Article 2: His Earthly Life

69 Christ’s entire life should be a source of spirituality for us: “he wanted to foreshadow us in his body, in his own body.”[97]

a. On Becoming Flesh
70 At the moment when the Father brings the first-born into the world (Heb 1:6) the sublime priestly consecration of Jesus Christ – by which he is marked and anointed forever – takes place: therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your comrades.” (Heb 1:9). He is Supreme and Eternal Priest,[98] the only Mediator between heaven and earth.

71 At that moment his soul contemplated the Father’s infinite majesty and he experienced “the incomprehensible infinity of… [his] perfections.”[99] At the same time, he contemplated the enormity of the offense made to God – in a certain way infinite – by the sins of all men from all times, and the inadequacy of the victims offered until that moment. He experienced that the Father had made him priest and victim – for which he had to assume matter. The impulse of his unspeakable love made a sovereign priestly act, as he surrendered entirely to the Father’s will.[100]

72 That first priestly act of the sacred soul of Christ at the instant of his Incarnation and priestly ordination was never lessened or retracted. It remains forever in his priestly heart. It is present during his childhood, his hidden and public life, at the Last Supper, on Calvary and in his resurrection and ascension. Now Christ, dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem, is reminded by his five precious wounds of this first priestly act. That priestly act was the prelude to his redeeming sacrifice on the Cross and all the acts of his priesthood in Heaven: ... when Christ came into the world he said: ... a body you have prepared for me... Behold, I come to do your will, O God... (Heb 10:5-7). He recognizes the supreme domain of the Father; he offers himself to Him without restriction; he offers himself as a victim; he immolates himself in atonement; he surrenders himself to the Father without reservation.

73 Such should be the priestly attitude of all members of our small religious family. By baptism all are built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pt 2:5). Everyone, even our secular brothers, are a royal priesthood (1 Pt 2:9), because they “are united to Him and to his sacrifice.”[101] Likewise are those who by religious vows should totally surrender to God by a deeper commitment; also those who exercise the ministerial priesthood through Holy Orders. All the members of the Institute should perfect themselves, being in Christ “an eternal offering for God,”[102] “a living and perfect victim to praise your glory.”[103] It is the priestly attitude proper to the “third man” of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.[104] It is the answer of man to God’s revelation: “by faith man freely commits his entire self to God.”[105] One must live this attitude permanently, without diminution or retraction, without reserve or condition, without subterfuge or delay, without retreating or even slowness. This attitude must govern the most inner and hidden decisions as well as historical public endeavors. A person unable to set fire to his ships after disembarking is unable to build empires.

74 In this sublime moment of the Incarnation he gives us an illustrious example of the practice of mortifying virtues to a profound degree. Without ceasing to be the infinite God, he became finite man, showing us infinite humility, poverty, obedience, and love.

75 The incarnation is an example of humility: though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God... he humbled himself... (Phil 2:6-8) taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Phil 2:7). Without ceasing to be God he manifests an utmost humiliation within Himself – he emptied himself (Phil 2:7) – even as a man. He manifests an immeasurable humility in his human judgment – internal and external: his humanity acknowledged that everything it had was from God. Seeing such great humility we should learn how to consider others as superiors, each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil 2:4).[106] We must never stop considering the inexhaustible treasure of virtues of Jesus’ hypostatic Heart. To contemplate incessantly this rich source should be the badge of honor and the distinctive sign of our Institute.

76 We must follow the example of faith of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in the Incarnation: Blessed is she who believed... (Lk 1:45) We shall live by faith,[107]

- a living, firm, unshaken, eminent, heroic faith;

- a faith convinced that God would not be God if we were capable to grasp him with our limited intelligence or if we understood all his judgments and ways;

- a faith in absolute harmony with the doctrine proposed by the Catholic Church, even in the smallest details, molded with the strictest docility to the directives and teachings of the Pope;

- a faith full of promptness to reject error even perceived through the weakest appearances, full of ardent zeal to spread the faith, but without bitterness and harshness;

- a penetrating faith that sees all things by the light of revelation – sub specie aeternitatis, that elevates the soul to the supernatural plans of God and allows us to consider ourselves “worthy of all afflictions;”[108]

- a heroic faith – like the faith of the saints of the Old Testament[109] – that triumphs over the world and over evil;[110] able to build great things; that illuminates life and gives it meaning; one that strengthens, encourages, comforts, and casts out fear: It is I, have no fear (Mk 6:50). Cowards die many times before their death.

77 In the Incarnation, Mary is an example of other virtues:

- Humility: she was greatly troubled at the saying (Lk 1:29); she proclaimed herself humble:[111] and exalted those of low degree (Lk 1:52).

- Wisdom: and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be (Lk 1:29).

