Charism, Prophesy and Witness

Missionary Institutes and Synodality in the Context of Charism

How can structures free us for the way of the Spirit or hinder us from truly listening to the Spirit?

Structures can either enable or impede our ability to listen to the Spirit. They can free us when they foster openness and flexibility, which are essential for synodality. This involves a willingness to let go, reimagine, and change, actively seeking God's path together. Religious communities have often done this implicitly for decades, making them valuable examples of synodality. The "dance" between leadership and the participation of all in congregational life is crucial. However, structures become hindrances when they promote fear—fear of losing power, influence, or a narrow understanding of identity. When communities cling to what they have, viewing "letting go" as a loss rather than a necessary step for growth and maturation, they hinder the Spirit. Structures that confuse identity with fixed institutions, rituals, or habits also limit the flow of the Spirit. True identity is rooted in the charism as a gift from God that allows participation in Christ's mission.

What is the Spirit saying to us as a group regarding missionary institutes and synodality in the context of charism?

The Spirit is calling us to:

• Embrace Openness and Collaboration: We must pray for openness to the Holy Spirit, allowing us to release preconceived ideas and foster creativity in a synodal mission. This involves working together without leaving anyone behind, recognizing that "if you want to go far, go together." The Spirit urges us to move from "I" to "we," not just for numerical strength but because collaboration is essential to the Trinitarian gift of charism.

• Return to Our Roots and Interpret Charism Anew: It's essential to reflect on our founding charism and individual charisms, interpreting them in today's context to respond meaningfully to current needs. This deepens our understanding of charism, allowing it to be expressed in new ways that align with contemporary challenges. The Divine Ruah (Spirit) challenges us to reimagine our mission, compelling us to embody the values of our founders while remaining firm in them, returning to simplicity with joy and hope.

• Cultivate Humility and Wisdom: We need the humility to be authentic and honest as consecrated persons, which enables us to recognize and appreciate the gifts of others. Praying for wisdom helps us to judge rightly and distinguish between good and evil, guiding us faithfully in our calling as disciples. This humility also counters clericalism and superiority, fostering a spirit of "living with" others.

• Engage in Ongoing Formation and Conversion: Placing Christ at the center of our spiritual and community life, evidenced by openness, collaboration, respect, and conversion, is vital. Continuous formation at all levels is needed to enhance communication skills, navigate the synodal journey, and accept one another. This also means having the courage to embark on a conversion journey to truly embody synodality. Regular evaluation spaces are also crucial.

• Address Challenges as Opportunities: The Spirit highlights the importance of recognizing challenges as signs of the charism's fruitfulness, leading to purification, perseverance, and hope. This involves being aware of cultural, nationalistic, and ethnic divisions, and understanding that "inter" (inter-congregational, intercultural) approaches are vital for formation and ongoing collaboration at all levels.

• Understand Charism as a Dynamic Gift: Charism is a personal gift from the Spirit that enriches and rejuvenates an institute over time. It must be translated into personal and institutional spirituality, validated by its ability to respond to the “cry of the people.” The synodal path helps us deepen our understanding of our charisms by listening to the Spirit and each other, fostering a shared journey where we learn from and appreciate the beauty of others' charisms.

Missionary Institutes and Synodality in the Context of Prophecy

Are missionaries today sufficiently prophetic, and in what ways?

Missionaries today are actively on the synodal path, which serves as a vital opportunity to live out their prophetic missionary vocation. This means planting and sowing seeds of hope, peace, justice, and reconciliation. Being prophetic involves making God present in a concrete way for humanity, reflecting God's gaze and merciful love through both their being and actions. This often necessitates a counter-cultural attitude, promoting generative silence, accepting suffering, making non-consumerist choices, and showing deep respect for every human being and all creation.

Prophecy, in the complex and wounded world of today, is not about providing simplistic answers. Instead, it's about asking open questions that lead to a continuous search for God's call in diverse contexts. A prophet is someone who sees reality and interprets it through God's eyes, being deeply in tune with God's pathos and, consequently, with the pain of the people. This mystical connection to God's suffering fuels prophetic action.

