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GROWTH IN ECCLESIAL TEAMS
Sections
INTRODUCTION
This document on 'Growth in Ecclesial Teams', deals with
the nature of growth in an ecclesial team -- relating it
to the process of growth in a human person and likening
it to the experiences of the Israelites as they journeyed
through the desert towards the promised land. It speaks
of the obstacles that can block the process of growth and
shows with what spirit we should face and respond in these
blocks.
- Certain
challenges which we face now in the Society if Our Lady
are mentioned, challenges that if met will aid the process
of growth. These include: the importance of a sense
of mission, the need for a vision or long-term goals
and the need for a deep and continual openness to the
Spirit.
- The
path to growth is shown as one in which the embracing
of the Paschal Mystery, especially the cross, is essential.
A detailed description of what the cross means and how
it is experienced in and by the team is given. This
includes a treatment of the various trials and tensions
to be faced and met in the process of growth. It is
shown how various trials can become either destructive
of growth or actually foster growth, depending on how
we as individuals and teams respond to them.
- Lastly,
we are told of the great need of formation in relationships
especially in our relationships to Jesus and Mary, which
will lead to our only true growth in the teams. The
signs of this growth will be a life of joy in our service
and a love of the poor. The document ends with a short
summary and praise of the Father in recognition of His
Providential Care of the Community as we have struggled
to grow over the last twenty years or more.
- Again,
this document is not meant to be an exhaustive account
of every stage of growth in a team, rather it is a compilation
of the realities that have been experienced as the Society
has grown; and it proposes for us again the Spiritual
values and attitudes which we need to imbibe as we work
towards the growth and development of the various teams
within the Society.
-
SECTION 1. The Process of Growth Related to the Growth
in a human person and journey of the Israelites through
the desert
- 1.
Growth in a human person Growth can always be continued
at the level of heart and wisdom. We see this kind of
growth happening in the hearts of little children, who
live by love, and then in older children who live by
trust. While in their adolescence, generosity, ideals
and hope become central areas of growth. As adults,
they grow to become more realistic, committed, and responsible,
as well as to be faithful and finally come to the confidence
in the Lord that leads to eternal wisdom. The fullness
of adult growth leads them to become observant, to contemplate,
to be forgiving and understanding and to come to the
whole sense of the meaning of living: this is full maturity
and brings acceptance of the divine plan and destiny
which God has set for each of our lives.
- As
they grow older still, they learn to reach out more
and more to others with a welcoming love. Human life
then is a growth journey towards a fullness of love;
a journey which Jesus began for all mankind when He
said, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one
another as I have loved you." As His disciples, unified
in weakness, we are strengthened by the Lord to make
this journey of love.
- 2.
Obstacles in human growth Unfortunately, as most of
us grow, divisions begin to appear between our emotional
life and our will and mind; between what is interior
and exterior; between what we say and what we do; between
our walk and our talk, between our dreams and our reality.
As we grow, we also find that our fears of our own weakness,
of vulnerability, and our limitations become very real.
The reality of suffering and death becomes more present
to us and so we place many defenses around our vulnerability.
Many become afraid to take risks towards the integration
of themselves. They fail to see and therefore face the
deeper challenges implied in all this, i.e. that their
poverty might become truly the riches of Christ, and
their inner darkness open to the fullness of the light.
To grow is to emerge gradually from where our vision
is limited, from where we are seeking and being governed
only by our needs for pleasure, sympathy and indifference,
to a height, depth and breadth that has the unlimited
horizons of universal love, where we will truly desire
the grace and friendship of God for us and for all mankind.
- 3.
Growth in the Ecclesial Team Just as there are steps
to cross in human life, there are also steps to cross
in the growth of the ecclesial teams. There are the
steps of beginnings and foundation, followed by steps
of preparation and education, of suffering, of the growth
of daily living, of denying ourselves, of taking up
our cross and following Christ. There is growth as we
come to realize the values of the past that are still
present, as well as the new values that God reveals
to us. There are times of growth in authority, decision
making, and life experiences.
- 4.
Refusal to grow-divisions Many prunings come into ecclesial
teams when members of the teams refuse to grow. The
growth of the team depends on the growth of each member.
There are certainly those among us who resist change.
- As
in human life, with each new stage there is a demand
for a corresponding growth that must be met, so in the
team there is a need to open ourselves to growth. Just
as it is possible in human life to refuse to grow and
remain like a child or adolescent, so it is possible
to do this on the team. It is really no easier to live
in the ministry of an ecclesial team after twenty years
than it is at the start, for as we grow we become very
aware of our limitations and also the limitations of
the others, all of which we have to learn to accept.
