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Introduction:
- The Church does not not
exist for itself but for the Kingdom of God: to be a
sign and instrument of communion with God and with the Risen Christ, the
communion between people, the communion with the whole of creation.
- The Song of Mary as
point of departure: God identifies with a) the humble; b) the
powerless; c) the hungry.
1. The spiritual
struggle in the world of today
1.1 Pride (the
desire to appear) vs
sincerity•
-
Pride is of
all times. Pascal:
'We want to lead an imaginary life in the eyes of
others.
-
Colin: a) pride especially part of culture of his time: We live in
an age of pride'; b) pride of his time is rooted in unbelief; c) to
be cured by the example of Mary.
-
Today: 7
am what I appear': a) desire for status symbols; b) incited by mass
media - virtual reality; c) nurtured by market; d) morbid forms of the
desire to
appear: 'body made
to order'.
1.2 Lust for
power (desire to be in control) vs communion
Lust for power is of all
times. John Locke: The world is full of big robbers and
small robbers, but since the big robbers are in control of power they are
rewarded
whereas the small robbers are punished.
Colin: a) arrogance is
especially part of the culture of his time: 'Every age has
had a certain arrogance, and ours has more than its share'. 'Today man is
more
jealous than ever of his independance'; b) arrogance and lust for
power rooted in
unbelief; c) to be cured by the example of Mary.
Today: a) lust for power as
social disease: domestic violance and bullying: 'You
feel like you are nothing'', b) powerlessness of asylum seekers and
refugees; c)
power of share holders; d) domination and exploitation of the earth.
1.3 Greed (desire
to have) vs solidarity
Greed is of all times (St.
Augustine: 'Do you think it's a small matter that you are
eating someone else's food?"1).
Colin: a) greed is
especially part of the culture of his time: 'Our age does not like
the poor'; his age is age of materialism; b) greed of his time
rooted in unbelief; c)
to be cured by example of Mary.
Today: a) child poverty not
only in third world countries, but also in Europe; b)
greed accepted as something normal ('It is the nature of structural sin
to seem
normal'; c) link between greediness of the have's and poverty
of the have-nots.
2. The Church called to take sides with the humble, the
powerless and the hungry
-
Church called to identify with the humble, the powerless
and the hungry. But to do so, it needs itself to become a humble Church,
less relying on power and wealth.
2.1
Church and pride
« 1 Cor :8: 'Let us keep the
feest ...with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth' ('Sincerus'
= without wax?).
- Desire to appear in the history of the
Church (the facade of St. Peter).
- Colin: priests bent on applause in stead of
conversion; close to the elite in stead of
the poor and/or rural people; religious competing in prestige (schools,
reputation).
- In the life of the Church today:
- personal life of Christians: external
motivations (what do others think of me?)
- community life: pride that prevents us from
asking for forgiveness
- social life of the Church: honorary posts,
titles, decorations and hierarchical precedence
- moral life of the Church: the link between
institutional pride and the abuse problem
2.2
Church and power
• Luke 22:24f.: 'The kings of the Gentiles lord it
over them... But you are not be like that... the one who rules should be like the one who serves'.
Use of (spiritual, political and even military) power in
the history of the Church
Colin: Church should not depend on
political power and should not bring people to conversion by force (case of Count de Montlosier)
In the life of the Church today:
personal life: the desire to be in control
of things; the difficulty of letting go;
community: violence by words, by silence,
difficulty of accepting differences, bullying;
social life of Church: communion in stead
of power (equal roles for laity, for women);
moral life of the Church: safety of
children and women.
2.3
Church and greed
Matthew 19:24: 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of God';
Difficulty of the Church over the centuries
to live out this part of the Gospel;
Colin is upset to hear priests always
talking about bishops and money;
In the life of the Church today:
-personal life: many Christians leave Gospel
aside when it affects their purse;
-community life: what do parishes, religious
communities know about refugees, asylum
-seekers, homeless, imprisoned, nearby?
-social and moral life of the Church:
evangelical use of property?3. Conclusion of the first part:
'The Society must begin a new Church over again...We too
must gather together everyone through the Third Order...' (A Founder
Speaks, 120,1). A new Church for the people of today should be a more true
and sincere Church, a more communion focused and participatory Church and a
Church that in its way of living, thinking and acting expresses a deep
concern for the poor and for their earth.
