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These are the first 85 numbers of "Our Rule of Life", they contain the heart of our SCJ Spirituality. |
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I. FAITHFUL
TO THE CHARISM OF THE FOUNDER 2. In accord with Father Dehon's faith experience 3. At the service of the Church
II. FOLLOWING
CHRIST 2. Witnesses to the primacy of the Kingdom 3. United with Christ in His Love and His Oblation to the Father 4. Participants in the mission of the Church 5. Attentive to the appeals of the world
B. IN ORDER
TO CONTINUE THE COMMUNITY OF THE DISCIPLES a. By living consecrated celibacy b. Poor in accord with the Gospel
2. Called to life in community a. At the service of the common mission b. Devoted to the communal life (Acts 2:42) d. Faithful to prayer (Acts 2:42).
3. Faithful to the breaking of the bread (Acts 2:42)
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I. FAITHFUL TO THE CHARISM
OF THE FOUNDER 1. The Congregation was raised up and sent forth by the Spirit. The Congregation of [1] the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded by Father Leo John Dehon in 1878 at Saint-Quentin. the Founder received the grace and the mission to enrich the Church with an apostolic religious Institute alive with his evangelical inspiration. The Congregation is called to make this charism effectively live by responding to the urgent needs of the Church and of the world. 2. In accord with Father Dehon's faith experience Our Institute is rooted [2] in Father Dehon's faith experience. Saint Paul expressed the same experience, as follows: "l still live my human life, but it is a life of faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). The open side and the pierced heart of the Savior most wonderfully expressed for Father Dehon a love whose active presence he experienced in his own life. Father Dehon saw the very wellspring of salvation [3] in this love of Christ, who accepts death as the ultimate gift of His life for people and as filial obedience to the Father. From the Heart of Jesus, open on the cross, human beings are reborn in heart, animated by the Spirit, and united with their brothers and sisters in the community of charity which is the Church (cf. Etudes sur le S.C., I, p. 114). Father Dehon was very sensitive to sin [4] which weakens the Church especially when "consecrated persons" are involved. He was aware of social evils; he had carefully studied their human causes, both individual and social. But he saw the refusal of the love of Christ as the deepest cause of this human misery. Caught up in this often unrecognized love, he wanted to respond to it by being intimately united to the Heart of Christ and by establishing His Reign in individuals and in society. This union with Christ, [5] which sprang from the depths of his heart, had to be actualized in his whole life, above all in his apostolate. This apostolate was characterized by the greatest care for people, particularly the most deprived, and by concern about actively remedying the pastoral inadequacies of the Church of his time. This union was expressed and centered in the eucharistic sacrifice, to such an extent that his whole life became "one never-ending Mass" (cf. Couronnes d'amour, II, p. 199). 3. At the service of the Church In founding the Congregation of "Oblates", [6] Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father Dehon wanted its members to unite in an explicit way their religious and apostolic life with the reparatory oblation of Christ to the Father for people. That was his "specific and original intention" and the "character proper to the Institute" (cf. LG & PC), the service it is called to render to the Church. In Father Dehon's own words: "our whole vocation, our purpose, our duty, our promises, are found in these words: Ecce venio ..., Ecce ancilla..." (Spiritual Directory, I, 3). Father Dehon expected his religious [7] to be prophets of love and servants of reconciliation of people and the world in Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18). Thus involved with Him to remedy sin and the lack of love in the Church and in the world, they shall render "the worship of love and of reparation that His Heart desires" through their whole life, their prayers, works, suffering and joys (cf. NQ xxv, 5). 4. In a fraternal community The Congregation [8] of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a clerical apostolic religious Institute of pontifical right, made up of provinces and regions. Its members take public vows of consecrated celibacy, of poverty, and of obedience according to the Rule and the norms of the Institute. All its members are equal in the same profession of religious life, without any other distinction except that of ministries. As members of Christ, faithful to His pressing invitation "Sint Unum," they fraternally bear one another's burdens in one same common life. II. FOLLOWING CHRIST A. WITH CHRIST, AT THE SERVICE OF THE KINGDOM... 