Grace and freedom, growth into Christ

PERPETUALS COURSE, ODXEL, 2004

D’Mello Kimrold

Fernandes Simao

Hadke Sudhir

Sankul Cedrick

Teixeira Banzelao

Growth into Christ 

Spontaneity and autonomy. The drifter and the chooser. Life has brought you up to this point. Now is the moment to make the definitive choice. Existenz: deciding what to make of oneself. High choice, deliberate decision about one’s future. Without total clarity, without absolute guarantees, except faith in the one who has called, and who is faithful. 

Clear convictions. The virtue of faith. Intellectual conversion, and the supernatural virtue of faith: submission to what is greater than the human mind. But: no one can come to the Father unless he is drawn by me. Faith as gift. 

Clear convictions about God, about Jesus Christ, about the Church, about religious life. [Cyril Desbruslais describing the usual religious trajectory of his thinking young people: first they reject God; then they learn to accept God, but not Jesus Christ; then they learn to accept Jesus as man, but not as God; eventually they learn to accept Jesus as God and man, but reject the Church; the most difficult stage is for them to learn to accept Jesus Christ in the Church.]

You are about to begin the study of theology. You are not entering theology with blank minds, tabulae rasae. You are entering as men of sound faith. Your study of theology is for the purpose of being able to give an account of your faith (1 Pet 3:15). Fides quaerens intellectum: faith seeking understanding. Crede ut intelligas: believe that you might understand. 

In the four years to come, the study of theology will be your principal preoccupation. It will form therefore part of your spiritual growth, as a religious, as a candidate to the priesthood. Your commitment to study should form part of your daily examen of conscience, your fortnightly examen for the sacrament of reconciliation, your friendly chat, your spiritual direction. “For you I study…” There is no excuse for a Salesian priest candidate of today: he has to put his best energies into study. For he is called to be an educator and evangelizer. He is sent to young people, to all those who collaborate with him in the work for young people, to people of the working classes, to people as yet untouched by the gospel. This is a tall order. You will require all your resources, not least a sound study of sound theology. Otherwise you will avoid and evade the responsibility of teaching, preaching, animating, ruling. When the people of God ask for bread, you will give them stones. 

Read Pastores Dabo Vobis on the intellectual preparation for the priesthood. Read also Vita Consecrata. Read our constitutions and our other documents. We cannot even work for the poorest of the poor with empty heads. 

So let us not despise study, and the study of theology. Let us not give in to despising remarks about commitment to study. I do not hesitate to use the word sin here: you will be sinning, and sinning grievously against both God and your neighbour. You will be betraying your own word, that you will utter at your perpetual profession: to give of my best and all I have to those to whom I shall be sent. You will demoralize your companions. You will contribute to the decline of the quality of Salesian and religious and Christian life. You will be giving stones not bread to your young people. Don’t forget, Don Bosco spent, at the advice of his confessor and spiritual director, three years in the further study of theology. The usual extra years were two, but Don Bosco was given three. He never regretted this. During these three years, his vocation took concrete shape, and he learnt to be a priest. 

Clear convictions about Jesus Christ

The real challenge of RL today is that of restoring Christ to RL, and RL to Christ. This is one thing we cannot take for granted. To adhere ever more closely to JC is the very center of RL. RL is based on JC. Without JC, or with shaky convictions about JC, you are shaking the very foundations of RL. 

Is there no place for doubts? Newman: one thousand difficulties do not make a single doubt. ‘Difficulties’ occur within the horizon of faith. The two ways of asking questions, cf. the Jewish Passover ritual. Ask, by all means; inquire; be open; but from within the horizon of faith. 

Contemplating Christ from a Salesian standpoint

Is there a Salesian Christology? Yes. We salesians are sensitive to certain aspects of Christ. 

We begin by noting that the contemplation of the face of Christ must be, as it is for all religious, our first passion and concern. C 34: our highest knowledge is to know Jesus Christ, and our greatest delight is to reveal to all people the unfathomable riches of his mystery.