We know as well the full weight of our own egoism.
- 5.
Closing in on self as team An ecclesial team must grow
gradually until it becomes a gift for all. If not, it
closes in on itself and suffocates. There is a real
balance that has to be found there and it manifest itself
in various ways in the team. This growth together, especially
in the values they begin to incorporate in the team,
makes them very different from those they serve. It
is essential for the team participants to retain and
deepen their values so that they always know who they
are. But if they become too closed in on themselves,
they really don't grow from their own values or from
the values of those they serve. as a team we must be
open to grow from our contacts with the values of those
we serve, we only stunt our own growth if we feel we
have all the answers and they have none and we are refusing
to accept that the Holy Spirit is also working in them.
This kind of attitude also prevents us from growing
into the oneness with those we serve to which God has
called us. We are called to be the leaven in the dough
and to be one in the fullness of the gifts of God.
- 6.
Growth and divisions experienced by the Israelites on
their journey Besides then divisions appearing between
ourselves and those whom we serve we can be deeply divisive
within the team. Let us compare this divisiveness to
the experience of the Jewish people in the old Covenant.
They did not begin to murmur against the Lord until
they crossed the Red Sea. Before that they were caught
up in the extraordinary adventure, and they felt the
risk they had to take was preferable to the slavery
in which they had been engulfed. It was only later,
when they had forgotten what it was like to be oppressed
and when the extraordinary had given way to the ordinary
routine of every day life, that they began to murmur
against Moses and become rebellious.
- It
was easy for them to keep the flame of enthusiasm burning
at the foundation of the journey through the desert,
for that kind of environment stimulates a generosity
of heart, and of course no one wants to be annihilated.
Yet it became much harder as the months and the years
passed by, and they had to face their own limitations
and the very things from, which they felt detached came
back to tempt them. The least effort, the least insecurity
or fear, cause a tremendous imbalance in them so that
they no longer had the strength to resist. They were
less and less able to control their frustrations and
to forgive. Barriers began to come up between them again.
-
SECTION 2. Obstacles to the Growth Process within the
Team
- 1.
Negative spirit of destruction/opposition. What happened
to the Israelites happens also within the team. We might
begin so conscious of the beauty of the mystery of God
and His divine plan; yet, as each day, month, year pass
by and life goes on, we can get caught up in the reality
of the everyday struggles in the Society. It becomes
difficult to shift from a time of vision to a time of
development -- this is a time when we find pain in growing
in the Society, especially as we try to set structures
necessary so we can continue to grow, as person, as
community, in our ministries, and in our ecclesial teams.
-
- Unfortunately,
as we work towards this, instead of being open to the
process, we can settle into a negative spirit of destruction
where we act as if we are opposed to each other.
-
- 2.
Challenge of the Society today The challenge that we
have in the Society at the present time is to create
structures which serve the Spirit, who will nourish
them. This means the Spirit that we find in the gospels,
especially the Beatitudes. If we can accomplish this
then the tasks we are involved in will become a new
source of life. What it really means is that in the
Society we are trying to bring a real communion of heart
and spirit - a real network of relationships that prepares
us for the fullness of that relationship with the Father,
Son and the Holy Spirit, Our Lady to which we are called
in the Society. But to achieve this communion, we must
always be open to respond to the cries of our brothers
and sisters, and to show responsibility for them. This
is at times demanding and at other times, very disturbing.
- 3.
Danger of stressing laws rather than the spirit. It
is very easy to be tempted to replace relationships
and feel that laws, rules, policies, procedures and
administrative devices will serve instead. It is often
easier to comply with a law than it is to love, and
this is why so many communities are swallowed up by
rules and administration, instead of growing in the
fullness of thanksgiving, praise, gift and charity.
- 4.
Search for security. Again, we might well begin in our
ecclesial teams with a deep enthusiasm, ardor and generosity.
But unfortunately these ardent beginnings disappear
and gradually we become comfortable. The search for
security enters in as we weary of insecurity and the
lack of fidelity in the members of the team. When we
lost the Spirit, we are confronted with contradictions
and even persecutions. At times like these we can be
tempted to close in upon ourselves and to rely on a
do-it-yourself kit. However, we must be strengthened
and encouraged to grow beyond ourselves, continually
relying on Providence and hoping against hope. Sometimes
only the direct intervention of God can save us, for
we become stripped of all the security blankets that
the world uses; human support is gone and we must depend
upon God. We must be obliged to be faithful to prayer,
and to grow in love, to continue to reach to the fullness
of life and death, and to realize that in our weakness
lies our strength for it is therein that God comes to
be with us.
