{"id":180,"date":"2017-11-01T19:04:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T19:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/?p=180"},"modified":"2021-08-02T22:41:05","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:41:05","slug":"we-must-become-other-christs-through-the-holiness-of-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/2017\/11\/01\/we-must-become-other-christs-through-the-holiness-of-our-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201c[We] must become \u2018other Christs\u2019 through the holiness of our lives\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Constitutions<\/em>, 7<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Rome, Italy, November 1, 2017.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Solemnity of All Saints<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Dear Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians, and Novices,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Pope John XXII, in a very renowned phrase, affirmed \u201cGive me a religious who has been faithful to the rule for his whole life and I will canonize him without any further examination.\u201d This sentence, both brief and eloquent, has echoed in the souls of countless religious who were sanctified by the faithful practice of the constitutive principles of their Institutes. Simply because the patrimony of any institute (which clearly includes all that pertaining to proper law) of a religious congregation approved by the Church becomes the principle instrument in the sanctification of the religious member, pointing out to him at each moment the will of God.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

All of the religious whom we now venerate as Saints had one \u201cto follow Christ and conform [them]selves to him.\u201d This too, is our ideal\u2026we too declare that \u201cWe want to imitate Jesus Christ as perfectly as possible\u201d \u201creproducing Him, becoming similar to Him, configuring ourselves to Him,\u201d dedicating ourselves \u201ctotally to God as our supreme Love, so that, dedicated by a new and special title to his glory, for the edification of the Church and for the salvation of the world, we may achieve the perfection of charity.\u201d For this is what holiness consists in.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We\u2014our Constitutions and our proper law\u2014also say that we don\u2019t just want to do this in any old way but rather following \u201cthe objective elements which express the identity and configuration of consecrated life of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, according to our proper character and our spiritual patrimony.\u201d For, we have become religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word precisely for this reason: \u201cto imitate the Incarnate Word, chaste, poor, obedient, and son of Mary,\u201d \u201cin accordance with the evangelical way traced in the Constitutions of the Institute of the Incarnate Word,\u201d which the Church has found to be a valid and apt way to attain the perfection of charity.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This means\u2014to say it loud and clear\u2014that for each of us, the faithful fulfillment of the rules of the Institute\u2014which are as “a map for the whole journey of discipleship in accordance with a specific charism confirmed by the Church\u201d\u2014is the normal <\/em>and necessary<\/em> way of achieving sanctity. As a matter of fact, our Directory of Consecrated Life<\/em> explicitly declares this through saying that the \u201creligious has a supreme rule of life which is that of \u2018following Christ,\u2019 not as something separate or parallel to proper law, but rather intimately united to it, such as takes place in reality, which is the same as saying \u2018such as is set forth in the Gospel and declared by the Constitutions of one\u2019s own Institute.\u2019 [For] religious life and the proper way of living it within the Institute where one enters are necessarily united.\u201d Further on the Directory says: \u201cThey (the Constitutions<\/em>) are the \u2018model\u2019 upon which the religious should conform their life.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We also confessed the same thing, as we proclaimed during our profession of religious vows: \u201cI make a vow to live chaste\u2026poor\u2026and obedient, even until death on the cross, to follow more intimately the Incarnate Word in His chastity, poverty, and obedience, in accordance with the evangelical way traced in the Constitutions.\u201d\u00a0 The day of our religious profession which we freely, publicly, and solemnly embark on the thrilling adventure of transfiguring our lives to that of Christ, according to the way traced in our Constitutions.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Therefore, although it is not a requirement that one be a saint to enter religious life, it is required that one \u201cseriously aspire to be such, with a will entirely disposed to achieve holiness,\u201d for this is what the perfection of the religious consists in: striving with all his forces to the perfection of charity, loving God with all one\u2019s heart, all one\u2019s soul, all one\u2019s mind, and all one\u2019s strength,<\/em> and loving our neighbor for love of God. That is why, from the novitiate we are taught that \u201cone cannot be a novice if he does not manifest an ardent desire for sanctify or perfection.