CMSM President addresses Washington area formation network
In a talk sponsored by the
Washington Area Formation Network’s celebration of the Year of Consecrated
Life, Fr. Jim Greenfield, Provincial
of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Oblates
of St. Francis de Sales, and President of the CMSM Leadership Committee,
addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Paulist College on the feast of the
Annunciation. Fr. Jim was kind enough to
permit us to provide a summary of his remarks and reflections.
Entitled “Wonderful and Complicated: The Gift of Consecrated Life to the World,” Jim’s remarks emerge from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. In the last section of this exhortation titled “The Spiritual Savor of Being a People,” the Holy Father notes that “We realize once more that Jesus wants to make use of us to draw closer to His beloved people. He takes us from the midst of His people and He sends us to His people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.” Though not explicitly directed to men and women in consecrated life, those words rang true for the many religious present that March evening.
Jim continued saying that he believes that Jesus “hopes we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness.” He summarized the theme of this talk stating, “Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.”
“Our lives become wonderfully complicated! What a beautiful definition of consecrated life! We are taken from the midst of God’s people and sent back to them; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”
“This Year of Consecrated Life is an opportunity to delight in a freeze-frame of joy at the moment when we recall Jesus first calling us to enter into the reality of other people’s lives and to know the power of tenderness. Indeed, there are daunting challenges before us—most especially with recruitment and retention. But, religious life itself is not a problem. For me and I am sure for you, it is still a privilege, a rare and precious gift, the specific path we’ve been given, in the words of Pope Francis, to know the power of tenderness.”
In his presentation that evening, Jim discussed the “wonderful complexity of consecrated life, and how we religious shine brightest, in the thought of Pope Francis, when we are taken from the midst of God’s people and sent back to them as we ‘wake up the world.’ We best ‘wake up the world’ when ours is a life:
Entitled “Wonderful and Complicated: The Gift of Consecrated Life to the World,” Jim’s remarks emerge from Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. In the last section of this exhortation titled “The Spiritual Savor of Being a People,” the Holy Father notes that “We realize once more that Jesus wants to make use of us to draw closer to His beloved people. He takes us from the midst of His people and He sends us to His people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.” Though not explicitly directed to men and women in consecrated life, those words rang true for the many religious present that March evening.
Jim continued saying that he believes that Jesus “hopes we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness.” He summarized the theme of this talk stating, “Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.”
“Our lives become wonderfully complicated! What a beautiful definition of consecrated life! We are taken from the midst of God’s people and sent back to them; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”
“This Year of Consecrated Life is an opportunity to delight in a freeze-frame of joy at the moment when we recall Jesus first calling us to enter into the reality of other people’s lives and to know the power of tenderness. Indeed, there are daunting challenges before us—most especially with recruitment and retention. But, religious life itself is not a problem. For me and I am sure for you, it is still a privilege, a rare and precious gift, the specific path we’ve been given, in the words of Pope Francis, to know the power of tenderness.”
In his presentation that evening, Jim discussed the “wonderful complexity of consecrated life, and how we religious shine brightest, in the thought of Pope Francis, when we are taken from the midst of God’s people and sent back to them as we ‘wake up the world.’ We best ‘wake up the world’ when ours is a life:
- balanced between healthy living and healthy visions of consecrated life,
- responsive to the dynamics of our world and the demands of the world’s needy, and
- centered in an experience of the Spirit as manifested in a web of exciting relationships.”
Part I - Balance between Healthy Living and Healthy Visions of Consecrated Life
In the first
of the three major sections of his talk, Jim began by saying that “the Church and the world need our mature
love. We cannot pretend to be other than
who we are. So, we need to dwell on living in a healthy way.” He elaborated noting that “this is our vocation, to be ministers of
abundant life. It is not enough that we
survive as religious. Jesus did not say that I have come that they may survive! We need to be spiritually alive, emotionally
alive, intellectually and imaginatively alive.”
To conclude his first section, Jim turned to the practical for a moment and offered six skills for engaging and connecting healthy living and healthy visions for consecrated life in community:
1. Self-disclosure. Is there regular faith-sharing? An ability to maintain and talk about a rich inner-life? Do I know my true self even when I am only showing my false self?
2. Friendship in Community. What about local community makes it a place to which I want to come home?
3. Conflict Management. What helps me to be honest and up front? Do I have the ability to hold tension in a creative balance4. Ongoing Formation. Do I make time for reading and world issues that can be shared with community?
