of the common reflection the engagement of the formation. This means many things: I think it’s important and typical of people who want to pick the signs of the times in order to live in dynamic fidelity the received charism.
Last year, with Mons. Giordano, we have tried to pick the challenges and the perspectives, the enrichments and the difficulties that multi culturality causes in our lives, so also in our Institute that, thanks to God, is growing in many foreign countries.
We have understood that “secular consecration does part of the ways to announce the Gospel so significant for the Church of the third millennium in its mission to announce and testify the Gospel to the humanity”
In this meeting that today we open, we want to know something more about the consecrated secularity, so our life! We can reflect on our way to be, we can think about our way of living our Merician Charism in the world, how we interpret it in Company and how we propose it to who is near and to who asks account of it to us.
Now don Adriano will help us to “theologically” replace, according to the Word of God, the foundation and the sense of our secular consecration, because “by obeying to the councils and the inspirations that continually the Holy Spirit provokes us in the heart” we can be faithful in the dynamicity “living the evangelic councils in the secularity as our Constitutions say.
President of the Federation
Company of St Ursula