\u201d For, aspiring towards possessing perfect charity and working towards achieving it is, in one way of putting it, \u201cour professional duty<\/em> as religious,\u201d the main duty of our state as religious.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this sense, and with great emphasis, our proper law exhorts us to \u201cfirmly resolve to reach sanctity.\u201d And quoting Saint Teresa we are asked to have \u201c\u2018a great and very resolute determination to persevere until reaching the end, come what may, happen what may, whatever work is involved, whatever criticism arises, whether they [we] arrive or whether they die on the road, or even if they do not have courage for the trials along the way, or if the whole world collapses\u2026.\u2019 What matters is to take a step, one more step. It is the same step that always begins again.\u201d For, of the religious who does nothing in concrete to achieve holiness it is said that he \u201cdoes not actually belong to our spiritual family, though he may be with us in body.\u201d And with words which, far from discouraging us, but rather urges us to increase our fervor, we read: \u201cA religious who is not entirely decided to reach perfection and who does not make concrete efforts to achieve it, is a frustrated religious; his life has lost all taste and enthusiasm; and to him we can rightly apply the words of Our Lord: You are the salt of the earth. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything\u2026<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It is within this context that I would like, in this Circular Letter, to \u2018define\u2019 in some way, according to our proper las, the DNA, so to say, or the intimate \u2018fibers,\u2019 the essential characteristics, which a religious of the Incarnate Word should have, whatever the circumstances of his life may be, whatever age he may have, or how many years he has of religious life, whether he be contemplative or a missionary in a far off land.\u00a0 For, we will become holy religious insofar as and inasmuch as we incarnate that which our proper law traces out as our ideal.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I trust that though Mary Most Holy, perfect model of the Consecrated Life, these lines might be useful for us as a form of personal examination, and at the same time, serve as a motivation to reach the ideal of holiness which is laid out for us in our Constitutions<\/em>, and taken on as our own plan of sanctification the day of our solemn religious profession.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. \u201cWe want to be another Incarnation of the Word\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Saint Peter Julian Emad said to his religious: \u201cAll men are obliged to know and practice the Gospel; but for you, it is sufficient to know and practice your rule, which is your gospel.\u201d Analogously, we may also apply these words to our Constitutions<\/em> and Directories<\/em>, because the spirit of the Institute is the spirit of the Gospel: \u201cWe do not want our Religious Family to be guided by any spirit other than the Holy Spirit.\u201d The Constitutions<\/em> of our dear Institute, and therefore, the \u201cway of life which this sets forth has been declared in conformity with the Gospel and suitable to achieve the proper end,\u201d when they were approved over 13 years ago by the competent Church authority.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For this reason, Saint Peter Julian also exhorted his religious to \u201cknow the rule, and to understand the rule, because the rule is an educator, a teacher who wants to form us to give us to Jesus Christ.\u201d The same holds true for us, for our Constitutions<\/em> and our very proper law fix us in the Incarnate Word, found us in Him, and separate us from anything that is not in conformity with Him and his spirit.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For this reason, an ever deeper, conscious, and prayerful reading of our proper law\u2014as is recommended by the Church and esteemed by the saints\u2014helps us to interiorize the criteria and the gospel values which are presented to us therein.\u00a0 And this, to such a point as to instill within our souls such a spiritual energy which even leads us to desire martyrdom, if it be necessary to reach our ideal.\u00a0 Because \u201cit is worth it to live fully one\u2019s own consecration, while it becomes, day after day, a total gift of self, expression of a greater love, which likens us to Christ.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Regarding our becoming like Christ, the proper law lays out, with splendid skill and in magnificent terms which enflame the soul\u2019s fervor, the ideal of holiness that we should all be striving towards and which is nothing other than the imitation of the Incarnate Word himself. And so, being imbued with the spirit which marks our Constitutions<\/em> only increases, within our hearts, the efficacious desire to want to arrive at \u201cbeing \u2018another Christ,\u2019\u201d like \u201canother Incarnation of the Word.