5. Other-centeredness. What gets most attention and energy in my local community?
6. Sabbath. How do I slow down and make time for prayer and reflection?
To conclude his first section, Jim turned to the practical for a moment and offered six skills for engaging and connecting healthy living and healthy visions for consecrated life in community:
1. Self-disclosure. Is there regular faith-sharing? An ability to maintain and talk about a rich inner-life? Do I know my true self even when I am only showing my false self?
2. Friendship in Community. What about local community makes it a place to which I want to come home?
3. Conflict Management. What helps me to be honest and up front? Do I have the ability to hold tension in a creative balance4. Ongoing Formation. Do I make time for reading and world issues that can be shared with community?
5. Other-centeredness. What gets most attention and energy in my local community?
6. Sabbath. How do I slow down and make time for prayer and reflection?
Part II - Responsiveness to the Dynamics of our World and its Needs
In the second section of his talk, Jim reflected that "Most religious groups were founded to meet the felt needs of the neediest of their time." He challenged those in attendance to think about these questions:
* Would our founders recognize the groups they began? Would they like them, or would they ever like to be a member?
* What needs of the world are we meeting today?
* What needs of the world am I meeting today?
Consecrated persons need to be responsive to the dynamics of our world and to the demands of the world's needy. Paul VI said this of religious: "They are enterprising and their apostolate is often marked by an originality, by genius that demands admiration."
* Would our founders recognize the groups they began? Would they like them, or would they ever like to be a member?
* What needs of the world are we meeting today?
* What needs of the world am I meeting today?
Consecrated persons need to be responsive to the dynamics of our world and to the demands of the world's needy. Paul VI said this of religious: "They are enterprising and their apostolate is often marked by an originality, by genius that demands admiration."
Part III - Centered in an Experience of the Spirit as Experienced in a Web of Exciting Relationships
Jim recalled that Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a little mantra that he would sometimes use when he was preaching to a young couple on their wedding day. He would tell them: "Today you are young and very much in love and you think that your love will sustain your marriage. It won't. But your marriage can sustain your love!"
"That's true too for us religious. We think that our good intention, energy, and love will sustain our vows but they can't. Rather our consecration can sustain our good will, energy and love."
But, Jim continued, saying,"It seems to me today in many Church circles, we box in the Spirit. It is our fidelity to experiences of the Spirit that can shake our comfort, call us to new sensibilities, challenge our rigid mindsets, and prompt us to new ways of thinking about our lives and the people in them who can brighten the horizons of religious life."
"The Trinity in both its oneness and threeness always points to this dynamic of inclusivity and relationality. We religious do not settle on one relationship, but we are to be a catalyst of love for relationship in the world. We learn in theology that the Spirit is pure grace. Perhaps the hardest lesson for all of us is that grace is not a thing, but a Person and gift to be experienced and shared. We still wrestle with pre-Vatican II notions of whoever has the most grace wins and goes to heaven. Religious remind the world that grace is given out not to be hoarded but to be immediately shared. Religious become conduits and pipelines for this sacred energy."
Jim concluded his talk by again stating that "Consecrated life indeed is wonderful and complicated. And I hope that we can continue to let it shine forth by living a balanced and healthy life alongside a healthy vision of what consecrated life is. Also, may we remain responsive to the dynamics of our world and the demands of the world's needy, and may we always stay centered in an experience of the Spirit as manifested in a web of exciting relationships."
"That's true too for us religious. We think that our good intention, energy, and love will sustain our vows but they can't. Rather our consecration can sustain our good will, energy and love."
But, Jim continued, saying,"It seems to me today in many Church circles, we box in the Spirit. It is our fidelity to experiences of the Spirit that can shake our comfort, call us to new sensibilities, challenge our rigid mindsets, and prompt us to new ways of thinking about our lives and the people in them who can brighten the horizons of religious life."
"The Trinity in both its oneness and threeness always points to this dynamic of inclusivity and relationality. We religious do not settle on one relationship, but we are to be a catalyst of love for relationship in the world. We learn in theology that the Spirit is pure grace. Perhaps the hardest lesson for all of us is that grace is not a thing, but a Person and gift to be experienced and shared. We still wrestle with pre-Vatican II notions of whoever has the most grace wins and goes to heaven. Religious remind the world that grace is given out not to be hoarded but to be immediately shared. Religious become conduits and pipelines for this sacred energy."
Jim concluded his talk by again stating that "Consecrated life indeed is wonderful and complicated. And I hope that we can continue to let it shine forth by living a balanced and healthy life alongside a healthy vision of what consecrated life is. Also, may we remain responsive to the dynamics of our world and the demands of the world's needy, and may we always stay centered in an experience of the Spirit as manifested in a web of exciting relationships."