1. Our faith experience Within the Church we have been initiated [9] in the Good News of Jesus Christ: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us" (1 John 4:16). We have received the gift of faith, which grounds our hope; a faith which orders our life and inspires us to leave all to follow Christ; in the midst of the challenges of the world we have to strengthen this faith through living it in charity. With all our fellow Christians, through the Spirit, we then confess Christ as Lord, in whom the Father made His love known to us, and who remains present in our world to save it. "No one can say, `Jesus is Lord,' except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3). 2. Witnesses to the primacy of the Kingdom Christ, sent in the fullness of time, [10] in obedience to the Father carried out His service for the many. "The son of Man has not come to be served but to serve to give His life in ransom for the many (Mark 10:45). Through His solidarity with people as the New Adam He has revealed the love of God and announced the Kingdom: that new world which, through groping human efforts is already springing up and which will find its fulfillment, beyond all expectations, when, through Jesus, God will be all in all. "Yes, we know that all creation groans and is in agony even until now. Not only that, but we ourselves, although we have the Spirit as first fruits, groan inwardly while we await the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:22-23). When finally, all has been subjected to the Son, he will then subject himself to the One who made all things subject to Him, so that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). Christ prayed for the coming of the Kingdom, [11] which is already active in His presence among us. By His death and resurrection He has opened us to the gift of the Spirit and to the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom. 8:21). He is for us the First and the Last, the Living One (cf. Rev. 1:17-18). In Him, [12] the New Man has been created in the image of God, in justice and holiness of truth (cf. Eph. 4:24). He enables us to believe that despite sin, failures and injustice, redemption is possible, has been offered, and is already present. His way is our way. With all our fellow Christians [13] we are led to follow closely in the footsteps of Christ to arrive at holiness (cf. 1 Thess. 4:7). "It was for this you were called since Christ suffered for you in just this way and left you an example, to have you follow in His footsteps" (1 Pet. 2:21). Rooted in our baptism and confirmation, our religious vocation is a special gift to glorify God, and to witness to the primacy of the Kingdom. Our vocation makes sense [14] in complete and joyful union with the person of Jesus. Our vocation commits us to follow Christ, "chaste and poor, who, through His obedience unto death on the cross, has redeemed people and made them holy" (PC 1). We profess to strive for perfect charity, by consecrating ourselves completely to the love of God and our brothers and sisters. For each of us, and for our communities, [15] religious life is a story; Beginning with the grace of its origins, it develops by nourishing itself on what the Church, enlightened by the Spirit, draws continually from the treasury of its faith. 3. United with Christ in His Love and His Oblation to the Father We are called to serve the Church [16] in the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our response to this call presupposes a spiritual life: A common approach to the mystery of Christ, under the guidance of the Spirit, and a particular attention to what, in the inexhaustible richness of this mystery, corresponds to the experience of Father Dehon and of our predecessors. As disciples of Father Dehon, [17] we want to make union with Christ in His love for the Father and for people the principle and center of our life. With special love We meditate on these words of the Lord: "Live on in the, as I do in you. no more than a branch can bear fruit of itself apart from the vine, can you bear fruit apart from me" (John 15:4). Faithful to hearing the Word and sharing the Bread, we are invited to discover more and more the person of Christ and the mystery of His Heart, and to proclaim His love which surpasses all understanding. "May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of your life. Thus you will be able to grasp fully, with all the holy ones, the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love, and experience this love which surpasses all knowledge, so that you may attain to the fullness of God himself" (Eph. 3:17-19). We also live out our union with Christ [18] In our availablity and our love for all, especially for the lowly, for those who suffer. For how can we really understand Christ's love for us, if not in loving as He did, in deed and in truth? In this love of Christ we are assured that human fraternity can succeed, and we find the strength to work for it. The Father sent His son [19] formed before the creation of the world in accord with His plan of love (cf. Eph. 1:3-14); "he handed him over for the sake of us all" (Rom. 8:32). By raising Him He established Him as Lord, Heart of humanity and