\u201d This ideal compels one to toil after \u201cpassing through this world in imitation of the Incarnate God\u201d and leads to make the effort to \u201clive in fullness the radicality of the self-emptying of Christ and of his condition of a slave\u201d which then becomes \u201ca living memory\u00a0 of the way that Jesus, the Word made flesh\u201d so as to be, in all things, and for all people, \u201clike another humanity of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We follow in the footsteps<\/em> of the Incarnate Word\u2014of the Infinite God who, without ceasing to be God took on the form of a slave<\/em>\u2014and whose Heart, because of the hypostatic union, contains an inexhaustible treasure of virtues. Such a following demands of us the practice of a wide spectrum of virtues which permit us to imitate him, \u201cabove all in the aspects of his self-denial and of his transfiguration.\u201d Therefore, it should be a distinctive sign of a religious of the Incarnate Word that he stand out in \u201cthe virtues of self-denial: humility, poverty, suffering, obedience, self-surrender, mercy and charity to all men;\u201d \u201cmore succinctly\u2026to take up our cross\u201d with courage.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Likewise, our state as religious of the Incarnate Word requires of us the practice of \u201cthe transcendent virtues: faith, hope, and charity\u201d from which springs forth the spirit of unceasing prayer and the enkindling of the desire to pass through the active and passive purifications of the senses and of the spirit with the end of growing in these virtues and being united definitively to our ideal.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We have been called to make these virtues shine forth in our community life, in our missions, in our liturgical life, and so on, in every aspect of our religious life.\u00a0 Whether we live in a house of formation, in a monastery, in a mercy home, in a parish, or in a distant mission, and whatever task it may be that God has us involved in, or if it be the case that we are laid out on our sickbed. \u201cWe must give special witness to the Incarnate Word<\/em>, particularly in the aspect of his radical self-denial which is informed by humility, in selfless service, and in a unique way in merciful love.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2. The center of our life should be Jesus Christ<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Applying the words of Blessed Paolo Manna to our case, we can also say that \u201cour Constitutions follow and guide the missionary, besides in the work of his own sanctification, also in the practice of his zeal and apostolic ministry.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Therefore, with transparent clarity and maternal pedagogy, our Constitutions <\/em>give the details of what I mentioned earlier: that which should be the \u2018most intimate fibers,\u2019 the DNA, the central nucleus or the \u2018model\u2019 after which a religious of the Incarnate Word should configure his life after that of Christ. And so as to better penetrate into this reality which is so important for all of us, there is a text which, according to me, masterfully sums it up.\u00a0 I am referring to number 231 of our Constitutions<\/em>, which I quote in its entirety below (it is worth reading and meditating over):\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe aspire to form priests for the Catholic Church according to the Heart of Christ, priests who nourish their spirit with the Word of God, serve their neighbor in solidarity with all in need, promote the laity, and have a great capability for dialogue without suffering any identity crisis. Our priests must desire ongoing formation, abandon themselves to Providence, and love the Catholic liturgy. These individuals are tireless preachers, \u2018rich in spirit,\u2019 \u2018with tongue, lips, and wisdom, which the enemies of truth cannot resist,\u2019 who are exceptionally fruitful in their apostolic and vocational efforts; they have missionary and ecumenical impetus, are open to any particle of truth wherever it is found, have preferential love for the poor without exclusivity and without exclusions. They must live in transparent and contagious joy, in unperturbed peace even amid the most arduous battles; they live in absolute and unrestricted ecclesiastical communion as relentless evangelists and catechists and as lovers of the cross. In short, we seek to form priests who are men with common sense, with that Christian common sense, which is none other than a familiarity with the Word made flesh.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This means that, of each one of us\u2014religious of the Incarnate Word\u2014it should be able to be said that he is a religious who:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is formed for the Catholic Church<\/em>: because the Institute who which he belongs was born within<\/em> the Catholic Church and is of <\/em>the Catholic Church and for<\/em> the Catholic Church. As such, a religious of the Incarnate Word \u201crecognizes the primary and supreme authority of the Supreme Pontiff, and professes not only obedience to him, but also fidelity, filial submission, adherence, and disposition for the service of the universal Church.