- Purity: How shall this be, since I have no husband? (Lk 1:34).

- Abandonment to God: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord (Lk 1:38).

In Mary we must find strength to permanently rediscover the Christian and priestly life as fidelity to the religion of mystery and miracle, of martyrdom and mercy, of “Magnificat” and magnanimity.

- Mystery: there the Trinity is revealed: ...the Lord God... Son of the Most High... The Holy Spirit... (Lk 1:32-35); the Incarnate Word: Let it be to me according to your word. (Lk 1:38).

- Miracle: and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son (Lk 1:31).

- Martyrdom: is set for the fall and rising… for a sign that is spoken against… and a sword will pierce through your own soul also (Lk 2:34-35).

- Mercy: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son (Jn 3:16); and you shall call his name Jesus. (Lk 1:31); for he will save his people from their sins (Mt 1:21) his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation... (Lk 1:50-51);

- “Magnificat”: My soul magnifies the Lord (Lk 1:46); and the angels praise God saying: Glory to God in the highest... (Lk 2:14).

- Magnanimity: for he who is mighty has done great things for me (Lk 1:49).

78 We could say that our spirituality should be the spirituality of the Hail Mary, the Angelus, the hymn of kenosis,[112] the Magnificat, and the Gloria.

b. In the womb of the Virgin
79 We have to learn to be enclosed with Christ in Mary’s womb, where, at the moment of Incarnation we were included. Christ morally assumes the flesh of all. In Mary’s womb He physically took her flesh and morally the flesh of us all in such a way that we were conceived in the most pure womb of Mary. Therefore she is our true and proper spiritual Mother. “Therefore all we who are united to Christ, and as the Apostle says are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Eph 5:30), have issued from the womb of Mary like a body united to its head.”[113]

80 We can never insist enough on this mysterious and ineffable reality of our joining to Christ by the principle of koinonia – solidarity or communion – by which we are recapitulated and concentrated in Him, since He assumed the representation, the responsibility and the destination of all men in himself. At the moment of the Incarnation this intimate mutual union and identification of Christ with each one of us make us in radice children of God, forming a unique and compact whole with the Incarnate Word: we are sons in the Son – filii in Filio. “[Christ] who became the Son of man in order that we might have the power to be the sons of God.”[114] “To whom all are united, as members to a head, who constitute one mystical person.”[115]

81 In addition to men, all things meet, converge, shake hands, unite, epitomize each other and are based in the Word-made-flesh: … recapitulating all things… in the Alpha and the Omega.[116]

82 For nine months the Virgin was the tabernacle that protected Jesus, just as for almost two thousand years she has been the tabernacle that shows Him to the world. One task is not less important than the other.

83 In her womb God took on human form, and so Saint Augustine called her “forma Dei.”[117] Likewise, by consecrating ourselves as slaves of the Virgin we want – in the likeness of Jesus – “to enter into the womb of our Mother and be born again.”[118] Consecrating ourselves to Jesus through Mary is to follow the way that He followed coming into the world, the way that He uses and will always use.[119]

84 In the womb, Jesus taught us to depend totally and completely on God through Mary. At the same time, Mary taught us the evangelical ministry of visitation. By “carrying Him Who carried her”[120] she taught us that all our apostolic enthusiasm is to be founded in Him; she taught us to carry out the things of God quickly;[121]; she taught us to serve our neighbor even in the more simple tasks; she taught us to praise, thank, sing and be joyful in the Almighty, Holy, Merciful, Saving, and Faithful God, because God “looked upon” her and did “great things” – the Incarnation – in her, deploying his power, scattering the proud, casting down the mighty, filling the hungry, lifting up the lowly and protecting his servants forever.

c. Childhood
85 Among other things, the birth of the Incarnate Word urges us to strictly live holy poverty since whoever has God is extremely rich. It also urges us to live in joy – a fruit of the Holy Spirit and a consequence of the Incarnation – as the angel announced to the shepherds: I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people (Lk 2:10). This is the joy of the Virgin Mary, the “cause of our joy”; rejoice, Mary (Lk 1:28) said the angel Gabriel. She herself, with great docility, proclaimed: my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (Lk 1:47). Therefore, all generations have called her and will call her blessed (Lk 1:48) – happy in a sublime degree.

86 The mystery of the Birth of the incarnate Word urges us to work in the most difficult places – those where no one wants to go – and when it is impossible to continue working there, after a night of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we should ask the Bishop to send us to an even worse place.