- 5.
Routine - the need of the prophetic spirit. As an ecclesial
team, we sometimes fall into a routine of doing things
a certain way because that is the way we have discerned
they should be done. It is like in the book of the Prophet
Ezekiel, where there were dry bones which needed God's
Spirit to put life in them, just so do our discernment
needs the Spirit to give them real life. There is really
a prophetic element in the birth of an ecclesial team
- for we have seen that the ecclesial team is a new
way of life, which fills a real gap in the Church and
in Society in general as well. This prophetic spirit
must always remain in the ecclesial team if it is to
remain alive, grow and have hope. There is a certain
tension in the prophetic spirit, because it encompasses
the values of the past, the needs of the present, and
the shock of the future. It opens itself to the Spirit,
who decides what truly is essential to its way of life.
- It
provides a true scale of values. It is constantly purifying
and clarifying and bringing us to live truly as a gift
of God to His family; it is a treasure, which He entrusts
to us in order to make all things new in Christ. The
Spirit then must always be the very soul of the ecclesial
team and the team must always live in awareness that
the Spirit is the life-giving principle.
-
SECTION 3. The Importance of a Mission and Vision.
- 1.
Need of deep roots. Each ecclesial team, if it is to
grow, must have a mission. It must have a vision, which
springs from wonder and thanksgiving. It must have deep
roots, discovering its own needs; needs especially as
to the way it looks at human relationships, its way
of life and its sense of God and prayer. It needs to
ask some deep questions, such as: How does a team look
upon man and woman? How does it look upon poverty and
wealth? How does it understand hope and anguish? How
does it understand justice and injustice, life and death,
peace and suffering? All of these realities should be
truly rooted in the team members.
- 2.
Standing firm in vision. Thus, if the ecclesial team
is to grow it must have long-term goals. The growth
must be step by step, ever though we see quite clearly,
in the vision, the goal we have and desire, which is:
to give glory to God. We need courage to stand for that
vision. Those to whom Our Lady has appeared in vision
should show clarity, courage and how much they have
had to suffer to be faithful and to stand such criticisms.
We must not be afraid to be truly who God is asking
us to be or to do what He is asking us to do.
- 3.
Fidelity and commitment. Vision in ecclesial teams implies
a way of life, a way of living and seeing reality. It
implies above all a fidelity, "By this all will know
that you are my disciples." We may be weak at first
in this vision of the ecclesial team, but we gradually
grow and begin to incarnate the deep desire needed to
give ourselves to God and to the assistance of others.
In contact with our brothers and sisters and our commitment,
we discover the Providence of Our Father, who has called
us, not only individually but together with other persons
who have heard and followed the same call, the same
gift, the same ministry to ecclesial teams and the Society
of Our Lady.
- 4.
God's Providence in our Growth. Our Father has brought
us together and inspired us to love one another as He
who is at the heart of the ecclesial team. This experience
of Our Father's providence grows stronger with time
as we see how God has watched over us and the teams
in time of trials, when it seemed we could have easily
been destroyed. Different interventions of God serve
to buoy us up: interventions, which have resolved trials
in each of us and have come at the very time we needed
them. We have been cared for, and in this we have found
an inner freedom and healing. We realize that through
the team, God was closely watching and working with
us in the fullness of His love, His kindness and fidelity.
This experience of God, Our Father, is indeed personal
but it becomes communal. This generates peace and certainty
in our ecclesial teams, and enables us to accept the
difficulties, the trials, and even death. This very
action of God demands of the team a greater fidelity
to Him and His Church as the People of God.
- God,
in fact, demands that we cling to the ascension reality
of our team vision. He will watch over us if we courageously
remain faithful to that vision and to the steps, which
are necessary to reach the final goal of unity. In the
vision, God responds to our needs as we are working
and helps us as we strive to find true solutions. Sometime
He waits until we have exhausted every human resource
before He answers our call, but we must continue to
reach to the vision which He has given us. Our Father's
Providence is always present in our ecclesial teams
and in the ministry that He has chosen for us to serve
in our ecclesial teams.
-
SECTION 4: The Holly Spirit in Relationship with the
Team.
- 1.
