“You are Consolata Missionaries. But are you just by name or for real? You will demonstrate that you are truly so if you have the spirit of the Institute and organize your daily life in accordance with it. You must have the spirit of the Consolata Missionaries in your thoughts, words and deeds” (St. Joseph Allamano)
By Vinson Jochem *
The former Superior General, Father Stefano Camerlengo, IMC, missionary in Ivory Coast, on May 27, connected via Zoom from Dianra Village Mission with the group of missionaries celebrating 25 years of priestly ordination and/or perpetual profession, to reflect on the theme: “Rekindling the fire of Consecrated and Missionary Life”.
Father Camerlengo offered a profound and stimulating reflection on the current state of Consecrated Life in the Institute and proposed concrete ways for its renewal and revitalization. Radiating a spirit of hope, he invited a personal and communitarian conversion to respond to the challenges of the present with faith and creativity.
A call to the essential: the centrality of Christ
His reflection underlined the imperative to place again Jesus Christ at the center of Consecrated Life. “An excessive concern for one’s own structures and interests is rightly criticized; it diverts attention from what is truly essential: confessing Jesus Christ and living for Him.” Father Camerlengo emphasized that “a religious institute that focuses on itself rather than on Christ loses its attractiveness and relevance, both for the world and in terms of vocations.”
In this sense, “we cannot forget that the center of our entire life is Jesus Christ.” He cannot be just a marginal aspect of our daily life and activities. “Putting Jesus Christ and his Gospel back at the center means immediately rediscovering, I would say automatically, the need for the community, the communitarian vocation of being Christian. For us, the mission is the basis of consecrated and community life, where the stress is not so much in life in common, but rather a mission carried out in common. We can affirm that it is this point that makes the difference between a simple coexistence and a true community of brothers,” emphasized the missionary with his long experience of accompanying the Institute in his 18 years of service in the General Council.
Community: A Space of Transformation and Mission
Father Camerlengo highlighted the importance of community life as a fundamental pillar for the renewal of Consecrated Life. The mission is the basis of Consecrated Life and community life, where the essential is not only a shared life, but a mission undertaken in common. This distinction is fundamental to differentiate a simple “coexistence” from a true “community” of brothers. The community, therefore, does not precede the mission, but is constituted in it, both in its spiritual experience and in its concrete and institutional aspects.
Read also: Starting from Christ: a renewed commitment of Consecrated Life
Evangelization in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Discernment on the present of Consecrated Life
Loved, Called and Sent on Mission in the World
The Word of God: soul and guide of consecrated life
Consecrated Life: Current Affairs and Perspectives
“Fraternity and interculturality are key aspects that we try to build in communities, overcoming every form of self-referentiality, clericalism and closed-mindedness. The community is seen as a space where the search for the primacy of God is shared and where true evangelical fraternity is experienced. Today’s world, in fact, requires a testimony of communion, fraternity and dialogue, not only as an authentic evangelical service, but also as an eloquent sign for this time”.
“A second call is to nourish a great passion for the proclamation of the Kingdom, especially to the poor (in material and spiritual goods). Awareness of the mission is proof that spiritual life is not intimacy or escape from history. Even in this area we seem to perceive some signs of tiredness or even indolence, which suggest a weak relationship with the One who sends us”.
Looking to the future with hope and realism
While acknowledging the frailties, difficulties and shadows present today in Consecrated Life (individualism, irregular prayer, lack of initiative and leadership, distance from the people), Father Camerlengo maintains a positive and confident attitude. “The communities are like a great forest that grows in silence, prayer and sacrifice”.
“To create a climate favorable to work, we need to educate to the need of silence, interiority and an ambience of prayer. All this is not easy, but we can be helped if we take into account the indications that our documents and spiritual tradition offer us.”
Father Stefano concluded by recalling that humility is an essential characteristic in the life of every Consolata missionary, to respond in an attitude of love to the great gift of God of life and mission. “Humility can never be lacking in order to do good and to recognize that the protagonist of life and mission is the Holy Spirit,” the missionary emphasized.
* Father Vilson Jochem, IMC, missionary in Venezuela.