87 From the Epiphany we must extract spiritual light to commit all our life to manifest Christ to the world, so that he may not only be recognized by the poor but also by the rich, not only by the ignorant but also by the wise, not only by those in our homeland but also by those in other countries. We should not entangle ourselves in false reductionistic dialectics where we discriminate against others (i.e. the rich, the intellectuals, the foreigners or strangers, etc.), where we worry exclusively about some people or some place – narcissistic localism – because the Spirit blows where it wills (Jn 3:8). Our field of action has no horizons, but is rather the whole world: go into all the world... (Mk 16:15) said Jesus.

88 From the mystery of the Loss and Finding of Jesus in the Temple we want to learn how to be steadfast and faithful to the call, to the vocation, over and above any other earthly demands: did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? (Lk 2:49). We also want to learn how to fulfill the will of God each time better, in a way that is:

1. more universal in its object: fulfilling the will of God in all its manifested forms:

- be it when God commands: commandments, precepts, laws, etc.;

- be it when he counsels: inspirations, vocation, evangelical counsels, etc.;

- be it when he manifests himself by events – signified will;

2. more exact in its execution: not being satisfied with a merely substantial fulfillment but also taking care of the details (God has a delicate love for us, and one has to respond according to this delicacy);

3. more supernatural in its reasons: our intention has to be more pure by doing things only because God wills them;

4. more perfect in the disposition with which we fulfill it: not doing the will of God either due to worldly fear or for selfish or temporal interest, but for pure love, showing Him that we love Him and only want to please Him.

89 His example moves us to love the theological science, to have a true sense of the dialogue of salvation – “Apostolic dialogue begins from faith and presupposes a firm Christian identity”[122] – to devote oneself to the Father and have a deep spirit of piety.

d. Hidden Life
90 Jesus’ example in his hidden life is no less important for our spirituality. All time of preparation is very important for us; it is not wasted time – when one makes good use of it; it is not time that one has to pass through quickly; it is not a necessary evil. The future of an individual brother in religious life and, therefore, of the Institute as a whole, depends fundamentally on the formation that is given in the time of preparation: postulancy, novitiate, juniorate, further studies, ongoing formation. Therefore, good doctrine is not enough. We need “teachers” who have a lot of spirit and a clear intention of making very rigorous selection. This is of capital importance to maintain a healthy atmosphere. When choosing, it is better to make a mistake by excess than by defect.

91 The following should stand out in the candidates during the time of formation, in the likeness of Jesus’ hidden life:

- a longing for inner growth,

- a love for fruitful silence,

- a wholehearted commitment to intellectual and material work,

- a fulfillment of own’s duty till the end,

- an spirit of subjection[123] along with responsibility, readiness and maturity,

- an ability to live in an atmosphere of festive joy.[124]

92 The soul needs silence to manifest in the deepest way possible that in the presence of God there is nothing more to say. Silence is a means to achieve union with God, bringing one to the summit of prayer. One who seeks to be quiet will be so to converse with God who brings the soul to the desert so as to speak to his heart.[125]

93 In likeness to the Word who chose to live in the silence of Nazareth for thirty years, some of our members consecrate themselves to Him in the contemplative state. They want to dedicate themselves to the only necessary thing; they have chosen the best part.[126] “How beautiful is contemplative life to the eyes of God and the Church! It constitutes one of the fundamental structures of the Holy Church. It has been present in all the phases of its history – for two millennia, always fertile in solid virtues, always endowed with a mysterious and powerful attractiveness in the highest and most noble souls.”[127] Therefore, contemplatives are in the vanguard of all the apostolic works of the Institute, since with their prayer life and penance they obtain from the Lord the necessary graces for salvation of many souls: “Institutes of contemplative life, by their prayers and trials are of the greatest importance in the conversion of souls since it is in answer to prayer that God sends workers into his harvest,[128] opens the minds of non-Christians to hear the Gospel,[129] and makes fruitful the word of salvation in their hearts.[130]“[131] The following words of Saint Teresa apply to the contemplatives: “[T]he Lord… has brought you together here for that very purpose [salvation of souls]. This is your vocation; this must be your business; these must be your desires; these your tears; these your petitions… If your prayers and desires and disciplines and fasts are not performed for the intentions of which I have spoken, reflect [and believe] that you are not carrying out the work or fulfilling the object for which the Lord has brought you here.”[132] Our monasteries of contemplative life should be magnets of the grace of God and lightning rods for his wrath. God willing, we will be able to multiply them all over the world! “The Church and the world... need... a small ideal society where as a goal all the following reign: love, obedience, innocence, freedom from things and the art of its good use, the prevalence of the spirit, peace, – in a word – the Gospel.”[133]

e. Public Life
94 It is impossible to summarize all that Jesus Christ taught us with his life and his doctrine – the source for all Christian spirituality. We want to point out some aspects of the spirituality of our small religious family inspired in the great examples of our Savior and Redeemer.

