From February 12 to 13 was held in the Retreat House San José, El Escorial, the annual meeting of superiors, brothers and sisters, of the Iberian Peninsula. This time the subject was “religious life which goes forth”. It featured the presence of Sebastian Mora, Secretary General of Spanish Caritas and a member of Caritas International.
In his orderly presentation, Sebastian Mora pointed out that this "Church which goes forth", to which Pope Francis invites us, it is not to take down the tent and to go elsewhere but to enter into a process that necessarily includes three stages (his three lectures) :
First he presented an analysis of reality, data and statistics with personal experiences of situations: “realizing the weight of reality” (hacerse cargo de la realidad). A current reality is characterized by complexity (therefore requiring to avoid fundamentalisms), by uncertainty, by individual and structural vulnerability, by a widespread poverty that has become "chronic", by an economic crisis that is not due to lack of production but by a lack of solidarity: there is no lack of money, but because we do not know what to do with it; this is why this phrase of the poor is so significant: "Poverty does not scare us, we are outraged by the inequality" (the poor who do not have food, are seeing how food is being thrown away).
Secondly he reflected on "shouldering the weight of reality” (cargar con la realidad), taking the periphery as hermeneutical place, ie, a point of view from which we see globally. He invited to avoid wrong ways to go to the periphery, very common among "volunteers": "Surfers", who do not deepen into the reality but only aiming to be seen; "Smartphones", living the reality virtually, concerned about showing and displaying it, but not living it; "Washing machine", that takes many turns (busy with many activities) but does not “move” and creates a vacuum inside. The encounter with those who suffer and suffering with them is essential.
Finally, the third stage is: “taking charge of the weight of reality” (encargarse de la realidad). A religious life that is to appear as different but not distant, because being different is testimonial, but being distant is weird. Beyond a kerygmatic preaching, or even a pastoral of accompaniment (Emmaus), we have to learn the model of Jesus with the Samaritan woman, to whom the Lord himself asks: "Give me a drink." We need more witnesses than theologians.
Finally, in our discernment we might ask ourselves: Are we with whom nobody wants to be? Where nobody wants to be? How nobody wants to be? What are we offering and what is preventing us to offer?
02/15/2016