4. THE MARIAN WAY
4.1 Two images of Mary: Mary as Mother and Mary as Commander
in chief
Constitutions of Colin: a) Marists
following a loving Mother and b) fighting under
her banner.
The prayer of Cardinal Danneels: 'Holy
Mary, teach us to say Yes' and the prayer
of George Courson: 'Holy Mary, teach
us to say 'No'.
4.2
Mary and the three No's of Colin
- no to glory and prestige: 'hidden and
unknown';
- no to lust for power: open to advice
different from one's own opinion;
- no to greed: 'reject entirely greed from
the house of the blessed Virgin';
- three no's apply to every member of Marist
family;
- three no's reflect Utopian dream of Colin,
but printed in negative;
- three no's: important is not the literal
sense but that Mary should be in our lives what she was in Colin's life: a
bearer of hope, inviting us to answer the needs of our secularized world;
- three no's are equally against the ennemies
inside and outside, but we have to start inside.
4.3 The Marian face of the Church
4.3.1 No to the desire to appear:
'Hidden and unknown'
« Easily misunderstood: Mayet:
'Yes, it is the hidden life that Father [Colin]
extols, but it is LIFE';
Test of veracity: ' Work in depth, even when nothing or little is seen,
for it is there that the essential is often to
be found.'
Principle of pastoral: the messenger needs to step back in order to make
room for the message;
Principle of education: Marguerite Lena in
address to Education Forum Rome 2004: like
plants hidden in the soil, the process of education follows the law of
hidden growth;
Principle of ecological care: 'If humanity is to survive
it must step off its pedestal
and rediscover its proper place within the total network of
relationships thqt is our earth community' (Paul
Walsh).
4.3.2 No to lust
for power:
'Mary following the will of others rather than
her own'
easily misunderstood: only the strong are
able to abstain from imposing
themselves;
Mary as image of servant Church;
Marian Church focused on communion in stead
of being occupied with questions
of power;
Abstinence from power as pastoral
principle. Colin: We must win souls by
submitting ourselves to them';
Communion of all the faithful more
fundamental than distinction hierarchy-laity.
- Mary as image of Servant Church does not
allow questions of hierarchy, prestige
and power become stumbling stones towards unity (Walsingham);
- Marian Church is safe place for vulnerable
and powerless (cf. Gerald Arbuckle
about rules for those who assist victims);
- Education means refraining from power
(again comparison with the growing
process of plant).
4.3.3 No to greed:
'Mary horrified
by the spirit of greed'
-
In our personal lives:
how to live out the spirit of Mary in our consumer society?
-
What
about refugees and homeless (demanding our interest, our time, our
resources)?
-
What about supporting
initiatives and projects that fight the spirit of consumerism
(for instance CAFOD's
Livesimply)!
-
No to greed as basic principle
of education (temptation to substitute love and
attention by gadgets, toys, sweets and pocket money).
5. Marist Way
5.1
Marist Way Spirituality: contemplative and
practical
5.2
Challenges for the future
-
Clarify more precisely what it
means to be a lay Marist, theoretically and practically;
-
in relationship between Marist
religious and lay Marists to move from
dependence' and 'independence' to ''inter-dependence';
-
In every country promote
communication between lay Marists connected either
with Marist brothers, or Marist sisters, or Missionary Sisters or Marist
fathers;
-
On international level promote
communication between lay Marists.
Conclusion
A new Church for today
should be a more true and sincere Church, more communion focused and
participatory, a Church that in its way of living, thinking and acting
expresses a deep concern for the poor and for their earth.
This way of living,
thinking and acting is the way of Mary, the Marian way.
Members of the Marist Way
and Marist religious need each other, not just the way they need
brotherly relations with any community. Relationships within our Marist
family are important in a different way. The way we support each other
affects directly the nature or our Marist mission, the work of Mary.
This work of Mary is: to be the
support of the Church as it comes to birth in these
latter days of pride, lust for power and greediness; to gather the
people of God. in its diversity represented by
the branches of the Marist family. The Marist family
is sign of this Marian people and should therefore be open for
religious and lay people, men and women, young
and old, learned and unskilled, rich and poor,
sinners and just. It should focus all its energy on increasing communion.
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