Baptism
95 Christ was baptized by John so that baptism would be consecrated by Christ.[134] The whole theological depth of our baptismal birth and our religious profession – “deeply rooted in their baptismal consecration and is a fuller expression of it”[135] – is known only in the light of the baptism of the Lord.

96 Christ’s baptism reminds us that we must unceasingly surrender ourselves to:

- the Father, who in the Son has said to us: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased (Mt 3:17);

- the Son, from whom we are made disciples and by whom we call ourselves Christians;[136]

- the Holy Spirit, who descended upon us in the Son in bodily form, as a dove (Lk 3:22);

And all of this was accomplished sacramentally in us on the day of our baptism.

97 The mystery of the Baptism of Jesus reminds us of the serious obligation of remaining faithful to the promises of Baptism by which we commit ourselves to renounce the devil and profess the Holy Catholic faith; and of the serious obligation of remaining faithful to the promises of religious profession.

98 It must also be an incentive to live the virtue of humility in fullness since Jesus was not afraid of being thought of as one more sinner. He wanted “to purify the waters and, cleansed by the contact with the flesh of Christ, that didn’t know sin, they had the virtue of baptizing;”[137] and “he left them sanctified for those that then had to be baptized;”[138] at the same time, he left us an example of how to practice the virtue of justice: ...it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness (Mt 3:15).

Fasting
99 The practice of penance, essential to the Christian life, must also be essential in our spirituality: unless you repent you will all likewise perish (Lk 13:3); especially internal penance – metanoia[139] – the intimate, total change and renewal of the whole man from all his feelings, judgments, and plans.

100 In the mystery of Christ we can see both the sanctity of God and the graveness of sin.[140] By his word we are invited to conversion and to receive pardon from sin, gifts that we receive fully in baptism and which we must “embody” by denying ourselves, carrying our cross, and participating in the sufferings of Christ.

101 The holy sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance holds a preeminent place in the spiritual life of our small religious family. We therefore advise that one receives the sacrament weekly. We should have devotion for frequent confession, since there are many fruits that come from it: “By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the Sacrament itself.”[141]

102 It is also necessary to greatly appreciate external penance concerning: eating and drinking, sleeping, “inflict[ing] sensible pain on [the flesh]”[142] by means of cilices,[143] self-flagellation, etc. The fact that penance has primarily an interior and religious character does not exclude or attenuate the external practice of such virtue in any way, but rather encourages it all the more. The norms given by Saint Ignatius should regulate its practice.[144]

103 We should always grant preeminence to the penitential days and seasons – Advent and Lent – according to the precept of our Holy Mother Church.[145] During those times one must be devoted in a special way to prayer, to the practice of charity and piety, to denying oneself, to a better fulfillment of one’s duties, etc.

104 The example of Our Lord retreating for forty days should lead us to highly value the practice of the spiritual exercises, especially those of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and the typical thirty-day exercises given at the end of the novitiate and every ten years thereafter. Also, it is laudable to make the annual eight-day spiritual exercises. We also believe that the monthly retreat is highly important.

105 This clear understanding of the irreplaceable value of the Spiritual Exercises for the renewal of the Christian life – by teaching each person to conquer oneself and to order one’s own life according to God – should bring us to know deeply the Exercises, to prepare ourselves to preach them with fruit, and to have the necessary disposition not to miss any opportunity to preach them.

Temptations
106 The example of the Lord when suffering the attacks of the devil in the desert will always be an inexhaustible source of encouragement for religious. Because he wanted to give us strength against temptations, he conquered “our temptations with his”[146] so that no one should think he is free from temptations, no matter how holy one is: My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for temptation (Eccl 2:1). His example teaches how firmly, quickly and righteously one has to conquer the temptations of the devil: “the devil is conquered… by righteousness, not by power.”[147] His example also teaches us to trust more in his mercy: For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Since “the matter of all sin”[148] is found in the three temptations, religious, by their three vows, totally oppose all sin and all temptations that lead to sin. All temptations can be summarized in the three Our Lord experienced. In our opposition to sin we make a fourth vow – slavery to the Virgin Mary – by which we take her side in that enmity created by God: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel... (Gn 3:15).

107 It does no good to be frightened or concerned by big and grievous temptations; for two reasons:

1. “The Total Christ was tempted by the devil since in Him you are tempted ...Recognizing yourself tempted in Him and also recognize yourself victorious in Him… our progress is carried out by means of temptation and nobody can know oneself if he is not tempted, nor be crowned if he has not conquered, neither can he conquer if he has not struggled, neither can he struggle if he lacks an enemy and temptations;”[149]

2. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it (1 Cor 10:13).