of the world, hope of salvation for all who listen to His voice. "Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him" (Heb. 5:8-9). Christ carries out this salvation [20] by stirring up in hearts love for the Father and for each other: love which regenerates, source of the full development of persons and of human communities. It will reach its full manifestation when all shall be brought together under Christ as head. With Saint John [21] we see in the open side of the Crucified the sign of a love, which, in the total gift of self, recreates humanity in the image of God. We are affirmed in our vocation through contemplating the Heart of Christ, the favored symbol of this love. For we are called to enter into this movement of redemptive love, by giving ourselves, with and as Christ, for our brothers and sisters. "The way we came to understand love was that he laid down his life for us; we too trust lay down our lives for our brothers" (1 John 3:16). Though entangled in sin, [22] we participate in redemptive grace. We want to be in union with Christ, present in the life of the world, through the service of our various tasks. And in solidarity with Him, and with all of humanity and creation, we want to offer ourselves to the Father, as a living, holy offering that might be pleasing to Him (cf. Rom. 12:1). "Follow the way of love even as Christ loved you. He gave himself for us as an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance" (Eph. 5:2). This is how we understand "reparation": [23] as a welcome to the Spirit (cf. I Thess. 4:8), as a response to Christ's love for us, a communion in His love for the Father and a cooperation in His work of redemption in the midst of the world. For there, He today frees people from sin and restores humanity in unity. There, too, He calls us to live out our reparative vocation, as the incentive for our apostolate (cf. GS 38). Sometimes the reparative life will be lived out [24] by offering sufferings borne with patience and abandonment, even in darkness and loneliness, as a pre-eminent and mysterious communion in the sufferings and death of Christ for the redemption of the world. "Even now I find my joy in the sufferings I endure for you. In my own flesh 1 fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church" (Col. 1:24). Our love, [25] thus animating all that we are, what we do and suffer in serving the Gospel, heals humanity through our participation in the work of reconciliation, gathers humanity together in the Body of Christ, and consecrates it for the glory and joy of God. 4. Participants in the mission of the Church As priests of the Sacred Heart, [26] we live the heritage of Father Dehon in our Institute today. We are religious consecrated to the Lord by vows, with a spiritual goal recognized by the Church, the goal of our Founder. In following him, by a special grace of God, we are called in the Church to seek and lead, as the one thing necessary, a life of union with the oblation of Christ. This consecration itself already has [27] a real apostolic fruitfulness. Like every charism in the Church, our prophetic charism places us at the service of the saving mission of the people of God in today's world (cf. LG 12). Eager for the Lord's intimacy, [28] we search for the signs of His presence in the lives of people, where His saving love is active. In sharing our joys and our sorrows, Christ identified with the lowly and the poor, to whom He announced the Good News. "I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you aid it for me" (Matt. 25:40). The spirit of the Lord is upon me: ... He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord" (Luke 4:18). In following Him, [29] we must live in real solidarity with people. Sensitive to what obstructs the love of the Lord in today's world, we give testimony to the fact that human effort needs to be constantly purified and transfigured by the cross and resurrection of Christ to arrive at the fullness of the Kingdom. "By their state in life, religious give splendid and striking testimony that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the Beatitudes" (LG 31). By its very nature [30] our Institute is an apostolic institute; and so we readily place ourselves at the service of the Church in its various pastoral works. Although our Institute was not founded for a specific work, it gets from the Founder some apostolic orientations which characterize its mission in the Church. This mission, for Father Dehon [31] in a spirit of love and oblation, entailed eucharistic adoration, as an authentic service of the Church (cf. NQ 1.3.1893), and "ministry to the lowly and the humble, the workers and the poor" (cf. Souvenirs XV), to proclaim to them the unfathomable riches of Christ (cf. Eph. 3:8). With this ministry in mind, Father Dehon gave great importance to the formation of priests and religious. For him missionary activity was a privileged form of apostolic service. In all this his constant concern was that the human community, sanctified in the Holy Spirit, became an offering pleasing to God (cf. Rom. 15:16). Following