What does contemplating Christ mean? It means knowing him deeply, loving him more faithfully, following him more radically. Christology is not the fruit merely of knowledge, but also of love and of imitation. 

We note that in presenting Jesus to his boys and to the people, DB used to emphasize especially the mystical dimension: the inexhaustible kindness of the Master, his mercy, his willingness to forgive. In the lives that he wrote, he highlights friendship with Jesus. This is the front of the mantle, in the dream of 10 diamonds. 

In presenting Jesus to his Salesians, DB used to emphasize instead the ascetical dimension: the following and imitation of Christ in the consecrated life and through the counsels. However, we must be clear that this following and imitation is not painful renunciation but rather a free and joyful offering; not a list of things to be done, but a total consecration. This is the back of the mantle in the dream of 10 diamonds. These are the hidden thorns which no one sees, in the dream of the pergola of roses. 

We find the Salesian Christology most especially in C 11. 

Gratitude to the Father. Gratitude was one of the most outstanding sentiments in the human personality of DB. He wanted to pass this on in the highest degree to his sons. Mamma Margaret played an extremely important role in the development of this attitude in DB, especially through her strong sense of divine providence. We remember the strong things DB used to say about grumbling and discontentment among his boys. The positive side of this was the invitation to see life as gift. 

For the gift of a divine vocation given to all. DB was convinced that everyone has been given a divine vocation. He was convinced that in every situation, despite all limitations, deficiencies and sin, every individual is a child of God, an image of God, called to his friendship and to eternal life. This conviction gave rise in DB to hope. He was convinced that in every youngster there was a spark of goodness. More importantly, his life and his prayer was filled with gratitude for this gift of the divine vocation given to all. 

Predilection for the poor and the little ones. There is no need to demonstrate or belabour this. But we do need to note that this predilection stems not only from the generosity of DB’s heart, but from a God-given mission. DB’s attitude in front of Marchioness Barolo is normative in this regard: you have the money and will have no difficulty in finding priests for your institutions; but my poor youngsters have no one. The RM insists that, even though we speak today of new forms of poverty, we give first priority to those who are socially and economically poor. 

Zeal in preaching, healing, saving. Zeal in preaching: for DB this was so important, that it was his main request on the day of his first Mass. Also, he learnt early in life the need to reach out to the people, to speak their language, to be simple rather than to seek to impress. Zeal in preaching is closely connected to ‘reason’ in the trinomial reason, religion and loving kindness. Healing: those to whom we are sent are sick because they have been abandoned in various ways. Vecchi: all this has led us to rethink the concept of prevention: a first prevention, which is basic; a second prevention, which consists of preventing the ultimate ruin of those already on an evil path; a third prevention, which checks the worst of the evil consequences. Again, on the topic of healing, we must remember that Jesus’ miracles are directed towards the salvation of the whole person. DB seeks the total well-being of his youngsters. Saving: the climax is salvation. Don Rua reminds us: he took no step, said no word, took up no taswk that was not directed to the salvation of the young. Truly, the only concern of his heart was for souls. If we forget that the ultimate purpose of Salesian work is salvation, we fall into a reductionism which betrays the preventive system. 

Under the urgency of the coming kingdom. God’s kingdom is a dominion characterized not by domination but by fatherhood. We are not slaves or servants in the kingdom; we are sons and daughters. The coming of the kingdom is good news: it is a gift and work of God calling for human collaboration, not something we have to achieve on our own. Therefore urgency, but a hopefilled and joyful urgency. 

The attitude of the Good Shepherd who wins hearts by gentleness and self-giving. The Salesian spirit has its model and source in the heart of Christ (C 11). The Spirit formed in DB the heart of a father and teacher, capable of total self-giving (C 1). The heart of the Salesian spirit is pastoral charity (C 10), the charity of the Good Shepherd, who conquers hearts with meekness and self-giving (C 11). As he works for the salvation of the young, the Salesian experiences the fatherhood of God, and the divine dimension of his activity: apart from me you can do nothing (C 12). From the active presence of the Spirit we draw energy for our fidelity and strength for our hope (C 1). There will always be situations and confreres and boys that frustrate us. Remember DB’s advice: trust and pray rather than give long sermons or talks which hurt you and do no good to those who hear them. Resist the temptation to play God. Allow God to work. These are true words, not empty promises. God will form in us, as he formed in DB, hearts of fathers and teachers. 

