{"id":1826,"date":"2016-05-30T11:08:22","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/?p=1826"},"modified":"2016-05-30T11:08:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:08:22","slug":"general-assembly-of-the-canadian-religious-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/general-assembly-of-the-canadian-religious-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"General Assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Assembly of the Canadian Religious Conference<\/strong><\/p>\n

Address of H.E. Luigi Bonazzi, Apostolic Nuncio<\/p>\n

Montreal, May 27, 2016<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My Dear Religious,<\/p>\n

Your General Assembly which brings all of you together every two years, is for me, a much anticipated gathering; a much desired and important gathering. It allows me, in fact, to meet and connect with and through you, all the consecrated men and women of Canada; connecting with all the members of your respective communities who enrich the Church of Christ that is in Canada with your various charisms and through your services and ministries.<\/p>\n

I greet you with affection and I thank the Lord for who you are, and for what you do, within the Church and for the world.<\/p>\n

Looking at you today, the first thing that spontaneously arises is my desire to share with you two personal \u201cpreferences\u201d one could say \u2013 of Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

The first preference is for women religious:\u00a0 \u201cWhat would the Church be without nuns?\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cWhat would the Church be lacking if there were no longer women religious?\u00a0 May would be missing on the day of Pentecost!\u00a0 There is no Church without Mary!\u00a0 There is no Pentecost without Mary!\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The second preference is for consecrated persons of advanced age. Says Pope Francis:\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll tell you something. I so enjoy when I come across those elderly women and men religious with eyes that shine, because they have the flame of spiritual life alight. It hasn\u2019t gone out, that flame has not gone out!\u00a0 Go forth today, each day, and keep working and look to tomorrow with hope, always ask the Lord to send us new vocations, so our work of consecration can go forward.\u00a0 Memory:\u00a0 do not forget the first call!\u00a0 Daily work and then the hope of going forward and sowing well, so that others who come after us can receive the legacy that we shall leave them.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

In preparing for this meeting I asked myself: What is it that I could say to the consecrated men and women of Canada? Frankly, I have already been able to share some things with you during the Year of Consecrated Life and on the occasion of visits and meetings. I think, for example, of the meeting of the \u201cBenjamins of the Consecrated Life\u201d last November at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, and visits \u2013 which I would like to do more frequently \u2013 to your houses and your communities.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, because I do not represent myself but represent, notwithstanding my limitations, the person and pastoral ministry of the Pope, the Successor of Peter, I thought that the most easy thing for me and the most useful for you, would be to call to mind the \u2018three words\u2019 that Pope Francis bequeathed to you at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life.\u00a0 I will accompany them with a few brief reflections.<\/p>\n

The first word is that of prophecy<\/strong>. You know that the favorite image of Pope Francis to define the identity of a consecrated person is that of a prophet: \u201cReligious people are prophets.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat prophecy does the Church and the world expect from you?\u00a0 You are called, first of all, to proclaim with your life, even before your words, the reality of God:\u00a0 to speak God.\u00a0 If at times he is rejected or marginalized or ignored, we must ask ourselves whether\u00a0 perhaps we have not been transparent enough to his Face, showing our own instead.\u00a0 The Face of God is that of a Father \u201cmerciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love\u201d (Ps. 103 [102]:8).\u00a0 In order to make him known it is important to have a personal relationship with him; and for this it takes the capacity to adore him, to cultivate friendship with him day after day, through a heart of heart conversation in prayer, especially in silent adoration.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

I perceive in these words a faithful echo of the fundamental points of the \u201cpastoral program\u201d that Pope St. John Paul II gave the Church when it entered the Third Millennium:\u00a0 \u201cNo, we shall not be saved by a formula but by a Person, and the assurance which he gives us:\u00a0 I am with you!\u00a0 It is not therefore a matter of inventing a \u201cnew program\u201d.\u00a0 The program already exists:\u00a0 it is the plan found in the Gospel and in the living Tradition, it is the same as ever.\u00a0 Ultimately it has its centre in Christ himself, who is to be known, loved and imitated, so that in him we may live the life of the Trinity, and with him transform history until its fulfillment in the heavenly Jerusalem.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