the Founder, [32] according to the signs of the times and in communion with the life of the Church, we want to contribute to establishing "the reign of justice and Christian charity in the world" (cf. Souvenirs XI). The provincial directories shall determine, according to times and places, the concrete involvements in the local church which correspond to these apostolic orientations. For us as for Father Dehon, [33] the activity of our missionaries is still particularly important. The whole Congregation is present to their ministry of evangelization, through which they give people this proof of friendship: to be among them at the service of the Good News. We carry out our service of the Gospel [34] in the universal Church with those responsible for the local churches. Together with them we have to seek out those ways of involvement in the ecclesial mission which allows us to develop the riches of our vocation. 5. Attentive to the appeals of the world The life of oblation stirred up in our hearts [35] by the freely-given love of the Lord conforms us to the oblation of Him, who, through love, is totally given to the Father and totally given to people. This life leads us to search ever more faithfully with the poor and obedient Lord for the will of the Father for us and the world. This life makes us attentive to the appeals He makes to us through small and great events, and in human expectations and achievements. We know that today's world [36] is in the throes of an intense struggle for liberation: liberation from all that harms the dignity of people and threatens the realization of their most profound aspirations: truth, justice, love, freedom (cf. GS 26-27). "Beneath all these demands lies a deeper and more widespread longing. Persons and societies thirst for a full and free life worthy of man ... The modern world shows itself at once powerful and weak, capable of the noblest deeds or the foulest. Before it lies the path to freedom or to slavery, to progress or retreat, to brotherhood or hatred. Moreover, man is becoming aware that it is his responsibility to guide aright the forces which he has unleashed and which can enslave him or minister to him. That's why he is putting questions to himself" (GS 9). Through all these questions and searching [37] we perceive the expectation of a response that people hope for, without succeeding in fully formulating it. We share these aspirations of our contemporaries, as the possible opening to the coming of a more human world, even if they may also include the risk of failure and degradation. In faith, in fidelity to the Church's teaching, we associate them with the coming of the Kingdom that God promised and actualized in His Son. Far from making us strangers to people, [38] our profession of the evangelical counsels puts us into greater solidarity with their life. In our manner of being and acting by participating in constructing the earthly city and building up the Body of Christ, we should be an effective sign that it is the Kingdom of God and His justice which should be sought above all and in all (cf. Matt. 6:33). "Let no one think that by their consecration religious have become strangers to their fellow men or useless citizens of this earthly city. Even though in some instances religious do not directly mingle with their contemporaries, yet in a more profound sense these same religious are united with them in the Heart of Christ and cooperate with them spiritually, In this way the work of building up the earthly city can always have its foundation in the Lord and can tend toward Him. Otherwise, those who build this city will perhaps have labored in vain" (LG 46). With the grace of God [39] we would like to bear prophetic witness by our religious life: by involving ourselves without reserve for the coming of the new humanity in Jesus Christ. B. IN ORDER TO CONTINUE THE COMMUNITY OF THE DISCIPLES 1. Called to profess the Beautitudes To express and actualize [40] our full consecration to God, and to unite our whole life with the oblation of Christ, we profess the evangelical counsels through the vows of consecrated celibacy, of poverty and of obedience (cf. LG 44, PC 1), which free us for true love in accord with the spirit of the Beatitudes (cf. LG 31). The effort to attain this freedom in Jesus Christ is a witness for the world, and for us a never-ending task. a. By living consecrated celibacy Christ gave Himself entirely [41] to the Father and to people in a love without reserve. By the vow of consecrated celibacy, gift of God for those who embrace it (cf. Matt. 19:11), we bind ourselves before God to live perfect chastity in celibacy for the Kingdom and to follow Christ in His love of God and of His brothers and sisters, and in His way of being present to people. When faithfully kept, [42] often at the price of demanding effort (cf. Matt. 5:29), particularly through union with Christ in the sacraments, and through personal asceticism, this commitment frees our heart; it opens us to the inspiration of the Spirit and to the encounter of our neighbor in fraternal charity. It enables us