\u201d He bows at the feet of the Church and does not want anyone else to surpass him \u201cin obsequiousness, and love of the Holy Father and the Bishops, to whom the Holy Spirit has given the governance of the Church of God.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is a priest [or religious] after the Heart of Christ<\/em>: who wants to be set apart by his incessant contemplation of this rich wellspring which will be his badge of honor. He is a man who \u201cshould be able to relate to others not with arrogance or dispute, but rather with sincerity of words and heart, with prudence and discretion, with generosity and willingness to serve, with the ability to make a personal offering and to promote loyal and brotherly relationships with everyone, with a willingness to understand, forgive, and console.\u201d Concretely, he should demonstrate that he has God in his heart.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–nourishes his spirit with the Word of God<\/em>: and therefore, loves and values \u201cthe wealth of the heavenly treasure of the Word of God,\u201d to the point of longing that Sacred Scripture \u201cbe the \u2018soul of our soul,\u2019 of our spirituality, theology, preaching, catechesis and pastoral work.\u201d He is a religious who dedicates himself to faithful meditation on the Word of God, by which we know the divine mysteries and make its values our own. Because, it is by being in contact with the Written Word of the Word that one is able to \u201cgrasp the \u2018style\u2019 of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d And, in imitation of the Incarnate Word, he dedicates his life to the preaching of the Word of God \u201cin all its forms.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–serves his neighbor<\/em>: because for this reason he professed as a religious of the Incarnate Word: \u201cto carry out, with greater perfection, the service of God and man.\u201d From this, he considers \u201call man, the whole man, and all men\u201d as the object of his love and service.\u00a0 This service is carried out by \u201cliving a laborious life,\u201d disinterested, always humble, but with \u201cgenerosity for sacrifice, and great spirit of initiative,\u201d always present and completely available to all. Because he is convinced that service towards his neighbor \u201ctakes on the value of serving God\u201d if an authentic theological charity animates it. And with this \u201cspirit of exceptional service he exercises his authority,\u201d if he is placed to govern over his brothers. Moreover, conscious that the \u201cmission that Christ the Redeemer entrusted to the Church is still far from completion, he dedicates himself with all his strength to its service, that is, to evangelization, for he sees in this task a service which can be given to all men.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–in solidarity with all in need: <\/em>he is a religious who exercises an \u201cactive involvement in the promotion of solidarity and charity\u201d in various ways with those who are in need of his help. All of which he carries out without \u201cputting limits\u201d for he is not afraid that by giving, he will be lacking in anything. He never forgets that \u201cworks of mercy, above all with the disabled\u201d are one of the non-negotiable elements of the charism of the Institute and the concrete opportunity to evangelize with one\u2019s witness of life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–promotes the laity<\/em>: because he understands that \u201cinculturation should imply the entire people of God, not only some experts\u201d and recognizing \u201cthe specific contribution of the laity in evangelization of culture\u201d he associates the greatest possible amount of them to his mission, that while seeking their own sanctification, they collaborate in the cause of spreading the faith and of sanctifying the entire world. For this reason, he strives to form the laity so that they might \u201cdirect temporal matters according to the plan of God\u201d.\u00a0 He also promotes and encourages the laity in apostolic works. He is a religious who vividly desires \u201ca world where religious and laity united fight so that truth and virtue reign.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–<\/em> has a great capability for dialogue without suffering any identity crisis: <\/em>that means, he is a religious \u201cwho is able to know the depths of the human heart, to perceive difficulties and problems, to make meetings and dialogue easy, to create trust and cooperation, to express serene and objective judgments\u201d He is a religious who is firm in his Christian identity while, wise in knowing the need for the \u201cdiffusion and the announcement of the deposit of the faith are necessary, according to the command of Christ\u201d he is interiorly driven by charity to exercise the mode of dialogue to look for the sheep, without forcing anyone. Rather, the religious of the Incarnate Word who carries forth this dialogue is \u201cclear, affable \u2013 not arrogant, with harsh words or offensive bitterness -, its authority is intrinsic for the fact that it affirms the truth, shares with others the gifts of charity, is itself an example of virtue. Hence dialogue promotes intimacy and friendship on both sides.