Respond with renewed enthusiam to God’s call

Dec 04, 2014

VATICAN: New Movements and communities “are called to coordinate their efforts in caring for those wounded by a globalized mentality which places consumption at the centre, neglecting God and those values which are essential for life,” the Pope observed.

Pope Francis continued, saying that another important point is for communities and movements to always preserve the “freshness” of the specific charisms they have been given.

Defined in a general sense as any good gift that God gives to man, charisms can be renewed by returning to the moment in which they, members of communities and movements, first felt the love of God, the Pontiff said.

“As time goes by, there is a greater temptation to become comfortable, to become hardened in set ways of doing things, which, while reassuring, are nonetheless sterile,” he observed.

While the institutionalization of charisms is necessary in order for them to continue, the Roman Pontiff cautioned attendees not to “delude ourselves” by thinking that external structures alone are a guarantee that the Holy Spirit is present and at work.

Maintaining a constant sense of newness in their lives and that of their communities doesn’t come from certain methods or formulas, but rather, from one’s “willingness to respond with renewed enthusiasm to the Lord’s call.”

Only with this enthusiasm will movements and communities grow, he said, explaining that once forms and methods become an end in themselves, they become an ideology that is removed from reality and closed to the Holy Spirit.

“Such rigid forms and methods will eventually stifle the very charism which gave them life,” the Pope said, and encouraged participants to always go back to the “driving force” behind the charism, which is needed to meet contemporary challenges. -- CNA/EWTN