LETTER FROM BELLA VISTA
(Buenos
Aires – Argentine)
To
young people who share our mission
THIS LETTER was written at the conclusion of a meeting of
the General Secretariat for Redemptorist
Youth and Vocation Ministry, held at Bella
Vista (Buenos
Aires – Argentine)
in November 2000. The name of the locality
signifies ‘Beautiful View’. Here there
is a community of Redemptorist missionaries
composed of young people in formation
who have recently joined our family and
who are the first to put into practice
by their life what we are trying to share
with you. Perhaps you will read this letter
alone or in a group; we would like in
any case that reading it and reflecting
on it be part of a ‘common research’ effort.
We hope that these words will be received
both in your personal life and that of
your community as ‘something new’.
Blessed are the eyes that see
what you see!
Lk
10,23
“Bella Vista” is a place and its name conveys our special wish for you.
May you be able to call your native city,
your native land and your own people by
such a name as ‘beautiful view’. May your
eyes see it as such and rejoice!
While we write these
lines, we have been thinking of your personal
concrete situation, your hopes and joys
in life and obviously the difficulties you
meet. Nor have we ignored the indifference
which is common today in so many circles
and influences so many. We believe that
you will succeed in seeing that which others
through this indifference fail to see.
OPEN
YOUR EYES
Practically everywhere we are aware of this same and indeed sole attitude:
close your eyes and say nothing.
In many and different ways today you are advised to keep your eyes shut.
Those who do not see are not aware of what
is around them or of what you yourself suffer.
The idea is even impressed on you that you
should only see good and beautiful things around you, even if this means ignoring reality or
focusing your attention elsewhere.
Have you eyes and do not see,
ears and do not hear? (Mk 8,18)
We propose that you open your eyes to your own way of life and to all that
surrounds you. Look at the face of a young
person of your age who is taking drugs.
See the face of one who is suffering from
the wounds and violence in the family; who
is looking for something to eat; who is
searching for work and finds nothing ...
Look at the results of ‘image pressure’
in anorexia. See its effects in AIDS, prostitution,
loneliness and relativism, in consumerism
and the problems particular to the ‘global
village’. Consider the ever deeper abyss
that is being continually widened between
the rich and poor of the world... Listen
to the insensitive arguments, the superficiality
and the indifference.
He who is unaware
of all this can never see the beauty of
solidarity. Still less can the shared faith
of small communities be appreciated. But
to those who open their eyes there is reserved
the great joy of seeing.
I
HAVE NEITHER GOLD NOR SILVER
We are aware of your personal poverty since without doubt it is similar
to our own. There is no human limitation
which we cannot share. So it is on our poverty
that we rely.
Today nobody believes in great heroes, therefore why bother to create them?
Why is it not possible to believe in those
who are like you and me?
One day Peter and John arrived
at the temple
of Jerusalem and met a paralyzed man seeking
alms. Peter replied: “I have neither silver
nor gold but I will give you what I have:
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene,
walk” (Acts 3,6).
Perhaps you, too,
have neither gold nor silver. You are likely
to have little resources or to be in great
personal poverty. Perhaps you feel inferior
and tiny in face of what your eyes reveal.
And so what can you offer?
DO
YOU WANT TEACHERS ACCORDING TO YOUR TASTES?
Our letter was thought-out and written for you. What can it offer?
St. Paul knew that all of us at certain
times are happy to listen to that which
does not involve us or commit us to anything.
“The time is sure to come when people, their
ears itching for anything new, will collect
themselves a whole series of teachers according
to their own tastes” (2 Tm 4,3).
It may be that someone on reading this letter will feel disappointed. Another
person may be surprised by our words. We
are not looking for popularity, but rather
to stimulate. But to stimulate what?
In the first place to stimulate you and to stimulate ourselves to ‘see’
and ‘to take a stand’, not to remain always
in the same rut accepting everything. It
challenges us not to be continually satisfied
just with our own comfort, not to deceive
ourselves that everything is going well.
We must not evade our own responsibility
by leaving it to other people or official
institutions.
In the second place we should be able to see reality in a creative way.
It is not a question of looking and judging
while keeping at a distance, but rather
of discerning in order to recreate, involving
ourselves with people and situations which
show the disfigured face of humanity.
In the third place it is to make our faith incarnate, by reading the Word
of God, by praying and celebrating in every
place and circumstance. We must not lead
two parallel lives, but one life of faith.
Fourthly we must share this life in a common project, or perhaps in a small
group or community or in a mission project.
And this is something
you can offer: fearlessly living the Word
of Jesus Christ and showing it by your way
of life. So that as the Apostle John says,
“We are declaring to you what we have seen and heard” (1 Jn 1,3).
SOME ARE LOOKING
UP TO US
We Redemptorists came into being because God challenged us through the poor
and abandoned. Our family is not the product
of fine discourses or brilliant ideas. We
were founded because of the challenge of
the lowest class in society that we might
become the voice of the unheard, the downtrodden
and those denied their basic dignity.
They look up to us and in them God is also looking up to us. From them we
have learned how to look at life and with
them we have learned what choices to make.
We know that some wish to proclaim a Christ who looks down from heaven,
far away from mankind; a Christ who gazing
down from above wants to reward our good
works.