\u201d Finally, he is a religious who, through the \u201cprudence of a teacher adapts himself and the manner of his presentation to the susceptibilities and the degree of intelligence of his listeners.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–desires ongoing formation: <\/em>because he is a religious who \u201cis not content with a merely superficial knowledge of philosophy and theology that is incapable of understanding the modern exercise of atheism in all its depth, and is thus incapable of providing a remedy for it.\u201d; rather he considers it fundamental, and \u201can intrinsic demand of his religious consecration.\u201d And so, knowing \u201chow to adapt to circumstances of duties and obligations\u201d given him, he dedicates time to personal study because he recognizes that acting in any other way would be a serious injustice to the souls entrusted to him and he would remain far from \u2018sinking his teeth into reality.\u2019<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–abandons himself to providence<\/em>: not just in any old way, but with \u201cunlimited trust,\u201d finding in it \u201ca particular way of glorifying God\u201d because he considers it an integral part of the vow of poverty which one day he professed within this his beloved Institute–even when our apostolates should at times develop through costly means or in the first world–and he knows that, living in this way, he lives this trust to the fullness. Therefore, he knows how to \u201cbe magnanimous and magnificent in taking on apostolic works, according to the will of God, without being held back by the difficulties and the expenses that should be made in the various apostolic commitments, trusting in those things in Divine Providence.\u00a0 For, he understands that trusting in Divine Providence \u201cis in no way opposed to, but rather includes, the prudent administration of goods; providing for the daily needs, helping the poor, not making superfluous expenses, while still making those which are necessary, concerned with the care and growth of the necessary material goods.\u201d He is a religious who does not give in to the temptation to possess material securities, nor does he blame Divine Providence for the lack of means, which out of laziness, one has not obtained, nor is he wasteful with the means that Divine Providence has put within his reach. On the contrary! He knows that he is dependent upon God and in all things, and for all things he makes recourse to his endless benevolence, which he also pleases, with a joyful heart, in inviting others to trust as well.\u00a0 He is a religious who \u201csees everything \u2013 absolutely everything \u2013 in light of the loving designs of God\u2019s Providence\u201d because he \u201cbelieves with unyielding steadfastness that even the most adverse events, those most opposed to our natural view, are arranged by God for our own good, even though we don\u2019t understand His designs, and we ignore the end that He wants to bring us to.\u201d And this providential vision of life always accompanies him, for he loves God and he knows that \u201cit is impossible for anything in the world not to coincide with, or contribute to, his own good.\u201d In fact, this providential vision of our existence has been pointed out as one of the non-negotiable elements which comes from our charism.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–loves the Catholic liturgy: <\/em>because he knows \u201cnot only the cultural, but the educational importance that the Sacred Liturgy should have.\u201d That is why he makes the efforts to \u201cbe distinguished by the worthy celebration of the Holy Mass and in the reverent manner of celebrating it.\u201d And so, it can be said that his liturgical celebrations are \u201cmodels \u2018for the rites, for the spiritual and pastoral tones, for the fidelity regarding the prescriptions and the texts of the liturgical books, as well as the norms established by the Holy See and of the Episcopal Conferences.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Because, ultimately, they are liturgies which are \u201cvivid and lived\u201d for they nourish the sense of that which is sacred and they are imbued with a spirit of reverence and glorification of God.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is a tireless preacher<\/em>: with a holy \u201cimpatience to preach the Word in all its forms.\u201d Therefore, he is a religious who, following the Gospel mandate to Go forth and teach all nations<\/em> to the whole world,<\/em> he marches onwards \u201cwith the fervor and enthusiasm of the saints, even in moments of difficulty and persecution,\u201d to preach the Gospel, \u201ceven at the cost of sacrifices and renunciations.\u201d He is an untiring religious, ready to give the first steps for Christ, and who does not settle, nor is he held back by the fear of limits, whether real or fictitious, which intend to weaken his priestly activity, but rather he moves with \u201cdocility and readiness in the execution of the Holy Spirit\u2019s requests\u201d, and with that same fidelity to the Holy Spirit he finds the overcoming of all difficulties which he could possibly find in his mission.