Pope Francis says Ask "Lord, what should I do today?" but Warns of "the devil's liqueur" which is Bitterness - to Women Religious - FULL TEXT
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE UNION SUPERIOR MAJORS OF ITALY (USMI)
Clementine Hall
Thursday, April 13, 2023
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Dear sisters in Christ!
"Peace to you!". So the Lord greeted the women: peace be with you. I thank the President for the words addressed on behalf of all.
In these days you are gathered for your 70th General Assembly, guided by the theme "On the synodal journey, women witnesses of the Risen One". The number 70 already indicates a beautiful journey made together! For this we have to thank the Lord, that you as an organization have not retired: thank the Lord so much!
I would like to underline three aspects that this theme suggests.
First of all, women witnesses of the Risen One. The first witnesses of the Lord's Resurrection were precisely the women, the disciples, who with their audacity always remind us that «Jesus Christ can also break the boring schemes in which we try to imprison him and surprise us with the constant divine creativity of he". «Christ is the“ eternal Gospel ”(Ap 14,6)» and «his riches and his beauty are inexhaustible» (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 11). Those courageous women let themselves be surprised and pushed by the strength and light of the Risen One and set out to seek him. They were aware of how important it is to have the Lord alive in the heart. Their attitude reminds us that if we have the courage to "go back to the source and recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new paths, creative methods, other forms of expression, more eloquent signs, words full of renewed meaning for today's world will emerge" (ibid. .). It is curious, this, when it happens to say: "What do we do now in this situation?" – “Let's pray a little, let's see what the Lord tells us in the Gospel…”, and that's where inspiration comes from, a new path emerges from there, sometimes a religious family takes decisions that seem frightening, but no , that thing is of the Lord! Always go with courage, seek the Lord, what he tells us today; not what he told us yesterday, leave that to yesterday's nuns, but today's. Of course, each of your Institutes has its own charism, and this is the spirit with which you want to ask the question, with that spirit of the founders that you have in your heart, ask the question today: "Lord, what should I do today? What do we have to do?". And women are good for this, they know how to create new paths, they know how to give… They are courageous.
Second aspect: on the synodal journey. In another passage the Gospel says that "the women ran to tell his disciples" (Mt 28:8). Someone who thinks a little badly says: "They were sent to chat". No, no, they ran to make an announcement, it's not chatter: that's something else. The presence of Jesus does not close us in on ourselves, it pushes us towards encountering others and towards the decision to walk with others. These women have chosen neither to keep the joy of the encounter only for themselves, nor to walk the journey alone: they have chosen to walk together with others. Because it's proper for women to be generous, that's right. Sometimes yes, there are some neurotics, but this happens almost everywhere, right? But woman is giving life, opening paths, calling others... Walking together, they have chosen to walk together: we always remember that "to 'walk together' it is necessary that we allow ourselves to be educated by the Spirit to a truly synodal mentality, entering with courage and freedom from the heart in a process of conversion», because «synodality represents the main road for the Church, called to renew itself under the action of the Spirit and thanks to listening to the Word» [1].
Sometimes I get a little scared when we talk about the synodal spirit and we immediately think: "Now they have to change this, this, this...", and we go back to closing ourselves in a different way. No, the journey in a synodal spirit is listening, praying and walking. Then, the Lord will tell us the things to do. I saw in some proposals: “Now we have to make this decision, this, this, this…”. No, this is not a synodal journey. This is "parliament". Let us not forget that the synodal journey is made by the Holy Spirit: He is the head of the synodal journey, He is the protagonist. And women, in this dynamic, go forward with the Pastors, even when many times you don't feel valued and sometimes understood, you are available to listen, to meet, to dialogue, to make plans together. Open, with the grace of the Holy Spirit.
And third aspect: sowers of hope. Today we miss this humble little virtue which is hope, we miss it so much. We have worldly versions: optimism, high common sense... No, hope, the smallest but the strongest of virtues, the one that never disappoints, never disappoints. And you must be sowers of hope, which is not the same as sowers of optimism, no, of hope, which is something else. The encounter with the Risen Jesus fills, "this implies being the leaven of God in the midst of humanity". In other words, "it means proclaiming and bringing God's salvation to our world, which often gets lost, which needs to have answers that encourage, that give hope, that give new vigor to the journey" (ibid., 114) . "Challenges exist to be overcome": the few vocations, the interculturality of communities of consecrated life, the problem of works (but works are not the charism, be careful!). Sometimes we find people who end up badly in the face of works, as slaves to works, without the freedom that the Spirit gives to go forward. Sisters, remain faithful to the call because the Lord is faithful. Call, faithful response and hope, moving forward with hope. "Let's be realistic, but without losing our cheerfulness, audacity and hopeful dedication!" (ibid., 109). Your many projects speak of this hopeful dedication. Continue on this road! Hope is very important to move forward.
Thus we have seen three steps of women and witnesses of the Risen One. If a consecrated woman does not bear witness to the Risen One, her life ends there. Second, the synodal journey, listening, looking at reality, touching reality, not being "in orbit". And this is the third, sowers of hope. Dear sisters, inspired by the theme of your Assembly, I took the liberty of turning it upside down a bit, to arrive at the end to tell you that the Lord calls you with renewed enthusiasm to be "women witnesses of the Risen One, on a synodal journey and sowers of hope".
The synodal journey is not about having answers and making decisions. The synodal path is walking, listening – listening! –, feel and move forward. The synodal journey is not a parliament; the synodal journey is not a collection of opinions. The synodal journey is to listen to life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who is the protagonist of the Synod. And you go down this path with renewed enthusiasm, as women witnesses of the Risen One.
I bless you from my heart and entrust to the Lord and to Mary Most Holy each of you and each of the consecrated women who live their mission in Italy, so that they may be witnesses in the Church and in society.
I would like to say one thing in the end: to be careful with the diseases of consecrated life, because there are some. I would like to underline one that is against everything we have said: bitterness. That spirit of acidity inside. Bitter. Always looking at the difficulties, always making a monument to the "but, however...", always repeating that things are not going well... But bitterness is the devil's liqueur: the devil cooks in it, with this liqueur. I'm not talking about optimism: optimism is a psychological thing. I speak of hope, of openness to the Spirit, and this is theological, and a religious vocation must follow this path. But when you grow vinegar instead of sugar, something goes wrong. Bitterness, the acidity of the heart, hurts so much. Please, when you see that in a community or some nuns who are on this, help them to get out of this situation; help to get out of the situation of melancholy people who always think: “Ah the old days were better! Things don't go, and here and there…”. This is the devil's elixir, this bitterness, liquor of bitterness. Please, none of this! Just let the Spirit give us this sweetness which is a spiritual sweetness.
I wish you all the best and I ask you a favor: always pray for me, as usual. Because this job is not easy at all! Thank you.
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[1] Preparatory document of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops (7 September 2021), n. 9.
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