108 It is worth keeping in mind some of the most common states-of-temptation that we notice among ourselves, that can cause damage to our spiritual and pastoral life. Among these are:

- The egocentric priest who looks for human glory, looking to please men more than God.[150] He worries only about what affects him personally. He is envious, especially when young priests are more gifted than he.

- The clerk priest has a spirit of a bureaucrat. He multiplies requirements for people, whom he sees as customers. He thinks he is obedient because he fulfills the formalities, yet he doesn’t set ablaze, nor is himself ablaze with the fire of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t know about taking risks for Christ. He is not creative nor undertakes new ministries. He doesn’t make things happen. He doesn’t realize that the priest should be a poet and an artisan.

- The petty priest does the least possible with the excuse of not falling into over-activity, or because “we live in bad times”, or because the family isn’t like it used to be, or because of the “unhealthy action of the media”. He only knows how to complain: “you can’t do anything.”

- The fickle priest begins many things but never finishes any of them.

- The boring priest: he is as orthodox as boring. He has the strange ability to make the truth boring. The bottom line is that he does not have love: “The soul that walks in love doesn’t tire nor does it grow tired.”[151]

- The improviser priest does everything without foresight. He does not prepare sermons. He has no goals; when he does, he doesn’t know how to use the means. He does not think how to achieve anything. He is unable to do pastoral planning. He is disorganized, without self-mastery. He ends up being irresponsible. He does not fulfill his promises. He does not know how to prioritize and choose ministries.

- The frivolous priest trivializes everything – all is superficial for him. He thinks he is smart. He does not respect the essences. He has to touch everything. He lacks dominion and ignores the hierarchies. He delights in being the “hip one” especially with female youth. He is incurably childish and superficial.

- The glum priest sees everything as serious. He is always distant, inaccessible, and tense. He does not know how to laugh. He finds all healthy distraction a frivolity. A bad word sounds like a serious sin for him, and eutrapelia is not a virtue. By seeing the tree he forgets the existence of the forest, and he usually makes “tempests in teapots”.

- The mediocre priest excuses himself under a false pretext, considering himself “middle of the road” All magnanimity seems prideful to him. He finds all heroism extreme, all generosity exaggeration. He makes everything mediocre – be it retreats, camping trips, mission-outreaches, catechesis, even his own spiritual life, etc.

- The parochial priest worries only about his immediate world. He lives buried in his little works, and has a “ghetto spirit”. It seems like the Church ends in his parish, city, state, or country. If he is a diocesan clergy he thinks it is a sin if a young person wants to be a religious. If he is a religious priest he suffers if someone wants to enter a congregation that is not his own. He does not understand that the Church is “missionary by her very nature.”[152] His only problems are concerned with the associate pastor, the little old woman, the neighboring parish priest, or with his own bishop. He does not see “the invasion of sects”[153] as a problem, nor militant atheism, nor the de-christianization of the culture.

- The effeminate priest. He is all elegant and clean, is a lovely thing; but everything is external show, as one who remains only in details. This is his “world”. He lacks the “sacred” when he presides at liturgy. He lacks courage, fortitude, and “worldly wisdom” in the good sense of the word.

- The greedy priest chooses his ministries according to economic profit, being more interested in the stipend than in the salvation of souls. He considers the expenses of mission-outreaches, spiritual exercises, etc., an unforgivable waste. He does not invest in the pastoral but in the financial. All the poor who knock on his doors are only charlatans. He does not understand that it is necessary to have purses that do not wear out (Lk 12:33).

- The moody priest is always impatient, gloomy, and available only when in a good mood. He is sterile. He sees only black. He is single, not celibate. He ignores that a pound of grace weighs more than all the sins of the world, even if squared to the umpteenth power.

- The secularized priest adopts lay customs, life and spirituality. It seems that he does not have the sacrament of Holy Orders. He is identified by his layman’s clothing, by a layman’s way of dealing with others, by the number of hours he spends watching television, by his worldly criteria, etc.

- The fearful priest worries what people will say about him. He distrusts everything; he interprets the simplest gesture as if it were a serious disqualification; he makes up fables that feed his phobias; he lacks the courage of the Holy Spirit.

- The quiet priest is a softer version of the previous one. He thinks that he is not worthy, that he doesn’t know how to preach, that people make fun of him. He does not deal with learned people. He is timid – falling into false humility. He does not do enough to overcome this.

- The chancery priest associates with authority, praising it in order to ascend. He sees the priesthood as a ladder of ranks. He takes great care of his image. He usually has a feminine psychology, and therefore he schemes. He is incapable “of blooming where he has been planted.” He is all showing-off.

- The loner priest manages by his own spirit. He is unable to get together with others for a common task. He is not integrated and so has a bad end.