\u00a0 He does not conform himself to just having the doors to his parish open, but he himself goes out to exhort souls to come in, and with countless initiatives he keeps his parish ever alive assures that Jesus is always accompanied. For this reason, he is a religious who is not \u201cafraid of sacrifice or of the total gif of self, nor does he seek to get back what he has given seeking compensations or settling down making a \u2018nest\u2019 in things that are not God.\u201d \u201cHe has the disposition to desire to give himself to others and to desire to persevere in such disposition\u201d \u201ceven before the decline in his own strength and his own ascendency.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is rich in spirit<\/em>: which means, he has a serious spiritual life, which is not sensible. A spiritual life which is principally nourished \u201cin his daily participation in Holy Mass and his contact with the Incarnate Word present in the Blessed Sacrament\u201dand \u201crevealed in the Scriptures which he reads assiduously.\u201d He is a religious who understands that the Sacrament of Reconciliation has a most important value for his spiritual life and for this reason, he has \u201cdevotion for frequent confession.\u201d And conscious of the fact that he is a missionary religious whose principal apostolic work is giving \u201cspecial witness to the Incarnate Word,\u201d he embraces with a notable zeal the practice of the virtues which are apparently opposed to one another: \u201cfor example, justice vs. love, firmness vs. sweetness, fortitude vs. meekness, holy anger vs. patience, purity vs. great affection, magnanimity vs. humility, prudence vs. courage, joy vs. penance, etc.\u201d And so, he is a religious who, from his abundance of good spirit, over abounds in his witness of life and in his preaching and teachings, taking from the store of the goodness of his heart<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

-with tongue, lips, and wisdom, which the enemies of truth cannot resist: <\/em>A religious who loves truth and loyalty Who, out of his great \u201ctrust in the power of the truth accepts the double mission of seeking the \u2018certainty of truth\u2019-given only by a sound philosophy founded in the objective reality of things- and of denouncing errors with promptness. For this reason, \u201che does not sell out the truth or disguise it with the desire of pleasing men, of causing astonishment, nor out of originality or a desire to show off.\u00a0 He never renounces the truth. He does not overshadow revealed truth out of laziness for seeking it out, out of comfort, out of fear. He never ceases to study it. He serves it generously, while not seeking to make it serve him.\u201d He recognizes that he is not the owner nor the judge of truth, but only a custodian, its heir, and its servant. And so, he is a tireless preacher of the truth.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–who is exceptionally fruitful in his apostolic and vocational efforts<\/em>: because he knows how to deny himself and to die to himself and to all that is not God. All his apostolic fruitfulness is founded on a rich interior life and an intimate union with God. He is a religious who feels as a personal calling that integral element of our spirituality, that by which we are commanded \u201cto know how to call, teach, direct, accompany and select vocations.\u201d He does not conform himself with making a generic call to the priesthood or to religious life, but rather, in imitation of the Incarnate Word, he calls explicitly and personally.\u00a0 And this exhortation, he knows how to accompany with a \u201cfaithful and joyful witness of his own life as a consecrated person, carrying out with generosity, discernment, and seriousness his own apostolates, and working in fraternal communion.\u201d He is for souls a true spiritual father.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–has missionary and ecumenical impetus, and is open to any particle of truth wherever it is found<\/em>: He is a religious who knows he is called to \u201caccomplish great works, extraordinary undertakings;\u201d who has taken seriously the demands of the Gospel: Go, sell what you possess<\/em>\u2026<\/em>and he asks God each day for \u201cthe spiritual fervor, the joy of evangelizing, even when he has to sow among tears.\u201d He is a religious whose life radiates the fervor of one who has received, above all in himself, the joy of Christ, and accepts consecrating his life to the work of proclaiming the kingdom of God and of spreading the Church throughout the world. With this same spirit he \u201cprays and works for reconciliation and for ecclesiastic unity according to the mind and heart of our Savior Jesus Christ\u201d and is disposed to \u201cgladly and reverently lay bare the seeds of the Word which lie hidden among the national and religious traditions of the different peoples so as to transform them with the divine force of the Gospel.