While there's still much growth needed, there's a clear germ of prophetic spirit evident in the eschatological tension of "already, but not yet"—action is now, but the gaze is set on a broader horizon. The Final Document of the Synod affirms the prophetic role of Consecrated Life, noting that many communities serve as "laboratories of interculturality, discernment, and harmony." This positive affirmation encourages us to recognize the Spirit's life and action within our congregations.

By virtue of their baptism and call, missionaries are inherently prophets. This prophetic identity is actively lived out by:

• Empowering the marginalized: Missionaries act as a voice for the voiceless, working to empower women, youth, and men who are on the peripheries.

• Moving beyond comfort zones: This requires missionaries to be with those in the periphery and build communities that evolve to meet contemporary needs, thus becoming more authentic and relevant.

• Listening to the prophetic voice of Jesus: Finding the echoes of His voice in every person and context, and leveraging their power to effect change while embracing the power of vulnerability.

• Avoiding institutional preoccupation: Recognizing the risk of becoming too focused on institutional maintenance, which can hinder their prophetic potential. Instead, they are called to live simply and interculturally, opening their eyes to the suffering of others and moving forward with purpose.

• Responding creatively to prophetic needs: This includes engaging in social justice, interfaith dialogue, and environmental stewardship.

Missionary Institutes and Synodality in the Context of Witness

How can we be witnesses to synodality as missionaries in the Church and in the world?

To be an effective witness to synodality, missionaries must cultivate specific attitudes and practices:

• Personal Conversion to Synodality: It begins with a personal conversion to "being" synodality in all aspects of life. This means seeing others with "God's eyes" and listening deeply with humility to discern the Spirit's voice speaking through them.

• Embracing a Collaborative and Reciprocal Spirit: Walking together in the spirit of synodality demands openness to collaboration and reciprocity in sharing gifts to empower each other for the mission. This translates into pastoral interaction, communal discernment in decision-making, and meaningful encounters, ensuring everyone is involved.

• Living an Authentic Charismatic Identity: Missionaries must live authentically the gift they've received, which calls them individually and communally to conversion and holiness. They must truly embody their charismatic identity, inherited from their founders, in today's world. This collective dimension is beautifully illustrated by the images of candles sharing light in the darkness (where each candle contributes to a collective glow) and wheat seeds growing together in a field (each seed dies to bear fruit, but needs the support of others to mature). These images highlight the TOGETHER, SYNODAL dimension, rather than an individualistic one, emphasizing that while each "candle must burn" and "seed must die" (individual commitment), growth and fruitfulness depend on collective support.

• Creating Structured Communal Paths: We must work in a structured way with communities, congregations, employees, colleagues, and ecclesial groups towards synodality. This emphasizes the importance of mutuality in relationships, valuing differences and the unique gifts of all. It involves building bridges and being intentionally inclusive, fostering participation and communion to walk together in mission.

• Embracing a Continuous Journey: Recognizing that the synodal journey is never complete; it's a lifelong spiritual process that demands ongoing openness to the Spirit's movement and a willingness to discern where God is calling to respond to contemporary needs.

• Cultivating Humility and Reciprocity: Foster an attitude of humility, being open to learning from others—whether they are community members, collaborators, or the people who welcome us. This involves valuing everyone, healing wounded relationships, and living out reciprocity, trust, honesty, and continuous discernment. Initial formation should specifically aim to develop candidates' openness, authenticity, and ability to live in reciprocal relationships.

• Living Authentically and Prophetically: Witnessing synodality requires missionaries to be true to their charism and spirituality, living their vocation authentically and prophetically. This means making synodality "our way of life," discerning and walking together in the spirit of synodality.

• Moving Beyond Comfort Zones to the Peripheries: A crucial aspect of being a synodal witness is the willingness to leave comfort zones and go out to the peripheries, where needs are often greatest.

• Committing to Ongoing Conversion and Formation for Communion: Witnessing synodality is an ongoing process of conversion that brings us closer to the Spirit. From this spiritual foundation, we develop a spirituality of hospitality, openness, and communion, fostering growth in listening, discerning, and participating together. Continuous formation for communion is essential to strengthen our unity in Christ and enable us to be true witnesses.

Embodying Inclusion and Creating Together: A synodal way of being calls for attitudes of inclusion, reciprocity, mutual listening, respect, and enrichment. Committing to these attitudes impels us to bear fruit in concrete actions where we create together. This very act of togetherness—for instance, through networking—is a powerful witness in itself.