The Core of the Charism

The following of Jesus according to Alphonsus, is lived in preaching the divine word to the poor, as the Lord already said of himself… The Spirit has sent me to preach the Good News…(Luke 4, 16). The lifestyle proposed, then, does not seek to imitate the virtues of Christ and performing ascetical practices. Alphonsus does not intend us to be photocopies of the Lord. For him, the following of Jesus is understood in the dynamic modeling of the Congregation’s purpose according to the very Mission of the First Missionary of God’s divine Mercy.

To follow Jesus and to give ourselves to the preaching of Good News to the poor constitute a unified process, just as fulfilling the Father’s will and preaching the good news to the poor were one and the same for Jesus. Everything Jesus said and did, his whole life, was intrinsically related to his Mission – and so it should be with us. We are touching here the core of our charism. From this underlying “principle” flows the unifying force of Redemptorist spirituality.

Alphonsus and God’s Love

Alphonsus’ relationship to God was characterized by an experience of God’s passionate love for us in Jesus. If faith had not assured us of it, writes Alphonsus, who could ever have believed that a God, almighty, most happy, and the Lord of all, should have condescended to love man to such an extent that he seems to go out of himself for the love of him? Over and over, at the heart of his counsels, arguments, pleas, preaching and exhortations, we find the experience of this love.

This love sows in us the desire to be with and live for the one who loved us first. In our relationship with Jesus, his love moves us to look beyond the status quo to generate a new vision of life and to continually seek to make ever more sincere and generous our response to his love. We just will not be content with mediocrity and injustice.

Spirit of Contemplation

Jesus went about with his eyes open to what happened around him. One day he was in the Temple and saw a situation that escaped nearly everyone – or, at least, its significance. He saw the rich putting their money contribution into the “basket”. He then saw an old, very poor widow put in a few coins. He knew the situation of these women – there were so many around, particularly in his own town. It hit him: this old lady had put in more than the rich for she gave from what she truly needed to survive, not from an excess that could be used for anything.

Besides making us aware of what real generosity and self-giving are, this incident and comments of Jesus makes us realize that we also should move about during the day with our eyes open to what God has to say and teach us. With our eyes and ears open, in a spirit of contemplation, we become open to what daily life and reality has to reveal to us about God and our life in the Spirit. Seen from God’s perspective reality can be perceived in a totally different way. What seems insignificant acquires tremendous depth. And vice-versa, certain things that seem important can be seen for what they are: empty of meaning, hypocritical, maybe even malicious.

This attitude and spirit of contemplation are a fruit of the life in the Spirit of Christ. We need to develop and mature in this capacity to “see”, “understand” in order to act rightly.

The Kingdom of God

Today the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Christ, the King. It marks the end of the ligurgical year (Cycle B). Next week, with the first Sunday of Advent, begins the new liturgical year.

At the heart of the feast is the Kingdom of God. It is important to realise that the Kingdom of God is not a place, a region or state. It must be understood in a dynamic sense: the reigning of God. It speaks of what happens when and where God reigns.

Where God reigns relationships change. Love, mercy and justice reign. God’s justice, in particular, is unique: he takes sides with the weak, the suffering, the neglected, the rejected, the excluded. He is there, alongside the poor! God did not just become man, he became a poor man. Blessed are you poor, for yours is the Kingdom! God does not place conditions on the poor for being with them. Of course, God does not neglect all his children and creatures. He has more than just a preferential love: he gives himself uniquely and freely.

When God reigns changes come about. Behold I make all things new! Love, mercy and justice change relationships: with oneself, with others, with God, with creation. Human beings begin to be and act in response to God’s commitment. Solidarity becomes militant. It is not a matter of becoming tolerant but of becoming truly loving and generous.

We cannot be like the “good son” in the parable of the prodigal son. It is of no use to protest against the love of a Father who welcomes back home the ungrateful son with a huge party. Life is not a matter of doing many good things. It is all about real Love, about loving the way God loves.

Spirit and Spirituality

Spirituality, in the Christian tradition, flows from a life in the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, the son of God, the Christ. We follow Jesus, in the Spirit, on the road towards the realization of the Kingdom of God (the will of the Father). It is in the Spirit that we learn to see as God sees and to act as God acts. It is the Spirit who brings us together into common-union, in community. The Spirit of Love brings us together on the road to the Father, like the person who sews together the most disparate pieces of cloth into one beautiful quilt. In the Spirit the diversity becomes a gift for realizing true unity (which is not uniformity). The Spirit gives to each different gifts for the sake of the common-unity.

In our tradition the Spirit does not alienate us from history. The Spirit, rather, drives us into the very heart of daily life and its demands. We can count on the Spirit to have enough strength to be able to respond to the challenges of history, to participate in the liberating dynamism of the realization of the Kingdom. He will never abandon us and his Love will nurture us at every moment.

The Challenge of Spirituality

It is said that there is today a great thirst and search for spirituality. To seek the path of maturing in spirituality presents great, albeit fascinating, challenges. One of the most significant is to grow in one’s capacity to see and to listen. One must put out an effort to go beyond the insignificant and the superficial. As we walk on, we begin to detect clearer signs of God’s liberating presence in history, events, situations.

Much too often we construct images of God and of who we are as human beings that we must discard somewhere along the path. Simply because they are not right. They do not correspond to who God really is and who we are. The adventure is found here: in starting a new relationship with God, with ourselves, with others, with creation.

This blog is an invitation to grow in our spirituality. Saint Alphonsus de Liguori and the redemptorist tradition will be our guide and companions. It is a forum for sharing and commenting on our growth in the Spirit. Your participation is welcome.