to form communities where, through true encounter, we can find our full human development and fashion the beginning of a new family founded on the spiritual power of love. In following Father Dehon [43] we have a mission to give witness to the love of Christ in a world searching for a unity difficult to achieve, and searching for new relationships between persons and groups. Our consecrated celibacy moves us to participate in building up a new humanity, open to communion in the Kingdom. b. Poor in accord with the Gospel Christ made Himself poor [44] to enrich us all out of His poverty. "You are well acquainted with the favor shown you by our Lord Jesus Christ; though he was rich, how for your sake He made Himself poor so that you might become rich by His poverty" (2 Cor. 8:9). He invites us to the beatitude of the poor, in filial abandonment to the Father (cf. Matt. 5:3). We shall remember His urgent invitation: "Go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor; Afterward come back and follow me" (Matt. 19:21). So, by the vow of poverty, [45] we renounce the right to use and to dispose of goods of appreciable monetary value without permission from our superiors. a. All of the following belong to the Institute: the fruit of our labor, pensions, subsidies, insurance policies, and everything that we receive. b. We keep ownership of our patrimony, and the capacity to acquire more. c. Before our first profession, we give up administration of these goods to whomever we want, and we freely dispose of their use and usufruct. Before perpetual profession, we make a will that would also be valid in civil law. These arrangements cannot be changed without permission from the major superior. d. At least ten years after first profession, we can renounce ownership of our goods, with the consent of the superior general and deliberative vote of his council. Sharing our goods in fraternal love [46] enables us to substantiate, in and with the Church, that we are a sign among our brothers and sisters. This Gospel poverty calls us to free ourselves from the thirst for possessions and pleasure which encumbers the human heart. It gives us the incentive to live in a love that is confident and given without asking for a return. In this spirit, each one of us [47] fully assumes his personal responsibility with regard to poverty. The observance of poverty of dependence is a criterion of true fidelity only if it inspires and expresses a spirit of real and freely assumed poverty. Under its various forms, [48] our work, whether salaried or not, gives us a real share in the life and condition of the People of our time. It also expresses our poverty in the service of the Kingdom. This poverty demands that we search together [49] for a simple and modest lifestyle; and acknowledge that we are responsible before the community for the use of our goods. Poverty thus places us at the service [50] of God and our brothers and Sisters. More than ever, we are conscious of the misery of so many People today; "We hear the cry of the poor" (ET 17). The persistence of this misery, at the individual and collective levels, is a constant call for conversion of our mentalities and our attitudes. If we take seriously [51] our commitment to poverty, we shall be ready to share among ourselves and to join the poor and the needy. Our special love shall go to those who have the greatest need of being acknowledged and loved: we are all in solidarity with our confreres who are devoted to their service. We shall do our utmost to avoid every form of social injustice. Only in this way, and by following the Church's directives, will we be able to awaken consciences to the tragedies of misery and the demands of justice (cf. ET 17). In this way we will be disciples of Father Dehon [52] who was always concerned about being present to the people of his time, especially the poorest: those without resources, without reasons to live, without hope. For us as for him, the commitment of poverty is meant to signify the offering of our whole life to the service of the Gospel. c. Open to God in obedience Jesus submitted Himself in love [53] to the will of the Father: an availability particularly evident in His attentiveness and openness to the needs and expectations of people. "Doing the will of Him who sent me and bringing His work to completion is my food" (John 4:34). After His example, by the profession of obedience we wish to make the sacrifice of ourselves to God, and to unite ourselves more steadfastly to His Saving will. "On coming into the world, Jesus said: 'Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for the; holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.' Then I said, 'As is written of me in the book, I have come to do your will, O God'. ...By this 'will', we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:5-7, 10). For this purpose, by the vow of obedience [54] we fully place ourselves at the service of the Congregation in the mission of the Church. Thus we commit ourselves to obey our Superiors in the legitimate exercise of their service of authority, in