\u201d He understands that his field of action has neither limits nor horizons, but is the entire wide world, because Jesus said: Go into all the world<\/em>… His missionary vision is universal, and so he knows how to transcend the horizons of his classroom, his cell, his parish. In one word: he has apostolic creativity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–has preferential love for the poor without exclusivity and without exclusions<\/em>: for in them he sees Christ himself. He does not get caught up \u201cin false reductionist dialectics where one discriminates against others (i.e. the rich, the intellectuals, the foreigners or strangers, etc.), where one worries exclusively about a certain people or place\u201d Rather, like Christ who came to this world for \u2018us men\u2019, and therefore, \u2018for all man, the whole man, and all men\u2019\u2014without discriminations\u2014he loves in deeds and in truth the concrete man who is in need\u2014of material or spiritual goods\u2014without ever using him as demagogic propaganda. He does this all with a charity which springs forth from prayer, from contemplation of the mystery of divine mercy, and his fidelity to God. He is a religious who knows that \u201cin order to evangelize the culture, charity is essential\u201d and that \u201cit\u2019s not enough to give to the poor, but we have to give of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–Lives in transparent and contagious joy<\/em>: a joy which \u201cis spiritual and supernatural, and arises from meditating on the mystery of the Incarnate Word.\u201d\u00a0 That is why he rejoices always and in all things, in virtues, and in sufferings. He knows how to be joyful in community: in the practice of fraternal charity, because living in community, even in the midst of the difficulties of the human and spiritual journey and of the daily sorrows, already forms part of the Kingdom. He is a religious who makes the efforts to cultivate joy in the religious community because he knows that it represents \u201ca great attraction towards religious life, a source of new vocations and a support for perseverance.\u201d Far from him the \u201cspirit of antagonism\u201d\u2014which at times is so common among some<\/strong>\u2014which creates division.\u00a0 Far from him the destructive critical spirit\u2014without desire for progressing in truth and in charity\u2014and which sows so much heaviness and darkness, as those who pronounce their criticisms with bitterness, often finishing with offences, in actions and in judgements which are harmful of people or of groups \u201clacking the second note of charity, which is kindness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–lives in unperturbed peace even amid the most arduous battles<\/em>: interior peace which is fruit of the Holy Spirit and effect of charity which reigns in his soul because he has eliminated the battle within himself that sometimes arises because of the struggle between the flesh and the spirit. This peace lives on amid the greatest contradictions, tribulations, and tragedies, because he has set his love and his trust in Christ, who is our peace<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–they live in absolute and unrestricted ecclesiastical communion<\/em>: because he knows that he is a member of the Mystical Body of the Incarnate Word, which is the Church \u201cas the universal Sacrament of salvation\u201d and he does not want to know anything apart from her. Therefore, he is a religious who fervently promotes \u201cthe unity that does not block diversity, as well as… a diversity that does not block unity, but enriches it.\u201d It is his firm intent to live in harmony with the members of the Church and he is disposed \u201cto cast aside everything that impedes or distorts this unanimity of agreement\u201d Far from him that \u201cbehaving as if one is all on his own, as a self-sufficient \u2018nomad,\u2019\u201d or acting out of \u201csubmissiveness and servility\u201d as is the case with those who \u201csacrifice truth and one\u2019s own conscience by seeking a false peace, or by not admonishing a friend, or by avoiding some problem or, on occasion, by taking advantage of a situation by silence or applause.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is a relentless evangelist and catechist<\/em>: which fruit is the authentic gift of oneself. His program of life is: I will most gladly spend and be utterly spent<\/em>. He does not settle down in the comfort that he might achieve after a few years in one mission, he does not hold back efforts for evangelization.\u00a0 He wants to always be available. He does not renounce a priori<\/em> any of the forms of proclaiming the Word, but rather, with great creativity and inventions he knows how to adapt himself to reach all souls.\u00a0 He is a religious who is not afraid of untold pastoral methods, as long as they are according to God. He consecrates himself with enthusiasm not only to teach catechism; but to also serve all through all the means that his counsel and prudence inspire him, with the only pretention of spending and being spent<\/em> to gain souls for God.\u00a0 He is a man who lives the folly of the cross, which consists in living in the greatest and in that which is always above.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