My dear religious: the more you live faithfully, preserve, deepen and develop your \u201ccharisma\u201d, that is to say, that particular \u201cexperience of the Spirit<\/em>\u201d that your Founders transmitted to you (cf. Mutuae Relationes<\/em>, 11), the more you will \u2018speak\u2019 God and the more you \u2018will make Him known\u2019. It is precisely through these \u201ccharisms\u201d that the Holy Spirit enlivens the Church and transforms humanity. Your founders, the saints, are the true artisans of authentic human progress. \u201cRemember, my spiritual director would tell me during my years in seminary, that only saints build up the Church and humanize the world.\u201d This is what you can and should do, as well!<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople seem to live ignoring the supernatural realities, indifferent to the question of salvation \u2013 so taught Blessed Ildefonso Schuster, a Benedictine, and a great Archbishop of Milan (1929-1954) \u2013 But if an authentic saint, alive or dead, passes by, all will flock to see him on his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can ask ourselves this question: if today the Founders of your Congregations returned and visited your communities, would they recognize themselves in them?\u00a0 Would they rejoice in seeing that the work they started has grown and that you are doing \u201ceven greater works\u201d (John 14:12)?\u00a0 Dear women and men religious, are you conscious of the \u201cspiritual energy\u201d that your Founders have placed into your hands?\u00a0 \u201cEnergy\u201d capable of igniting in many hearts the light of faith, fueling the fervor of charity, and sustaining the strength of hope?<\/p>\n

The second word that Pope Francis has given you is that of proximity<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cGod, through Jesus, made himself close to every man and every woman.\u00a0 He shared the joy of the spouses at Cana in Galilee and the anguish of the widow of Nain; he entered the house of Jarius, touched by death, and in the house of Bethany, perfumed with nard; he took sickness and suffering upon himself, until giving his life as a ransom for all.\u00a0 Following Christ means going there where he has gone; taking upon oneself, as a Good Samaritan, the wounded whom we meet on the street; going in search of the lost sheep. Being like Jesus, close to the people, sharing with them their joys and their sorrows; showing, with our love, the paternal face of God and the maternal caress of the Church.\u00a0 May no one ever feel distant, detached, closed and therefore barren.\u00a0 Each of you is called to serve your brothers and sisters, following your own charism: some by praying, some through catechesis, some through teaching, some by caring for the sick or the poor, some by announcing the Gospel, some by performing various works of mercy.\u00a0 The important thing is not living for oneself, as Jesus did not live for himself, but for the Father and for us.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Two questions.<\/p>\n

The first: \u201cWho is the first neighbor for a religious?\u201d You know the answer: it is the brother or sister within your community; these are your first neighbors.\u00a0 For this reason, allow me to call you to compete in love, seeing your brother or sister within your community as a person who belongs to you: I am in this sister; this sister is in me; this brother lives in me; I live in this brother (cf. Romans 12:10).[8]<\/a>\u00a0 Living \u2018proximately\u2019, you will make room for God\u2019s presence among you, and then you will truly be prophets.<\/p>\n

My second question is: are we spiritually and materially close to people? Are our lives and our religious houses close to the standard of people or are we far away?\u00a0 So then, let us transform our houses and our communities so as to live a genuine \u2018proximity\u2019. And verify afterwards, where we are in this regard.<\/p>\n

Now we come to the third word of Pope Francis, which harmonizes well with the theme of your Assembly: hope<\/strong>. \u201cIn bearing witness to God and his merciful love, with the grace of Christ you can instill hope in this humanity of ours marked by various reasons for anguish and fear and at times tempted to be discouraged. You can make felt the renewing power of the Beatitudes, of honesty, of compassion; the value of goodness, of the simple, essential, meaningful life.\u00a0 You can nourish hope in the Church. I think for example, of ecumenical dialogue.\u00a0 The meeting a year ago among consecrated people of various Christian confessions was a beautiful innovation, which deserves to be carried on. The charismatic and prophetic witness of the life of consecrated people, in its various forms, can help to recognize all of us more united and foster full communion.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Of course, a strong temptation against hope might arise \u2013 and sometimes arises \u2013 due to the lack of vocations, which is a \u201cproblem of vital and fundamental importance for the community of believers and for all humanity.\u201d[10]<\/a>\u00a0 A community without vocations is indeed \u201clike a family without children.\u201d[11]<\/a>\u00a0 Consequently, \u201cwe must consider as impoverished, an ecclesial community deprived of the witness of consecrated persons.\u201d[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

At this point, the painful question arises again: \u201cWhy are there so few vocations?\u201d We could of course reply: because even today, more than ever, there is one who just got married, one who bought a field, and one trying a pair of oxen (Luke 14:18-20); in other words, the lack of vocations is due to the refusal or polite excuses given by the person who is actually called.\u00a0 This is true!\u00a0 But is it not also true that vocations diminish because the call from our side is soft, weak?\u00a0 We cannot simply say that young people lack generosity. It must also be added that our life \u2013 religious or priestly \u2013 is perhaps, not always lived out with joy, enthusiasm, the fullness of love vis-\u00e0-vis the cross, with the total gift of self, with the brightness of our example, with the strength of unity and love, and with the certainty that living in community is the way by which we are sanctified, and thus, truly human.<\/p>\n