- The ubiquitous priest is in all places except where he must be, going in all directions at once. He confuses the pilgrim Church with the nomadic Church. He doesn’t know how to “restrain his wanderings”[154] and therefore does little, wasting time.

In summary, these examples suffice to make us realize that we need holy priests and religious who are poets, metaphysicians, and soldiers, who sing, contemplate, and fight.

Teaching and works
109 Jesus began to do and teach (Acts 1:1). Therefore, in our spirituality we should never dialectically separate teaching from work, nor work from teaching. It is always necessary to unite the integrity of doctrine with the rightness of life, and orthodoxy with orthopraxis. In the whole revelation word and work – dabar and barah – are inseparably united.

110 The principles of the “spirituality of teaching” have to be inspired by the examples given by our blessed Savior, especially in this time of revitalization of evangelization and catechesis. We believe that the fundamental characteristics of Jesus’ eloquence are: originality, authority, serenity, and universality. The members of our Institute dedicated to teaching – and in some manner, all – have to capture these characteristics very deeply in prayer so to be able to transmit them to others.

Originality
111 It is necessary to have the most firm conviction that the strongest, liveliest, freshest, and most grace-filled originality can be found only in the strictest fidelity to the doctrine of Jesus, understood in the Church. Jesus’ listeners said about him: No man ever spoke like this man! (Jn 7:46). All that is separated from Jesus is out-of-date, quickly aging and will regrettably be like a boring song. Here it is also worth quoting the old adage: “don’t love the singularities.”[155]

Authority
112 When we are certain of the contemplated truth, we can teach with astonishing certainty and authority – according to the degree of theological certainty of that truth – participating in the authority of Christ: They were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes (Mk 1:21). Teaching one’s own doctrines, demanding undue consent, emphasizing the accidental, having a doubtful attitude concerning everything, remaining in insinuations or approximations, making problems out of the simplest things, darkening the clear points and not clarifying the dark ones, seeking oneself when teaching, preferring confusion to order, being padded instead of sober, opaque instead of transparent, confusing instead of precise, wordy instead of concise, churning the waters so that others believe they are deep... is not to have the spirit of Christ who said: Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil (Mt 5:37).

Serenity
113 Serenity and sweetness are other characteristics of evangelical teaching that are not opposed to – but rather demanded by – the quick-witted reply, the intelligent polemic, the effective rebuttal, the academic or apologetic discussion. One should never lose spiritual peace, moderation, courtesy, nor religious fervor.

Universality
114 It is necessary to let oneself be penetrated by the universality of the teaching of Christ. Intellectual sectarianism is neither evangelical nor intellectual. Those who, because of close-mindedness, are incapable of being understood by simple-minded people, don’t capture the universality of Jesus’ message. Only the contemplative and the authentic intellectual do not forget “There exists, there must be a fundamental union which is before all pluralism, and which alone enables pluralism to be not only legitimate but desirable and fruitful.”[156]

115 We must be impatient to preach the Word in every way, following the advice of Saint Paul: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching (2 Tm 4:2). It is necessary not to be dumb dogs that cannot bark (Is 56:10). One has to look for the sheep, to use the method of dialogue, of testimony and solidarity,[157] to correct sinners, to teach doctrine: faith comes from what is heard (Rom 10:17), to visit the sick and to bring souls to the sacrament of Reconciliation. “Show by the depth of your convictions and by the consistency of your behavior that Jesus Christ is our contemporary.”[158]

Works
116 Our Lord not only “said”, but also “worked”, particularly in the work of becoming flesh in the Incarnation[159] and in the work of becoming sin in his death on the Cross[160] as sacrifice for our sins. So numerous are the “works” of Jesus that Saint John says, if every one of them were written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written (Jn 21:25).

117 What is common to all his works is that he did not do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise (Jn 5:19). This constitutes the essential work of Jesus: My food is to do the will of him who sent me (Jn 4:34). He also says: I can do nothing on my own authority... I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me (Jn 5:30). This is the true greatness of the Christian and religious vocation: union with God.

118 The will of the Father has a first and foremost actualization: the Kingdom, made us a kingdom... (Rv 1:6). This should be our first concern: seek first his kingdom... (Mt 6:33). In order to build the Kingdom Jesus called men to make them disciples: was making and baptizing more disciples (Jn 4:1). By teaching, mainly by example, he formed them to do as He did: For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you (Jn 13:15). Likewise, as an integral part of our spirituality, we need to know how to call, teach, direct, accompany, and select vocations: priestly, diaconal, religious, missionary, and secular. Knowing that “vocation is in seed in the heart of most Christians,”[161] we should comply with the mandate of the Pope: “with passion and discretion, be one who wakes up vocations.”[162] We need to know how to detect the action of the Holy Spirit who pushes the soul to irresistible demands of sacrifice for the love of Christ, an integral act of faith and total surrender. In this vocational work we need an explicit decision not to make a pact with, compromise with, capitulate with, negotiate with, surrender to or give in to, the spirit of the world.