Openness to Him. It is understandable that a new ecclesial
team will, to some extent, turn in on itself as it becomes
conscious of its qualities, its originality and is truly
thankful to God for this blessing - its call to serve.
It is like the start of a marriage, when the couple
has to take time to forge their relationship in joy
and unity. This is not egoism. It is rather a necessary
stage of growth. With time, however, the ecclesial team
must stand back to discover the gifts of others, and
also take stock of its own limitations. Once it has
found its own identity, and discovered how the Holy
Spirit is guiding it, it must be very attentive to the
fullness of the manifestation in others that it does
not narrow the work of the Spirit in any way. It should
not believe that it is the only team to have the privilege
of being inspired by the Holy Spirit, but must listen
to what the Spirit is saying in others. With this kind
of an open and listening spirit, the team members will
rediscover their own gifts and grow in the mission given.
Thus they will discover their place in the Society of
Our Lady, in the Church, and in the world. Without this
spirit, they risk a decisive turning away from growth
by not opening to the fullness of the Spirit.
- 2.
Unity in diversity. It is the one Holy Spirit who inspires
and gives life, not only to the Society and the Church,
but also to the teams. The Spirit shows us the likeness
that exist among the different teams, even though their
ministries are very different. It is a sign of maturity
to be able to bind oneself in friendship with other
teams, to know not only one's own identity but to appreciate
the differences and not to need to be the same as every
other team. They love the differences that distinguish
them because each team has its own gifts, which must
flourish and bring forth the fruit, which God desires.
They complement each other, just as do the different
vocations within the Body of Christ.
- We
can say then, that this is the central point of the
ecclesial team. It is also their fidelity to the vertical
arm of the Cross, the providence of Our Father, the
Paschal Mystery of Christ and the fullness of the Spirit.
-
- To
be conscious that we are instruments of God is very
different from thinking that we are the ones doing something
for those whom God has sent us to be one with; or that
of ourselves, we have something to give them or to help
them. We must watch and pray so that we can remain deeply
aware of our littleness and God's greatness, so that
we can live this focal point of fidelity in oneness,
and to the person of the Spirit of God who makes us
one person in Christ. In this fidelity, the ecclesial
team becomes an incarnation of love in sharing, obedience,
poverty, and creativity.
- 2.
Oneness in the Team through living the Traditions of
Discipleship. The spirituality of the ecclesial teams
is embodied in certain traditions of discipleship and
it is important to respect these and to explain the
meaning and origin of them to the new members of the
team so that the team can constantly be renewed. This
way we can be assured that the team celebrates life
events and it also affirms that the members will have
the same heart, soul and spirit as they reach out to
bring forth the fullness of that oneness with those
whom God has placed them. To be fully open to this oneness
is to become like Jesus as He is one with the Father.
This unity reminds us that the team did not just happen.
It has come through hard times and good times, times
of sharing sufferings and times of death. It is still
a living entity because it is a fruit of the work of
those who came before us to serve.
- 3.
The Cross - the Vertical Arm. In the vertical arm of
the Cross, there are times of trial and difficulties
for the team. This occurs in several areas: poverty,
tensions, persecutions, internal and external struggles.
At times these struggles sort of knock you off balance
and reveal weakness. These difficult periods are inevitable
and usually they come when a new step of growth is to
be taken.
- 4.
Poverty. It is important for the team to understand
that if the team is rich in the things of this life,
it will begin to seek only to defend its goods or its
reputation, and this will cause it to cease to grow
in love and then it is not really alive anymore. When
a team is poor, the members feel that they have to work
together and they have to remain united, then they reach
a moment of truth and recognize their own poverty and
their need for each other. They cry out to God for help
and are able to overcome the difficulties by a new solidarity
and to rise above superficial security that comes with
possessing the things that are passing away. New energies
come forth in their poverty, which, until then had been
hidden. In a certain sense they are reborn.
- 5.
Tensions - different Sources of them. Another reality
in that vertical relationship to the Cross are the tensions
that grow. Sometimes these tensions come form conflicts
within themselves, sometimes as a result of their own
growing pains. At other times they are the result of
conflict with other members of the team (for example,
different temperaments). Yet again, at other times,
anguish is brought on by limitations or discovery of
a deep wound. Tension can also be a reaction to responsibilities
or a failure to fulfil responsibilities which brings
us to feel insecure; at other times it is a sort of
weeping inside from the successive death to our own
interests and so naturally we become frightened or rebel
or feel tensed when we are faced with an shackled by
our own fears or feel threatened by others. Tensions
also come from new gifts, new realities and new people.
