I would like to summarize at the beginning of the New Year the address of Pope Francis to the third world congress of Ecclesial movements and new communities, November 22, 2014. BLD is one of more than 30 relatively small Ecclesial, communities in the Archdiocese of Newark. It is then important for us to renew and reflect on the basis of our BLD community life and how it fits into the life of the larger church. The holy father made three points in his address which I would like to outline:
1. “Never lose the freshness of your charism. There is the temptation to become comfortable, and to become hardened in the way of doing things. There is the temptation to “cage” the Holy Spirit. Even if certain “institutionalization” is necessary, external structures do not guarantee the working of the Holy Spirit. (For example the ECSL with the help of a canon lawyer, is rightfully re-examining the BLD statutes to make sure they are in conformity with canon law.) Our basic charism, if I can summarize, can be found in the second chapter of the statutes. There it states that the purpose of the BLD community is to empower the laity for evangelization and to promote the values of the Kingdom of God among couples and individuals through the encounter and renewal programs. I think the holy father would be very pleased with our activities, but as he also says “be open to the surprises of God.”
2. “We must resist the temptation of usurping individual freedom. Every person has his or her own time, their path, and we must accompany this journey. Moral or spiritual progress which manipulates a person’s immaturity is only an apparent success, and is destined to fall. The Lord is patient with us.”
3. “One other consideration we must never forget is that the most precious good, the seal of the Holy Spirit is communion…….If the world sees divisions, rivalries, backbiting, the terrorism of gossip, please… if these things are seen regardless of the cause, how can we evangelize?” He reminds us that real communion cannot exist unless these movements are integrated with the greater communion of our Holy Mother, the Hierarchical Church. He says further, “when the Church takes up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of personal fulfillment” (Enagelii Gaudium). Perhaps it might be well to read the whole document, not as a criticism of our present activities, but rather as an encouragement to continue with efforts to bring others not only to our encounter and LSS weekends, but to a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus.
2. “We must resist the temptation of usurping individual freedom. Every person has his or her own time, their path, and we must accompany this journey. Moral or spiritual progress which manipulates a person’s immaturity is only an apparent success, and is destined to fall. The Lord is patient with us.”
3. “One other consideration we must never forget is that the most precious good, the seal of the Holy Spirit is communion…….If the world sees divisions, rivalries, backbiting, the terrorism of gossip, please… if these things are seen regardless of the cause, how can we evangelize?” He reminds us that real communion cannot exist unless these movements are integrated with the greater communion of our Holy Mother, the Hierarchical Church. He says further, “when the Church takes up the task of evangelization, she is simply pointing to the source of personal fulfillment” (Enagelii Gaudium). Perhaps it might be well to read the whole document, not as a criticism of our present activities, but rather as an encouragement to continue with efforts to bring others not only to our encounter and LSS weekends, but to a deeper relationship with the Lord Jesus.