Also: like the Lord who calls each sheep by name, DB achieved to an exceptional degree this personal knowledge of his boys. It is a question here not only of the pastoral love called agape but also of the more intimate kind of love called philia. 

Total self-giving: Jesus gave his life for his sheep. DB: for you I study, for you I work, for you I live, for you I am ready even to give my life. 

Clear convictions about religious life

Leslie D’Souza, ex-Salesian, course for rectors. Comes to meet the core team of the province. What would you like me to do? – We told him various things. – Where do you get your energy from? – I said, from God revealed in Jesus Christ and known through the Church. – Somebody else said: Being calm; composed; self-aware; etc. – Leslie: those are effects; and in that, you are no different from anyone else. What is it that makes you different? What are your specifics?

Leslie and others like him force us to get clear about certain basics. 

First, RL is more than a spirituality. It is more than an interest in life, or even a commitment to life, or to the inner dimension of reality, or to the ultimate, or to the transcendent. 

The postmodern ethos has led some to try to understand RL in a way that circumvents its specifically Christian character. 

This approach is theologically incoherent.

It is also practically self-destructive. 

The challenge of postmodernity can be negotiated in a different way: a way which affirms the specificity of Christianity, and at the same time allows RL to live in open dialogue and shared commitment with contemporaries. 

In the second place, RL is not merely a social organization founded for or around a project or a task. 

It is not merely a lifestyle.

It is a life. It is a total and unreserved gift of one’s whole being, to the exclusion of any and all other primary commitments. (In this respect it parallels marriage.)

RL as a life is based on what is specific to the Christian faith. 

So what is specific to Christianity?

The answer is the Resurrection. 

All religions originate, not in a constructed theory, but in a powerful religious experience. All religions must say something coherent and meaningful about death. 

The revelatory experience provides a framework, a vision of the whole of reality. Such a vision is not open to revision of its core commitments. One cannot be a little bit Christian or moderately Muslim, any more than one can be a little bit pregnant or relatively human. Believing is not an arbitrary choice. It is a response to what one perceives as true. 

The resurrection of Jesus is both the originating and non-negotiable experience at the heart of Christianity, which grounds the entire Christian vision of reality, and a response to the question of death. 

RL is based on the resurrection of Jesus. 

All authentic Christian life is participation in the resurrection of Jesus. The disciples claimed in fact to be the post-Easter body of Jesus in the world, the instrument of his presence in the world, just as our natural bodies are the instrument of our presence in the world. 

So: we are not merely a group of like-minded people living and working together for a better world with an occasional reference to Jesus. 

Our life is his life in the world.

Our activity is suffused with his real and living presence and power. 

Our project is his project, the Reign of God. 

We have chosen to make this the exclusive and primary commitment of our lives. 

Practical effects

1. Christian prayer is not merely an exercise in awareness, a practice of mindfulness, a centering of psychic energy, practices of ego-transcendence, or a merging with nature. It is clearly and unashamedly personal. It is a relationship with a person, a relationship which gradually becomes the center and effective motivation of our lives. 

Christian prayer is becoming who, by baptism, we already are: namely, the body of Christ, his living and active presence in the world. 

If this relationship to God in prayer is not nurtured continuously, if one is not growing in one’s identity with Christ, one may be a good person and an effective agent of positive change, but RL has no particular meaning for us. 

2. Mission and ministry. Is there any real difference between what religious do, and what non-believers or people of other faiths do? And is Christian ministry better than other such work? 

There is a difference: Christian ministry is not something we have decided to do. It is a response to a call, and it is rooted in a sending, a mission. 