This demands new balance and we should not panic at
times like these. We must be patient, for in that we
possess our souls.
- 6.
Ways of dealing with these Tensions. Our growth in love
and wisdom is slow and it does not demand that we enjoy
confrontations of encourage divisions - this is not
always healthy. It is better to let the Lord heal and
this demands patience and time. The best way I find
is to live in eternity. Deeply conscious that eternal
life has begun in us, we can open ourselves to go beyond
the feelings of frustration, of anguish, or guilt or
whatever else we are feeling, and instead bring forth
the fullness of peace. Opening ourselves to blame, criticism
or mockery may actually cause new wounds. We can become
tired of going through these various tensions and sufferings.
What really happens is that we come face to face with
our own inability to cope. If we call our weariness
"burnouts", or use other such terms to justify it, this
causes us to become either aggressive with each other
or depressed and then we withdraw from each other.
- These
tensions should rather bring us back to the reality
of our littleness. They bring us back to the need that
we have for time to pray, to dialogue, and to work patiently
to overcome the various obstacles that try to destroy
our unity. So we have need once again of an awareness
in the depths of our very soul, of our relationship
with the Spirit of God.
- We
need to realize more and more that He must live and
deepen Himself in us and in our ecclesial teams. These
tensions should bring about a step toward greater unity
by revealing the flaws that have to be re-evaluated
and by forcing us to look at our relationships with
a greater humility and a realization of God's greatness.
- We
are also able to move through the prejudicial opinions
and even un-Christlike ways of treating each other.
These are very deep weaknesses just as are broken relationships.
We try to pretend that these things do not exist or
we hide them behind facades or masks, fleeing from the
reality that is the way, the truth and the life. We
see then that we begin to be caught up in ourselves
and become unfaithful to the call of Christ to reach
out as He indicated in the synagogue at Nazareth, in
the fulfilling of the prophecy of Isaiah (Cf. Luke 4:18-19)
- 7.
God's Grace needed. If we are to re-find peace at these
times, we must not only ask God's forgiveness (His light
and strength), but a newness in our relationships with
each other. Christ came to make all things new and so
we trust in Him. We are then helped to overcome what
would be our own limitations, egoism, and jealousy,
and are brought to discover gifts of love, goodness,
and confidence in God. This brings us not only to accept
ourselves but gains for us the fullness of love, respect,
trust and feeling for each other. This manifests itself
in new energies that flourish and are seen in our brothers
and sisters in Christ.
- These
realities of struggles in relationships should not be
hidden, nor should they be brought to a premature head.
This demands of those in the ecclesial teams a great
deal of sensitivity, trust and hope, especially on the
part of the team-leaders. They know that they are bound
in the paschal mystery of Christ, to suffering, death
and resurrection. With true leadership there can be
a deep understanding, patience, and optimism. There
is born a willingness to listen and to become truly
one in Christ.
- Many
other aspects of life can divide us: being too set in
our opinions, lacking patience, seeking always and immediate
answer, pushing people to exaggerate, and failing in
flexibility, we may even have opposite kind of values
that contradict. However opposites attract and we can
still harmonize with each other, that is, the genius
of ecclesial team.
- 8.
Persecution. Persecution is a very special beatitude
that God gives you in our Lady's Society. It is a very
special time of grace, in which Jesus tells us to rejoice
and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. Persecution
can even come to the point, as Jesus Himself indicated,
"That will put you to death thinking that they are doing
good for God, because they never knew me or my Father."
It is the 'knowing of Jesus and the Father' that they
devil is trying to destroy. Persecution can come from
various sources, but always it is a source of rejoicing.
-
SECTION 6. Relationship with Jesus and Mary.
- 1.
Live and Work in Jesus and Mary. To be strong, we stand
in need of formation. This formation is found not so
much in books, courses or workshops but in relationships.
The best way of opening yourselves to the formation
of relationships, which is vital to the lives of your
discipleship, is to live and work with Jesus and Mary.
Then you will learn their ways and want to be truly
one with them. You will see things as they seem them,
you will speak as they would speak, you put on their
mind and you clothe yourself with them.
- 2.