About hope and on this theme of vocations, let me repeat what I wrote to you during the Year of Consecrated Life: \u201cAs Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake\u2026 He said to them:\u00a0 \u201cCome follow me\u2026\u201d (Mark 1:16-17). It is Jesus who calls. The Lord is the author of a vocation.\u00a0 Wherever He is, the call resonates. So if no one comes, one can only wonder and ask: \u201cBut is he there?\u201d In other words, one has to wonder if Jesus is present in us and within our communities, because we know that where the Lord is present, He works, He calls.\u00a0 It is true that problems are not lacking; it is also possible that we have passed through a testing time\u2026 but if nobody comes, it probably means there is something to consider from our side.\u00a0 Because if Jesus is there, he makes things happen.\u00a0 Jesus in each of us, Jesus among us \u2013 that is to say \u2013 in the community:\u00a0 this is the true and the only net that brings forth vocations.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is why the Church asks you, persons of consecrated life, to be the \u201cexperts of communion\u201d (Vita Consecrata<\/em>, 46).\u00a0 That is, \u201cto grow the spirituality of communion\u201d above all \u201cin<\/strong>\u201d your communities, and \u201cbetween<\/strong>\u201d the different Religious Families, then \u201cto<\/strong>\u201d the entire fraternal community and to all humanity.\u00a0 So with unanimous charity, you will unite your voice to the chorus and confident invocation of the Church:\u00a0 Maran\u00e0-tha, Come Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20).\u00a0 You will attract new vocations and, like the disciples on the lake, you will have \u201cone hundred and fifty-three large fish\u201d (John 21:11).<\/p>\n

It is communion, always best lived and constantly renewed in your communities which is both the source and the sure hope of new vocations.\u00a0 Prayer also:\u00a0 it is as important as the first.\u00a0 An insistent and trusting prayer like that of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who cried with her whole heart to God:\u00a0 \u201cI want a son!\u201d (cf. 1 Sam. 1:9-18).\u00a0 \u201cI ask you:\u00a0 does your heart, facing this drop in vocations, pray with this intensity?\u00a0 Are you crying out to the Lord:\u00a0 \u2018Our congregation needs sons, our congregation needs daughters\u2026\u2019?\u00a0 The Lord, who has been so generous, will not fail in his promise.\u00a0 But we have to ask him for it.\u00a0 We have to knock at the door of his heart.\u201d[13]<\/a><\/p>\n

I am going to conclude once again with the words of Pope Francis and I would like each and every one of you to welcome them as words addressed to you personally:\u00a0 \u201cDear brothers and sisters, in your daily apostolate, do not let yourselves be conditioned by age or by number.\u00a0 What counts most is the capacity to repeat the initial \u201cyes\u201d to the call of Jesus who continues to make himself heard, in an ever new way, in every season of life.\u00a0 His call and our response keep our hope alive.\u00a0 Prophecy, proximity, hope. \u00a0By living this way, you will have joy in your heart, the distinctive sign of the followers of Jesus and more so of consecrated people.\u00a0 Your life will be more attractive to so many men and women, by the glory of God and through the beauty of the Bride of Christ, the Church.\u201d[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, do not forget to bring the greetings, affection, esteem and gratitude of Pope Francis \u2013 and mine \u2013 to your sisters and your brothers. Thank you!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Extemporaneous address by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Address of Pope Francis to the International Union of Superior Generals (UISG), May 12, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Comments of Pope Francis, Conclusion of Mass, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2, 2016.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Interview with Pope Francis by La Civilt\u00e0 Cattolica, September 19, 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Written Address of Pope Francis at the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Novo Millennio Ineunte, 29<\/em><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>Written Address of Pope Francis for the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Novo Millennio Ineunte, 43<\/em><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Written Address of Pope Francis for the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Pope St. John Paul II, Message for the 21st<\/sup> World Day of Vocations<\/em><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Pope St. John Paul II, Message for the 23rd<\/sup> World Day of Vocations<\/em><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Pope St. John Paul II, Message for the 24th<\/sup> World Day of Vocations<\/em><\/p>\n

[13]<\/a>Extemporaneous address by His Holiness Pope Francis at the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Written Address of Pope Francis for the Jubilee for Consecrated Life, February 1, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Address of the Apostolic Nuncio, Montr\u00e9al May 27, 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45,22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1827,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1826\/revisions\/1827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.nuntiatura.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}