This mission may give rise to a plurality of ministries. Ministry is neither a job nor a career. That is why religious may retire from a job or a career, but never from ministry. Their ministry is participation in Jesus’ transformation of the world. It is ongoing revelation among our contemporaries of who God is, what he desires, and how he is at work transforming reality.

Conclusion. None of the areas – faith, Christology, church, perpetual commitment, consecrated celibacy, community, prayer, ministry – can be handled separately. Either the whole project is deeply Christian, or the lifeform we call RL does not exist. 

The coherence of RL has to come from within. The RL can no longer be carried by habit, time-table, etc. It is religious themselves, their deep inner commitment, that have to carry the RL, and to make every aspect of it speak the reality of the divine human relationship at its heart. 

We can do this only if we believe that Jesus is indeed really alive, present, active within us and among us, and that our whole life is the medium and mediation of his presence and action in the world. 

The Process of Christian growth

We have spoken already of the contemplation of the face of Christ, and of the adherence to Christ which is the very center of RL. 

We have spoken also of the explicitly and unavoidably personal dimension of Christian prayer: Christian prayer is becoming who by baptism we already are: the body of Christ, his living, active presence in the world. 

Let us speak here of Christian prayer from another angle, that of growth into prayer, which is really growth into Christ. 

The first stage: purification

Grace and freedom. Some time or other you will come across spiritual authors (such as Carlos Valles) who tell you: stop trying too hard. You have no idea of the meaning of grace. It is not your effort that counts. It is God who works. So stop trying too hard. Let go, let God. Evasio in the philosophy of God class: if conversion is God’s work, then I am going to relax and just wait! You may even have been given such advice in the confessional: stop trying too hard. It is God’s work. Be patient. And you may have tried to be patient. But somehow, deep down there is the nagging suspicion. There must be some other way. There must be some other thing. 

Some of you might have encountered an older approach, the classic Jesuit approach, the masculine approach of agere contra: act against your inclinations, be strong, do it, put an end to all this shilly shallying, dilly dallying. Homines sunt voluntas. Will it! 

After many years of struggle with these feminine and masculine ways, I realized one day the connection: grace is already always given; God has already acted; he has already first loved us; so don’t wait, it has happened already, act. So both Bede Griffiths and Balaguer are correct. We are in a very deep sense ‘feminine’ before God. And yet we have to act. Simply because God has always already acted. He is always already acting. He never stops acting. My Father is always working, and he is working even now, says Jesus in the Gospel of John. 

So the very first thing about the purgative way, the way of purification, is to get clear about some basics. Believe that God is already acting in your life; call a spade a spade, and get to work. God is acting, and he is Love, so there is no need to get terrorized. But there is need to work and not to give up. “Has no one condemned you? Neither do i. Go and sin no more.” 

Natural and supernatural means. Our constitutions, following the tradition, speak of natural and supernatural means. The natural means are not to be neglected. Grace builds on nature, and both come from God. What are the natural means? Sufficient sleep and rest; exercise; and today, also all the helps that the human sciences can give. In a world affected by original sin, situations, histories and lives are not perfect. Each one of us will experience deep imperfection within us, deep down within us. Let us make use of whatever natural means God places on our paths. The Congregation has been abundant and generous in this regard. 

We know by now very well that, especially in the area of chastity, there is a great distinction to be drawn between objective sin and subjective responsibility. Masturbation, for example, is such a complex affair, with deep roots in one’s personal history, with a deep intertwining of psychological realities and personal responsibility. Here especially the human sciences can be of great utility: in the exploration of one’s personal history and make-up; in the building up of self-image, self-acceptance, self-esteem; etc. 

Sorrow. Let us presume however the absence or the overcoming of mitigating factors such as personal history and lack of self-esteem. Here is the normal situation, the standard situation. Perhaps this is a much neglected area. One such neglected element is that of sorrow for sins. When I hurt a friend or a parent or a companion, if I am truly sorry, I will not easily hurt them again. The same holds in our relationship with God: if I am truly sorry for my sins, if I truly detest them because they offend the infinite goodness of God, then I will with difficulty offend again. The problem is that most of the time