compliance with the Constitutions, in all that relates to the life of the Congregation and the observance of the vows. We also owe this obedience to the Sovereign Pontiff and to the Holy See. Yet our profession does not bind us only when Superiors might demand it in the name of our vow; it puts our whole life in God's plan. Our profession of obedience [55] brings us together in community life where, in a common spirit of availability, through each one's open and respectful dialogue, in accord with the animation of our superiors, we search for the will of God. We show respect and loyalty toward our Superiors; in real co-responsibility we collaborate with them in serving the common good. The superior, [56] without being the only one responsible, is the primary servant of this common good. He animates the religious and apostolic faithfulness of individuals and of the community, as the Servant-Christ united His own in common Service of the Father's plan. We strive to be attentive [57] to what the Spirit suggests to us through the Word of God received in the Church and through the events of life. Thus, in the midst of a world where people aspire to freedom, we want to witness to the true freedom that Christ has gained for us, which is only attained by giving assent to the Father. In Father Dehon's view, [58] the "Ecce Venio" (Heb. 10:7) defines the fundamental attitude of our life. It turns our obedience into an act of oblation; for the redemption of the world, to the glory of the Father. 2. Called to life in community Within the Church we are called [59] to follow Christ and in the world to be witnesses and servants of the communion of people in a fraternal community. We freely become involved in this community life thanks to the gift of the Spirit. We seek the inspiration and the model for this life in the community of the disciples united around the Lord, and in the first Christian communities. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' instruction and the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers. Those who believed shared all things in common; they would sell their property and goods, dividing everything on the basis of each one's needs" (Acts 2:42, 44-45). We actualize this community life in a community of the Institute, established in accord with universal law. a. At the service of the common mission Lived in community, [60] our profession of the evangelical counsels is the primary expression of our apostolic life: it attests to the presence of Christ, it announces the coming Reign of God (cf. PC 15). Our community life [61] is at the service of an apostolic mission in accord with our proper vocation. It is strengthened in the accomplishment of this service. The community lets itself be questioned by the people among whom it lives. It comes forward to join and to support their efforts at reconciliation and fraternity. It is important that each one, in his work, [62] be conscious of being sent by his community, and that all consider themselves as interested and involved in the activity and mission of each one, especially when a community has to assume various services. b. Devoted to the communal life (Acts 2:42) Our community life is not only a means to an end: [63] although always in need of improvement, it is the fullest realization of our Christian life. We let ourselves be permeated with the love of Christ and we hear His prayer "Sint Unum": we do our utmost to make our communities authentic centers of Gospel life, particularly by openness, sharing and hospitality, while respecting those places reserved for the community. Imperfect, certainly, like all Christians [64] we want however to set up a milieu which is favorable to the spiritual progress of each one. How else to attain this, if not by deepening in the Lord even our most ordinary relationships with each of our brothers? Charity must be an active hope for what others can become with the help of our fraternal support. The mark of its genuineness will be the simple way with which all strive to understand what each one has at heart (cf. ET 39). Through fellowship [65] even above and beyond conflicts, and through mutual forgiveness, we would like to be a sign that the fraternity for which people thirst is possible in Jesus Christ and we would like to be its servants. Community life requires that each one [66] accept others as they are with their personalities, their duties, their initiatives and their limits, and that he let himself be called into question by his brothers. These requirements are the basis of a true dialogue, [67] in mutual respect, fraternal love, solidarity and co-responsibility In this, too, the community strives to witness to Christ in whom it is brought together. At the same time it can lend valuable assistance toward the full development of each of its members. At the heart of the local and Provincial community, [68] we surround with special charity our sick and aged brothers. Particularly through them the Lord inspires us to authentic abandonment, and reminds us of the fragile nature of our condition; He wants to be acknowledged