– is a lover of the cross<\/em>: because he knows that \u201cthere is no school greater than the Cross, in which Jesus Christ teaches His disciples how they should be.\u201d The Cross is his way of life, the message that he preaches, the source of his joy, and the bond that unites him with Christ. That is why he repeats: \u201cNever the Cross without Jesus, nor Jesus without the Cross.\u201d And each day in a loving colloquy with the Mother of God at the foot of the Cross, he asks that she obtain for him the grace of divine wisdom to accept and to carry with love and joy his Cross.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

–is a man with common sense<\/em>: It is interesting that this is the last characteristic which is mentioned. We could say, that this refers to a religious who has captured the \u201cstyle\u201d of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is nothing other than possessing in himself the attitudes that Christ has as the Son next to the Father. From his contact with the Incarnate Word, he has learned the true value of things. From there, his particular sensitivity to take on his mission, to identify the particular needs of it and the grace to know how to find efficient solutions, carrying the light of the Gospel to all man, the whole man, and all men. Because that is his specific end as a religious of the Incarnate Word.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

* * * *<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Dear all: only insofar as we conform our lives to the ideal, in accordance with the charism of our Institute, inspired by God and drawn out in the Constitutions<\/em> and Directories<\/em> and which shine forth in our sound traditions, will we reach the holiness to which the Incarnate Word has called us.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Therefore, \u201che cannot truly be a religious who does not accept, who unjustly criticizes, or who simply wants to live alongside the charism given by the Holy Spirit to the Founder.\u00a0 A true religious, on the other hand, must love and conserve strict fidelity to his Institute, which has brought him forth into religious life, and this, to such a point that, if it be necessary, he would give his very life.\u201d This has been and is the thought of all the saints whose feast we celebrate today.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How valid and how opportune is the advice of Don Orione to his religious, which our Directory of Consecrated Life<\/em> takes as its own: \u201cWe will become saints as much and in which way the Lord wants for us: that is, tenderly loving our Congregation and observing its Constitutions.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

However, to put into practice all that has been mentioned so far, we need the grace of God, which is granted to us through Mary Most Holy, whom God has \u201cthe sole custodian of his treasures and the sole dispenser of his graces. She can now ennoble, exalt and enrich all she chooses. She can lead them along the narrow path to heaven and guide them through the narrow gate to life. She can give a royal throne, sceptre and crown to whom she wishes.\u201d The formation and the education of the great saints are reserved to her, for only this singular and wondrous virgin can produce in union with the Holy Spirit singular and wondrous things.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

May we learn, with hearts clinging to Mary Most Holy, Queen of All Saints, to conform our lives entirely to that of her Son, the Incarnate Word, through the faithful fulfillment of our religious vows.\u00a0 \u201cMary is the proximate end, our mysterious intermediary, and the easiest way of reaching Christ,\u201d let us advance joyfully and decidedly onwards.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Happy Feast Day of All Saints to all of you!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In Christ, the Incarnate Word and his Most Holy Mother,\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Fr. Gustavo Nieto, IVE<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

General Superior<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Constitutions, 7 Rome, Italy, November 1, 2017. Solemnity of All Saints Dear Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians, and Novices, Pope John XXII, in a very renowned phrase, affirmed \u201cGive me a religious who has been faithful to the rule for his whole life and I will canonize him without any further examination.\u201d This sentence, both brief and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1328,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[168,65,36,37,115,66,40,175,105,61,63,174,94,38,71,48,176,47,79,49,110,173,84],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-circularletters","tag-annihilation","tag-charism","tag-charity","tag-christ","tag-configuration","tag-cross","tag-evangelization","tag-for-the-holiness-of-life","tag-holiness","tag-incarnate-word","tag-joy","tag-liturgy","tag-missionary","tag-mystical-body","tag-preaching","tag-priests","tag-providence","tag-religious","tag-transfigure","tag-truth","tag-virtue","tag-we-must-become-other-christs","tag-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1583,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/1583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ourcharism.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}