News

SOWERS OF HOPE

Brothers,

During this Jubilee year, on this Day of Consecrated Life, the themes of so many elements of Church life turn towards hope.  This same reflection on hope formed the core of our general chapter and the ordinance that it places before us.  As you open the pages of the workbook, you will see how the ordinance calls us to reflection and action through four themes.

Christ, the source of our hope.

Hope is first and foremost rooted in Christ, not in any measure that the world may like to impress upon us in its own search for peace.  It is our rootedness in Christ, beyond all that buffets us in the storm of the world today, that brings peace.  From that beginning point, from what Brother Polycarp called the beginning of love, nurtured in prayer, meditation and encounter with the Risen Lord, all else is possible.  Secondly that rootedness enables us to truly become persons into whose hearts the love of God is poured.  That is the source of our peace, even in times of conflict, war and the various battles of life.  God is with us.  Yes, he is truly Emmanuel.

Hope that gathers us together.

In the ordinance, communal life is seen as an integral part of our hope.  It is there that our hope in Christ is nurtured and deepened, through sharing, through the common life and through our brotherhood.  As well, the many challenges of modern life can be discerned and responded too, not alone but always together.  It is this brotherhood which Pope Francis calls us to expand to the whole world, to its people and to our common home.  We are confronted with different challenges, but in all cases, we are called to discern the way forward together so that our action is truly rooted in Christ and in his compassion.

Hope that calls us to action.

In the gospels, we see Jesus constantly active – reaching out, touching, looking, entering into conversation with all, all in the hope of a transformative encounter.  Jesus thrived on these encounters in every gospel story and those who truly encountered him with open hearts were transformed.  That transformation was not for them alone though, they became witnesses to the love of God made visible in Jesus, and in our own actions.  It is through action that hope is nurtured, through encounter.  As the Rule notes, Christ pours out his love, that must flow through us to others. 

The hope that we nurture in our hearts from our personal encounter with Christ, that we share with our brothers in community, only reaches its completion when it is poured out in our mission, in action, in love.

Hope that gives us life

But the chapter had a fourth dimension, which we might liken to an evaluation.  How can we be hope?  What can we improve?  How do we need to be transformed to be, even more, people of hope?  The chapter began a credo in response to this dialogue.  It articulates a series of experiences that already nurture hope in each of us, among us, and for others.  That credo, though, is incomplete. 

It could not be finished by the chapter because it involves reflection and discernment by each brother, within each community, in each work.  Given what we have experienced, lived and known, how do we nurture hope?  It is a reflection on the past and present, so that the future too might be even more hope-filled. 

In the readings describing the presentation of Jesus in the temple, Simeon and Anna proclaim Jesus, proclaim the faithfulness of God to each of us personally and to his people.  That proclamation is lived out, acted upon, made visible to all.  Our loving and incarnate God reveals himself each day, in prayer, in our communal life and in the encounters that fill our days of missionary action.  Father Coindre constantly called us to respond, “love for love, life for life, all our hearts for God.”  Let us proclaim God’s presence and compassion with Simeon and Anna, for all to see, sharing that one and certain hope we all share – Jesus is here among us.

Then, those four movements of the chapter can come alive not just for us, but for everyone we encounter.  These four elements illustrate our story, but also give us a pathway, a process, where we can accompany others toward the Lord. 

May this continuing reflection on the chapter theme of HOPE, and its embodiment in our lives, inspire us to a deeper encounter with Jesus in prayer, to a more vibrant communal life, and to a mission where the love of God is more fully made known.

Ametur Cor Jesu!

Br. Mark Hilton SC

Superior General