INTRODUCTION
The Holy Father concluded the Synod of the Americas, begun in November 1997 and capped with his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America released at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City in January this year on the Pope's visit to the Americas. It is the Sovereign Pontiff who has expressed a strong desire to see North, Central and South Americas to be considered "one continent" and he expresses the solidarity, communion and conversion of all nations in the Western Hemisphere in this summation of all that was discussed and decided on between Rome and the Bishops of America at the month-long synod late in 1997. We bring you, over several installments, the entire document since it is pertinent not only to the Bishops and clergy, but to the lay communicants of the Americas. To read the entire document at one time or for footnotes, go to Ecclesia in America. To the right is installment ten of ECCLESIA IN AMERICA.
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Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America
From Pope John Paul II to the Bishops, Priests and Deacons, Men and Women Religious, and all the Lay Faithful on the encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity in America
Installment Ten of ECCLESIA IN AMERICA: CHAPTER THREE: THE PATH TO CONVERSION
Guided by the Holy Spirit to a new way of living
29. The proposal of a new style of life applies not only to the Pastors, but
to all Christians living in America. They are asked to know more deeply
and to make their own a genuine Christian spirituality. “In effect, the term
spirituality means a mode or form of life in keeping with Christian
demands. Spirituality is 'life in Christ' and 'in the Spirit', which is accepted
in faith, expressed in love and inspired by hope, and so becomes the
daily life of the Church community”.(77) In this sense, by spirituality,
which is the goal of conversion, we mean “not a part of life, but the
whole of life guided by the Holy Spirit”.(78) Among the many elements of
spirituality which all Christians must make their own, prayer holds a
pre-eminent place. Prayer leads Christians “little by little to acquire a
contemplative view of reality, enabling them to recognize God in every
moment and in every thing; to contemplate God in every person; to seek
his will in all that happens”.(79)
Prayer, both personal and liturgical, is the duty of every Christian. “Jesus
Christ, the Good News of the Father, warns us that without him we can
do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5). He himself, in the decisive moments of his life,
before doing something, used to withdraw to an isolated place to give
himself to prayer and contemplation, and he asked the Apostles to do the
same”.(80) He tells his disciples without exception: “Go into your room
and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Mt 6:6). This
intense life of prayer must be adapted to the capacity and condition of
each Christian, so that in all the different situations of life each one may
be able “to drink of the one Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 12:13) from the wellspring of
their encounter with Christ”.(81) In this sense, contemplation is not a
privilege reserved to the few; on the contrary, in parishes, in communities
and movements there is a need to foster a spirituality clearly oriented to
contemplation of the fundamental truths of faith: the mysteries of the
Trinity, the Incarnation of the Word, the Redemption of humanity, and the
other great saving works of God.(82)
Men and women who are dedicated exclusively to the contemplative life
accomplish a fundamental mission in the Church in America. As the
Second Vatican Council put it, they are “a glory of the Church and a
source of heavenly graces”.(83) Therefore, the monasteries which exist
throughout the continent must be “especially loved by the Pastors, who
should be deeply convinced that souls dedicated to the contemplative life
obtain an abundance of grace, through the prayer, penance and
contemplation to which they have given their lives. Contemplatives must
know that they are part of the Church's mission in the present and that,
by the witness of their lives, they work for the spiritual good of the
faithful, and help them to seek the face of God in everyday life”.(84)
Christian spirituality is nourished above all by a constant sacramental life,
since the Sacraments are the root and endless source of God's grace
which believers need to sustain them on their earthly pilgrimage. The
sacramental life needs to be complemented by the values of popular
piety, values which will be enriched in turn by sacramental practice and
saved from falling into the danger of routine. It should also be noted that
this spirituality is not opposed to the social responsibilities of the Christian
life. On the contrary, in following the path of prayer, believers become
more conscious of the Gospel's demands and of their duties towards
others. Through prayer, they are strengthened with the grace they need
to persevere in doing good. In order to mature spiritually, Christians do
well to seek the counsel of the Church's ministers or of other persons
expert in the field of spiritual direction, which is a traditional practice in the
Church. The Synod Fathers felt that it was necessary to recommend to
priests this important ministry.(85)
The universal call to holiness
30. “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev 19:2). The Special
Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops has wished to offer a
forceful reminder to all Christians of the importance of the doctrine of the
universal call to holiness in the Church.(86) This is one of the key points
of the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.(87)
Conversion is directed to holiness, since conversion “is not an end in
itself but a journey towards God who is holy. To be holy is to be like God
and to glorify his name in the works which we accomplish in our lives (cf.
