01282013 HH Benedict XVI to the Gheneral Chapter OFM conv
To the Most Reverend Father Marco Tasca, Minister General of the Order of Minor Conventual Brothers:
On the occasion of your 200th General Chapter, in Assisi, I wish to spiritually unite myself with all of you who are experiencing such an event of grace. To you, my dear brother, and to all the Capitulars, my most cordial greetings.
You want to examine the Constitutions and Norms of your institute to adapt them to the new ecclesial demands. Such a commitment is of particular importance, since it is about presenting to the entire religious Family the reference texts to which your experience of fraternal and apostolic life must conform. May God bless your purposes. In order for them to bear fruit, you must faithfully preserve the spiritual heritage of your Founder and Father, Saint Francis of Assisi, particularly his faith, his connection in everything and through everything to Christ and his will, and follow his teachings and footprints (cf. 1 R 1,1; 22,2). Be diligent in serving the people of today, often lost in the deserts of the world, and sustain them in the faith.
Unfortunately, many Christians live a weak or almost extinguished faith, limiting themselves to believing in a generic way and without commitment, or they nourish themselves with self-referential spiritual forms that are closed to transcendence, if not totally distanced from it, nullifying even the very question of God. It is your task to show them that "right faith", a gift from Above, which is always accompanied by "certain hope and perfect charity" (cf. Prayer before the Crucifix), so that they can integrate their own existence in God and humanize fully personal and social life.
To this end, the Year of Faith will help you, which is for all believers an “invitation to authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord” (Porta fidei, 6). Your life as consecrated persons is only possible and justified through faith. In fact, the vows of obedience, poverty and chastity are not chosen for their own sake, but rather as an expression of the total surrender of your existence to following the living Christ. The will to assume in all its expressive density the form of life of Jesus (cf. Vita Consecrata 14; 16; 18; 22; 29; 31) inserts you "on a privileged path towards holiness" (ibid., 35) and places you in the Church as vanguard and sentinels of the Christian people always on the path towards future goods (cf. XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of the Bishops, Message to the People of God, 7). If the observation is valid for every Christian that faith should never be taken for granted (cf. Porta fidei, 2), always remember that for you faith is the presupposition, the hinge, the rhythm, the fire, the breath of life, both on a personal level and as a fraternal life.
The recent Synod Assembly on the new evangelization has explored the horizon of the Christian mission in the contemporary world. We live in times that call for rethinking the evangelical announcement within new scenarios that are not always favorable to the sowing of faith. Learn to accept the challenge of current cultural transformations by responding creatively to the urgent needs of the universal Church. In our days we need a simple and direct proclamation of the Gospel, done with meekness and boldness, as well as a determined inculturation of the faith, which knows how to combine truth and charity.
To do this, Minor Conventual Brothers, you have the deep roots of your charism and a long history written by brave witnesses of Christ and the Gospel. In this line you are called to advance on the arduous apostolic paths with renewed zeal, with prophetic freedom and wise discernment, taking care of close collaboration with the Bishops and other components of the ecclesial Community. The vast horizons of evangelization and the urgent need to witness the evangelical message to everyone, without distinction, constitute the field of your apostolate. Many still wait to know Jesus, the only Redeemer of man, and many situations of injustice and moral and material poverty challenge believers. For this reason, it is necessary, above all, to maintain a constant communion with the Lord, contemplating his face in prayer, as well as an authentic personal and community conversion. Only hearts totally open to the action of Grace are capable of interpreting the signs of the times and hearing the call of humanity in need of hope and peace.
Dear Minor Conventual Brothers, may your adhesion to Christ and his Gospel always shine in the different fields of your ecclesial service. May the Immaculate Virgin protect you; May she be the sure guide on the path of your religious Family, so that each and every one of your good projects reach their fullness. With these wishes, I assure each and every one of you of my affectionate remembrance in prayer, especially during the chapter work, and I heartily impart to you my Blessing, extending it to the entire Order and to all those you encounter in your daily work.
Vatican City, January 28, 2013
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