119 The words of these Constitutions will be dead words if we do not train generous youth who will hand down to the new generations of our religious family the charism that the Holy Spirit granted to our founder.

120 Christ also taught us to work for purification and renewal: And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple (Jn 2:15); for reconciliation: who has made us both one (Eph 2:14); and to not lose sight of the eminently supernatural character of the faith and of the Christian life, for which He performed works that no one else ever did (Jn 15:24). He did so that we might reach a sacrificial and eucharistic attitude, imitating Our Lord who did this once for all (Heb 7:27). He taught us to try to do things in the best possible way, and not haphazardly, since Jesus has done all things well (Mk 7:37); as the good thief confessed: This man has done nothing wrong (Lk 23:41).

121 The miracles worked by Our Lord are irrefutable evidence of the credibility of our holy religion and a most eloquent manifestation of the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, God from God and Light from Light. He performed miracles in all beings of creation: angels – good and bad, celestial bodies, human beings and irrational creatures. He did this as proof and argument of the faith he taught: that it was He who had come to free men from the power of demons; that it was He who was the Savior of mankind; and that it was He who was the Master and Lord of all creation. Thus, he built up the Kingdom on a solid and indestructible base. Upon this solid base we must build our spirituality: solidified by trials, purified by tribulations, perfected by persecutions, and unshakable in the face of all the violent furies of hell, even if must live in the time of the Antichrist. We follow the One who, today as yesterday, has all power. Therefore, there is no room for fear. Nothing can make us reject the revealed truth and the love of Christ.[163]

122 The miracle of the transfiguration, by which Christ showed his disciples the glory and beauty of his body encourages us by that brief contemplation of eternal joy, to tolerate difficulties. It also reminds us of the specific objective of our small religious family: to evangelize the culture – to transfigure it into Christ. Therefore, on every August 6th, Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, we will always solemnly commemorate what constitutes us and what must distinguish us from among the various religious families of the Church.

f. Priesthood of Christ
123 Jesus Christ, because of the union of the Word with human nature and of his capital grace, is truly constituted High and Eternal Priest. No one is so true a priest as Christ; all others are priests in his image. No one is more of a High Priest than He, from whom all others participates by derivation. No one is Eternal Priest but He, who perpetuates his sacrifice on the altars till the end of the centuries, and who will consummate his priesthood in Heaven: You are a priest forever... (Ps 110:4), Great High Priest (Heb 4:14), Priest for ever (Heb 6:20).

124 He was at the same time priest and victim of his own sacrifice: he gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).

125 His priesthood has a superabundant power to expiate for all the sins of men: with his stripes we are healed (Is 53:5).

126 He is the most perfect mediator between God and men: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men (1 Tm 2:5), the covenant he mediates is better (Heb 8:6).

127 Jesus Christ communicates his own priesthood to his disciples, in diverse degrees, making them participate in it in a true and real way. It is in the liturgy where Christ’s mystical Body performs the public worship: “the whole public worship is performed by the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, that is, by the Head and His members. Because it… is a sacred action surpassing all others; no other action of the Church can equal its efficacy by the same title and to the same degree.”[164]

128 In the liturgy the Incarnate Word intercedes for us because he is our Priest, and in us because he is our Head. To Him we pray – he is our God. We must recognize our voice in Him and his in us. We ought to pray with Him, since He prays with us; to pray in Him, since He prays in us.[165]

129 This participation in the priesthood of Christ is the essence of the sacramental character that begins with Baptism, is perfected with Confirmation and achieves its plenitude in Holy Orders.

130 a) The baptismal character empowers us to receive the other sacraments. It empowers the lay faithful to act as their own proper ministers in the sacrament of Marriage – the maximal realization of the common priesthood. How we should nurture our soul with the reality of our Baptism! How we should teach this reality to the Christian lay faithful!

131 b) The baptismal character empowers all the baptized to offer the eucharistic sacrifice. This grandiose and impressive prerogative should be taught insistently to all the members of our Institutes who are not ministerial priests. The baptized participate – though without carrying out the liturgical rite themselves – in the oblation to the Father of the altar’s Victim in two ways:

1. They offer the sacrifice by means of the visible priest, since he offers on behalf of all the members when acting in the person of Christ as head and shepherd.

2. Together with the visible priest, they unite their acts of praise, supplication, and atonement.

132 c) The character of Confirmation, as it gives us the comforting or corroborative grace, empowers us to profess the faith of Christ with courage and fortitude, and to defend it against its opponents with greater ease and naturalness.