Mt 5:16)”.(88) On the path of holiness, Jesus Christ is the point of
reference and the model to be imitated: he is “the Holy One of God”, and
was recognized as such (cf. Mk 1:24). It is he who teaches us that the
heart of holiness is love, which leads even to giving our lives for others
(cf. Jn 15:13). Therefore, to imitate the holiness of God, as it was made
manifest in Jesus Christ his Son, “is nothing other than to extend in
history his love, especially towards the poor, the sick and the needy (cf.
Lk 10:25ff.)”.(89)
Jesus, the one way to holiness
31. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). With these words,
Jesus presents himself as the one path which leads to holiness. But a
specific knowledge of this way comes chiefly through the word of God
which the Church proclaims in her preaching. Therefore, the Church in
America “must give a clear priority to prayerful reflection on Sacred
Scripture by all the faithful”.(90) This reading of the Bible, accompanied
by prayer, is known in the tradition of the Church as lectio divina, and it is
a practice to be encouraged among all Christians. For priests, the lectio
divina must be a basic feature of the preparation of their homilies,
especially the Sunday homily.(91)
Penance and reconciliation
32. Conversion (metanoia), to which every person is called, leads to an
acceptance and appropriation of the new vision which the Gospel
proposes. This requires leaving behind our worldly way of thinking and
acting, which so often heavily conditions our behavior. As Sacred
Scripture reminds us, the old man must die and the new man must be
born, that is, the whole person must be renewed “in full knowledge after
the image of the Creator” (Col 3:10). Strongly recommended on this path
of conversion and quest for holiness are “the ascetical practices which
have always been part of the Church's life and which culminate in the
Sacrament of forgiveness, received and celebrated with the right
dispositions”.(92) Only those reconciled with God can be prime agents of
true reconciliation with and among their brothers and sisters.
The present crisis of the Sacrament of Penance, from which the Church
in America is not exempt and about which I have voiced my concern from
the beginning of my Pontificate,(93) will be overcome by resolute and
patient pastoral efforts.
On this point, the Synod Fathers rightly asked “that priests give the
necessary time to the Sacrament of Penance, and strongly and insistently
invite the faithful to receive the Sacrament, without the Pastors
themselves neglecting frequent confession in their own lives”.(94)
Bishops and priests personally experience the mysterious encounter with
the forgiving Christ in the Sacrament of Penance and they are privileged
witnesses of his merciful love.
The Catholic Church, which embraces men and women “of every nation,
race, people and tongue” (Rev 7:9) is called to be, “in a world marked by
ideological, ethnic, economic and cultural divisions”, the “living sign of the
unity of the human family”.(95) In the multiplicity of nations and the variety
of ethnic groups, as in the features common to the entire continent,
America presents many differences which cannot be ignored and which
the Church has the duty to address. Thanks to effective efforts to
integrate the members of the People of God within each country and to
unite the members of the particular Churches of the various countries,
today's differences can be a source of mutual enrichment. As the Synod
Fathers rightly affirmed, “it is most important that the Church throughout
America be a living sign of reconciled communion, an enduring appeal to
solidarity and a witness ever present in our various political, economic
and social systems”.(96) This is a significant contribution which believers
can make to the unity of the American continent.
NEXT MONDAY: Installment eleven - Chapter Four: THE PATH TO COMMUNION
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