– Young confreres have lost the spirit of sacrifice that was an
essential element in our Guanellian history.
– We, young confreres, have well understood the Guanellian
charism. We should be the ones to foster enculturation in our own
country. In choosing the beneficiaries of our mission, the
Congregation needs to take in consideration the needs and the
local culture.
– The young confreres from other nations going to Italy are blinded
by the consumerism and individualism proper to the western
culture. They absorb more its flaws rather than its positive values.
– The reference to one’s own culture may be a defense mechanism
that dilutes the spirit of religious life and the Guanellian spirit.
These comments should help us finding a healthy balance and
maturity in dealing with those questions or problems.
It is true that we need to show more appreciation and confidence in
the people and cultural values of a nation. At the same time, we should
have the courage to challenge each other fraternally, through the Gospel
and the spirit of our charism to value and renew our cultures. It is not
enough to have a theoretical knowledge of the charism. What is needed is
a convinced assimilation of the charism that penetrates not only the
individuals, but also the entire community network.
Strengthening our own cultural identity is very important, because it
gives us the ability to appreciate other cultures. The more one knows and
loves his own culture of origin, the more he will be able to discover the
novelties of the Spirit present in other cultures, considering them not as a
danger but as richness.
I try to exemplify by referring especially to India and Africa where
some human and evangelical values are still alive, while in other
countries they are getting lost or are experienced differently:
– The strong sense of the sacred that enfolds the whole life and
history of people, reflected even in relation with the whole
creation. An evident consequence could be found in the liturgical
expressions, in the way the Lord is praised, in the way sacred rites
are celebrated, and in a more constant and natural reference to
God in their daily life.
– The solidarity at the family level, extended to the enlarged family,
clan, or caste, while it could limit our capacity of communion, it is
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however the first step leading to unselfishness and more openness
to the universality of the evangelical command “Love your
neighbor as yourself.”
– The value of human life, even though threatened by poverty,
hunger, sickness and incessant wars, is felt as the most important
good a person may possess. From that, it originates the sense of
joy that brings people to interaction, dialog, conversation,
hospitality, joyful celebration of the most important events of
people’s life and taking time for sharing.
– The sense of providence that favors a confident relationship with
God.
– The honor of the ancestors, which allows people to be in
communion with their past.
– The sense of belonging to a community even for the most
important decisions and the individual’s pursue of his personal
vocation.
– The sense of authority, in its positive aspect, which makes it easier
to maintain family unity, communion inside the community, and
respect for the elder members of the community.
We could go on with details, including the most folkloristic
manifestations that could help us to understand the origins of the culture
However, this limited list is sufficient to have an idea of how these
elements could give new life to our charismatic values such as the
paternity of God, divine Providence, bond of charity, family spirit, our
“Little Communion of Saints,” passion for the poor, fraternal
communion...
At the same time, we could correct and purify those human
manifestations that tarnish its evangelical value by confronting ourselves
with the Spirit and the Word of God that originated the Guanellian
charism.
This task faces our young confreres. In fact, our charism will
continue to be alive in history, and in the different places where the
Guanellians are, because of their creativity, faithfulness to the essential
elements of our charism, and by keeping themselves in union with the
Congregation.
Acknowledging and removing our own limitations and those of our
culture is not an easy task. It requires study, prayer and spirit of
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abnegation. Nationalism and individualism are difficult to be rooted out,
because they can efficiently hide, disguising themselves under apparently
more positive concepts, like freedom and personal realization.
We also have the responsibility to live by the expectations of society.
It has a different meaning in different societies. The role of the priest and
religious in some cultures does not always reflect the evangelical
mentality of the servant who “wears the apron” to serve the poor.
However, even this aspect, proper to our identity as Servants of Charity,
has to find concrete and visible forms. We cannot allow ourselves to
renounce our identity because this or that particular social aspect does
not appear in our culture.
The common perception of the poor, especially the physically or
mentally disabled, is conditioned at times by an interpretation that (as in
the time of Jesus) refers to evil forces. Therefore, it may not be easy to
convey the message that we are serving Jesus Christ himself present in the
poor.
These challenges, alive and present in our Congregation, should
convince us of the great importance of formation, not only for the new
candidates, but also for our on-going formation, reawakening our
enthusiasm and passion for God and for the world.
Our Ratio rightly highlights that the first formation becomes effective
only when it can count on a constant renewal of all confreres and
Communities, because direct witness and imitation rather than studies
affect formation more.
I would like to conclude with some suggestions that could guide us in
the celebration of our Centennial of Guanellian religious life, in order to
evoke and make ours the feelings of those few confreres who surrounded
Father Guanella on that 24 March 1908, and anticipated the future
growth of the gift, which the Spirit had given them. It was a gift, which
they felt to be above their quality and potential. However, it made them
confident that the power of God could manifest itself more clearly in their
weakness. This same gift has been transmitted also to us, so that we may
join our efforts in making it universal and stronger in its charismatic
identity.
••
First of all, I would like to insist to keep alive the commitment
entrusted to us by the General Chapter, by making our personal
formation a priority in our plan of life. Given the good blossoming of new
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