But we wish to proclaim a Christ in touch with the earth, the Christ born
in a stable, who shares our work and the
sweat of our brow, who announced the presence
of God in history and who sees the faces
of deprived and abandoned women and men.
We proclaim a Christ who only once looked down – from a Cross – a Christ
who has taught us that life is not something
we earn but a gift.
SIT IN THE LOWEST
PLACE
We are aware that in your situation you are expected to compete and not
remain in the background. You must put yourself
forward and stand out in front. What we
suggest is that your life should be a ‘countercultural’
sign. We invite you ‘to be different’.
When we Redemptorists speak of our spirituality we refer to this ‘difference’
in our outlook and our place in the world.
We speak of the choice we have made to take
the last place at table with the most deprived,
the little people, the poor and the abandoned
(Lk 14,7-11).
We must be the first to allow ourselves to be challenged every day by the
Gospel of Jesus, and through reading and
praying the Gospel to succeed in re-founding,
as it were, our presence in the Church and
the world. We must never yield to the temptation
of saying that our life is already a ‘success’.
By means of this letter we want to open a space for common reflection. We
must search together for our true identity
and how we are to live. We want to propose
a life style to you and where to live it:
with the most deprived.
We make bold to suggest that you make concrete decisions and share them
with your group and your community.
We venture to ask
you if you wish to be part of our Redemptorist
family and if you want to make this desire
a reality? And if you are already part of
our family, how do you want to continue
forward after making this decision?
AND IF THEY SHOULD
SAY: “THEY ARE DRUNK”
At Pentecost the Apostles began to speak and surprisingly all present understood.
Each one heard them speak in their own language.
It was not the confusion of Babel,
this was absolute clarity.
Some, however, preferred to come to conclusions without listening and expressed
their opinion on the apostles “They
have been drinking too much new wine” (cf.
Acts 2,12-13).
Today it is urgent to speak clearly and avoid confusion. It is certain that
following Christ is not always compatible
with other interests, however lawful they
may appear to us (cf. Mt 6, 24). However,
those who base their whole lives on the
love of Christ are like those who speak
in every tongue.
And it is urgent that we speak, without subterfuge, without fear or shame.
We must proclaim the Gospel without any
apology.
Finally it is indispensable that we proclaim the Gospel by our words and
actions. “Everyone
who knows what is the right thing to do
and does not do it commits a sin”. (Js
4,17). Therefore complete clarity is essential.
You must know, nevertheless,
that to be part of our family does not mean
mere fantasizing. It is something concrete.
That was what Saint Alphonsus intended and
what we, too, have in mind. The preaching
of the Gospel to the poorest and most abandoned
requires that you renounce certain things
and certain options which nobody else can
do for you (while avoiding the pharisaical
temptation to use these options to judge
others – cf. Mt 7,1-5).
WHAT MUST I DO?
You have another question to ask: it is that of the young man who drew near
to Jesus to ask him what was necessary to
inherit eternal life (cf. Lk 18,18-23).
It is only in Him that you will find the answer and it is you only who can
decide.
For this reason we
propose:
-
That you make an effort to live a life which is true to yourself.
-
That you learn to ‘choose’ and be responsible for your choice. Will you
choose the way of discipleship?
-
That you regard your life as a gift and a task to be done.
-
That you practice daily reading of the Gospel.
-
That each day you set aside a time for personal prayer and that you share
it with your group and with the Church.
-
That you try to learn how to listen. How to listen to people and to God.
-
That you listen with particular attention to those in the lowest place,
the poor, the humiliated and those who suffer
every kind of outrage to their dignity.
-
That you unite yourself with the Church, despite its sins, and that you
live in it, loving it with a strong conviction.
-
That you be a humble servant of the Gospel in the Church, avoiding attitudes
which would reflect negatively on your choice:
evil conversation, hidden agendas, criticism,
power struggles, comfort....
-
That your presence in the Church be fearless and challenging, not just for
convenience.
-
Finally you should take initiatives, however small, that would confirm and
be in line with what has already been said.
However, it is important that initiatives
and attitudes should have as their goal
a permanent and concrete engagement.
When one assumes the Redemptorist charism it is required as a first step
that you accept the importance of this question
and ask it yourself: “Lord, what will you
have me to do?”
The commitment you make with yourself, with others or with God can be made
as a lay person, collaborating with our
mission according to your possibilities:
or as a consecrated person in one of the
ways offered by the Redemptorist family,
(as a missionary, Father or Brother, or
as a contemplative or active missionary
Sister). In both cases it is important that
you put the question seriously and accept
the answer in a responsible way.
As we said at the
beginning, we wish that you may eventually
enjoy in your life that ‘beautiful view’
which Christ gives to those who allow themselves
to be touched by Him. May Our Mother of
Perpetual Help give you courage and protect
you and may St. Alphonsus continue to intercede
for this family to which you, also, belong.
THE SECRETARIAT FOR REDEMPTORIST
YOUTH AND VOCATION MINISTRY
(The
original text is in Spanish)
A prayer to revive
my redemptorist missionary zeal
You have left an Imprint in the depths of my heart
An Imprint as a light of Hope,
An Imprint as a way of Redemption
An Imprint like an interior voice which says to me:
Send me thy Spirit so that he may arouse in me
May your Spirit
May your Spirit give me the necessary grace
May your Spirit make me capable
Amen!