Effects of this Relationship: Learn to live a Life of
Love. As you learn to relate in this way, you truly
learn thousands of small details that the love you have
as disciples brings forth. It is not a question simply
of knowing the techniques that are present in the behavioral
sciences, but rather of learning a certain spirit that
your relationship with the ecclesial team and the people
you serve, brings to you. Today we see many who go to
universities and seminaries and gurus to learn and yet
they forget that living with Jesus as our Savior, and
Mary as our Mother, teacher and guide and helper, is
really the way to learn how to live in an ecclesial
team. Your relationship with them, creates a spirit
that gives life by sowing the fullness of charity in
your own heart and in the hearts of all those you serve.
- 3.
Second Effect: Live a Life of Happiness and Joy. This
relationship with Jesus and Mary also brings us to live
a life of happiness. This is really very important for
your team, for if you appear said, tease, worried and
anxious, the young really see this very quickly and
decide not to give their lives to God, as they don't
also want to turn out like us. Whereas if they see us
joyful, united, happy and unafraid, then they are going
to desire to become one with us. If, for example, you
always say, "Well, I guess I'll skip that meeting because
I know pretty much what everybody thinks and what everybody
is going to say;" or, "I don't like meetings," or "I
am too busy," then there is no longer any room for dialogue.
Or again if I am afraid to say what I think at a meeting
because of some personality whose presence inhibits
me, then I begin to choose to flee outside to find someone
who listens to me. My ecclesial team is no longer my
home where I live, it becomes more of a motel. I must
strive to be always happy where I live, pray and work
with my ecclesial team, not to be constantly looking
for compensation outside or talking to outsiders about
the problems that are present in the team. Rather I
must seek to be always a disciple, and look to the needs
of God's people.
- When
you have a real happiness it acts like a magnet. You
can discern this by the response of those you visit.
When visitors come, are they happy to see you, or are
they frightened and withdrawn because you ask for so
many guarantees that nobody qualities? Or you start
to reject even the weakest and difficult members who
are present. Or you start to make judgments, for example,
this one is so cold or has personal idiosyncrasies that
"I just cannot take." When this happens it is a sign
that the ecclesial team is becoming a casual place of
work, for you, but it is not an ecclesial team, it really
is not the Church.
- 4.
Third Effect: Love for the Poor. If in your teams you
try to bring in a security, which has a lot of money
in the bank and therefore eliminates all possible risks,
then you no longer need God's help and you cease to
reach out to the poor. You no longer have time for the
poor or you are threatened by them. You can really measure
yourself then in your team by the quality of your welcome
to an unexpected visitor, especially if that visitor
is poor and unwanted, despised, or rejected and neglected.
The joy and simplicity of your relationship with them,
the creativeness or your response to them, your fidelity
to the presence of God in them are all signs of the
more abundant life and eternal life to which God has
called us as our Heavenly Father.
-
SECTION 7. Summary of the Teaching.
- To
be faithful in this center point of fidelity we spoke
of oneness with Christ on the Cross. Your horizontal
relationships in a life of service must be balanced
with the vertical relationship of a life of prayer and
a life of love. This, the more abundant life to which
Christ has called you, should be balanced in the rhythm
of your daily life as a disciple. This is the harmony
which should be present, You must also see in these
opportunities of embracing the Cross, the way to come
to the maturity to which Christ is calling you, in your
discipling.
- Some
of the realities of maturity in disciples and in the
teams themselves, are that they must be pruned, they
must be cut back, and sometimes they must be blessed,
broken and given in order to go on to bear the fruit
- a hundred-fold, pressed down and flowing over - that
our Father has planned. The disciples and the team must
look not only at the realities that surround them but
also they must have a good look at their interior life.
They must take time to be with the Lord. It is so easy
for us to live on the periphery of ourselves or of the
team, with energies that sort of constantly preoccupy
us. Thus we don't deepen our interior oneness with and
contact in the very center of our being with the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit, who dwells within us.
- Final
Praise of God for His Providential Care.
- Coming
then to this center of the Trinity as an ecclesial team,
we become aware, as we look back, of how God has watched
over us, provided for us, encouraged, urged and corrected
us. How God has promised us and sustained us to become
one with Jesus as He is with our Father; to become one
as Jesus prayed, "Father, I will that they may be one,
as Thou Father in Me, and I in Thee, that they may be
one in us, so that the world may believe that Thou has
sent Me."
- He
will fulfill that promise. Amen! Alleluia! May we all
grow into the full measure of the mature Christ.
-
With
my priestly blessings,
Fr. Santan Pinto SOLT You may send your prayer or Mass
requests to Fr. Pinto by clicking on his email address:
fpinto@solt.org
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