and served in them in a very special way (cf. Matt. 25:40). For their part, these brothers shall accept the care generously given them as an expression of the charity of Christ, who asked his disciples to accept His most humble service (cf. John 13:8). The fellowship which unites us [69] finds its full realization in eternity. And so we stay united with our deceased brothers through prayer and in hope. c. In community of life The organization of the community [70] is an aid and service for all the members. To actualize its spiritual and apostolic function, each community sets up, in accord with the major superiors, its particular structures, depending on its own purpose. Each member shall make a point to respect these structures. The community shall have to reconsider its own organization, as well as its lifestyle, and to reflect regularly on its mission, being consistent with the common project of the Congregation. Full personal development requires that each member [71] provide himself with a personal rule of life. The limited number of community rules reinforces this requirement, in view of the common good, and presupposes that each one take care to facilitate an atmosphere of recollection, particularly by a moderate use of the media of social communication. The superior takes care to give [72] each one in the community the possibility of doing personal and responsible work. To better discern the will of God, he shall consult his community in a fraternal concerted manner. He shall make decisions with prudence and an awareness of (individual) responsibilities. In personal situations, he shall know how to enter into dialogue with each one. For just reasons of a pastoral nature, [73] the establishment and organization of local area communities can be decided upon by the provincial superior, with the deliberative vote of his council, and in accord with the directives from the general and provincial directories. Under the direction of the one who is responsible all the members of these communities together work out a plan of community life and provide themselves with the means to actualize it. They retain their obligations toward the community, and benefit from the rights to fraternal help which flow from religious profession. It is the superior's duty to judge the authenticity of the community dimension of their religious life. Communities, varying in their functions [74] contribute to the common mission of their province. The combined provinces contribute to the mission of the Congregation By virtue of solidarity, [75] contacts and communications shall be established and promoted between communities and provinces; from communities to their province, and from provinces to the Congregation This constant exchange is a pledge of continuity and fidelity, necessary for the dynamism of the whole. It enables the readjustment of our mission and the search for a common inspiration, needed for unity. It efficaciously and effectively insures our active participation in the common work. d. Faithful to prayer (Acts 2:42). We recognize that the faithfulness [76] of each member and of our communities, and the fruitfulness of our apostolate, depend upon our devotion to prayer. To this Christ invites His disciples, and above all His friends; We want to respond to this invitation. "He told them a parable on the necessity of praying always and not losing heart" (Luke 18:1). "Be on your guard, and pray that you may not undergo the test" (Matt. 26:41). We frequently dispose ourselves [77] to hearing the Word of God. We contemplate the love of Christ in the mysteries of His life and in the life of people. Nourished in our attachment to Him, we unite ourselves with His oblation for the salvation of the world. Thus, we are able to receive "a spirit of wisdom and of revelation" in order to discover and truly know Christ the Lord, and the hope His call opens for us (Eph. 1:17-18). By welcoming the Spirit who prays in us [78] and comes to help us in our weakness (cf. Rom. 8:26 ff.) we want to praise and adore in His Son the Father, who each day accomplishes His work of salvation among us, and entrusts to us the ministry of reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18). "The Spirit too helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought" (Rom. 8:26). "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.. "(You received) a spirit of adoption through which we cry out 'Abba!' (that is, 'Father')" (Rom. 8:14-15). Helping us to progress in "knowledge" of Jesus, prayer strengthens the bond of our common life, and continually opens it up to its mission. As Jesus loved to maintain union with the Father, [79] we shall set aside times of silence and solitude to let ourselves be renewed in intimacy with Christ, and to unite ourselves with His love for people. Without the spirit of prayer, personal prayer breaks down; without community prayer, the Community of faith weakens. Following the Lord's constant call to conversion, we shall be attentive to discerning the sin in our lives; we shall deeply value the frequent celebration of His forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation. a. Each community shall take care to decide on the times and forms of its common prayer, which expresses the spirit of our religious life and enables us to participate in the prayer of the Church, particularly through the liturgy of Lauds and of Vespers. b. Each member shall provide, moreover, sufficient time for daily prayer according to the orientations in his province directory, and according to the Founder's recommendation: "To ground yourself in the interior life, every day you shall give a good half-hour to prayer in the morning, and a half-hour to reparatory adoration." (Spiritual Testament). c. The community shall submit to the major superior what it has decided on for its prayer life. d. The provincial superior for his province, and the local superior for his community, shall give authorization to preach to our religious in the churches and oratories of the Institute (cf. Canon 765). e. In addition to the authorization of the local Ordinary, the authorization of the Provincial Superior is required to publish on matters of religion or of morality (cf. Canon 832). 3. Faithful to the breaking of the bread (Acts 2:42) Our whole Christian and religious life [80] finds its source and its summit in the Eucharist (cf. LG 11). Celebrating the memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord is for us the privileged moment of our faith and of our vocation as Priests of the Sacred Heart. Called to participate every day [81] in this sacrifice of the New Covenant, we unite ourselves with the perfect oblation that Christ presents to the Father, in order to share deeply in It through the spiritual sacrifice of our lives. "And now, brothers, I beg you through the mercy of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, your spiritual worship" (Rom. 12:1). As testament to the love of Christ, who delivers Himself up so that the Church might be actualized in unity and thus proclaim hope for the world, the Eucharist has its effects on all that we are and on all that we do. Through our celebration, [82] united with the whole Church in the "memorial" of and presence to its Lord, we welcome Him who brings us to live together, who consecrates us to God, and unceasingly throws us back onto the streets of the world in the service of the Gospel. "This is my body, which is for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this. ..in remembrance of me. Every time, then, you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes!" (1 Cor. 11:24-26). In very close relation [83] with the eucharistic celebration, we meditate on the riches of this "mystery of our faith" in adoration, so that the body and blood of Christ, food of eternal life, may transform our beings more deeply. "He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (John 6:54-56). In that we respond to a requirement of our reparatory vocation. In eucharistic adoration we want to deepen our union with the sacrifice of Christ for the reconciliation of people with God. Eucharistic worship makes us attentive [84] to the love and faithfulness of the Lord in His presence to our world. Sharing in His thanksgiving and intercession, we are called to serve by our whole life the Covenant of God with His people, and to work for unity among Christians and among all peoples. "Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17). Thus would we respond to that invitation to encounter and communion which Christ offers in this privileged sign of His presence. 4. With the Virgin Mary As Mother of Jesus [85] Mary is intimately associated with the life and redemptive work of her son. As Mother of the Church, through her maternal intercession she is present to all those who, engaged in apostolic mission, work for the rebirth of people (cf. LG 65). "She stands out among the poor and humble of tie Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from Him" (LG 55). By her "Ecce ancilla" she inspires us to availability in faith: She is the perfect image of our religious life. And so we shall deeply value praying to her and honoring her according to the spirit and the inclinations of the Church. We also see ourselves as more intimately united with those saints who in a more obvious way lived our life of union with the Heart of Jesus. CONCLUSION By conforming our life to these Constitutions [144] as our profession requires, we will be affirmed to fidelity to our vocation and to our mission as Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Our religious life shares in the evolution, the trials and the searching of the world and of the Church. And so our life is constantly called into question. We are bound to re-think and to find new expression for its mission, its forms of presence and of witness. Assured of God's unfailing faithfulness, rooted in the love of Christ, we know that the choice of religious life, to stay vital, requires faithful encounter with the Lord in prayer, continuing conversion to the Gospel, availability of heart and attitude to welcome This Day of God. |
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