133 d) The character of Holy Orders configures with Christ-the-Head, giving power to the ministerial priest over Christ’s physical Body and over his mystical Body. It allows him to act in persona Christi[166] – being his main act the immolation and oblation of the sacrifice of the Mass[167]– and also to bless, to preside, to preach, to baptize, to hear confessions, etc. The members of our Institute who are ministerial priests should return again and again to this ineffable reality which produced in them an ontological change in making them like Christ-the-Head. No “secular spirituality” can reduce their “priestly spirituality”.

[97] Saint Augustine, Writings about the Psalms, 50, 3.

[98] Cf. Heb 5:5.

[99] Saint Francis of Sales, Treatise about the Love of God, 5, 6.

[100] Cf. Heb 10:7.

[101] ChL 14.

[102] Cf. RM, Eucharistic Prayer III.

[103] RM, Eucharistic Prayer IV.

[104] Cf. Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 155; 157

[105] DV 5.

[106] Cf. ST II-II, 161, 3.

[107] Cf. Heb 10:38.

[108] Saint Catherine of Siena, The Dialogue, 100.

[109] Cf. Heb 11:1ff.

[110] Cf. 1 Jn 5:4.

[111] Cf. Lk. 1:48.

[112] Cf. Phil 2:6ff.

[113] Saint Pius X, Ad diem illum laetissimum, 5.

[114] Saint Leo the Great, Sermon on the Feast of the Nativity, 6, 2.

[115] ST III, 19, 4; cf. 48, 1.

[116] Cf. Eph 1:10; Rv 1:8.

[117] Quoted by Saint Louis-Marie Grignon de Montfort, in The Secret of Mary, 16, 267.

[118] Cf. Jn 3:4.

[119] Cf. Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, The Secret of Mary, 58; TD, 50.

[120] Saint Bernard, Sunday Sermon within the Octave of the Ascension of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 9.

[121] Cf. Lk 1:39.

[122] John Paul II, Meeting with Representatives of Lay Apostolate in Liege, May 19, 1985; passim.

[123] Cf. Lk 2:51.

[124] Cf. Lk 2:42.

[125] Cf. Hos 2:16.

[126] Cf. Lk 10:41.

[127] John XXIII, Discourse to the Students of the Trappist International School, October 21, 1960.

[128] Cf. Mt 9:38.

[129] Cf. Acts 16:14.

[130] Cf. 1 Cor 3:7.

[131] AG 40.

[132] Saint Teresa of Avila, Way of Perfection, 1, 4-5; 3, 10.

[133] Paul VI, Discourse after the Consecration of the Abbey of Montecassino, October 24, 1964.

[134] Cf. Saint Augustine, On the Gospel of Saint John, 5.

[135] PC 5.

[136] Cf. Acts 11:26.

[137] Saint Ambrose, Commentary to Saint Luke, 2, 21.

[138] Pseudo-Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, 4.

[139] Cf. Mk 1:15.

[140] Cf. Lk 5:8; 7:36-50.

[141] Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, 88.

[142] Saint Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, 85.

[143] Cf. Lv 16:31.

[144] Cf. SpEx [82-89].

[145] Cf. CIC, cc. 1249 ff.

[146] Saint Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, 16, 1.

[147] Saint Augustine, On the Holy Trinity, 13, 14, 18.

[148] Saint Ambrose, Commentary on Saint Luke, 4, 35.

[149] Saint Augustine, Expositions on the book of Psalms, 60, 3.

[150] Cf. Gal 1:10.

[151] Saint John of the Cross, Maxims on Love, 18.

[152] AG 2.

[153] DP 419.

[154] Cf. Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 3, 54.

[155] Cf. Thomas à Kempis, Imitation of Christ, 3, 54.

[156] John Paul II, Discourse to the Participants in the Assembly organized by the Italian Episcopal Conference on ‘From Rerum Novarum to our days’, October 31, 1981.

[157] Cf. John Paul II, Address to the Bishops of Colombia in Ad Limina Visit, February 22, 1985.

[158] John Paul II, Discourse to the Youth of Brescia, October 3, 1982.

[159] Cf. Jn 1:14.

[160] Cf. 2 Cor 5:21.

[161] John Paul II, Discourse to Women Religious in Turin, April 13, 1980.

[162] John Paul II, Weekly Meeting with Pilgrims, March 16, 1983.

[163] Cf. Rom 8:39.

[164] SC 7.

[165] Cf. Saint Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, 85, 1.

[166] Eugene IV, Exsultate Deo; Council of Florence, Decree against the Armenians.

[167] Cf. ST III, 22, 4.


Note: This English translation of the Constitutions of Institute of the Incarnate Word and the Directory of Spirituality is a draft version and is subject to further revision and improvement.