sussidio 6 2014

 OUR CONSECRATION
INCORPORATED IN CHRIST

From the Word of God
About the gifts of the Spirit, brothers, I want you to be quite certain. There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the general good. But at work in all these is one and the same Spirit, distributing them at will to each individual. For as with the human body which is a unity although it has many parts -all the parts of the body, though many, still making up one single body – so it is with Christ. We were baptised into one body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink. And indeed the body consists not of one member but of many. As it is, God has put all the separate parts into the body as he chose. If they were all the same part, how could it be a body? As it is, the parts are many but the body is one. (1 Cor 12: 1.4-7.11-14.18-20)
From the Documents of the Church
The Church is the Body of Christ! And this is not simply a catchphrase: indeed, we truly are! It is the great gift that we receive on the day of our Baptism! In the sacrament of Baptism, indeed, Christ makes us his, welcoming us into the heart of the mystery of the Cross, the supreme mystery of his love for us, in order to cause us to then be raised with him, as new beings. See: in this way the Church is born, and in this way the Church is recognized as the Body of Christ! Baptism constitutes a true rebirth, which regenerates us in Christ, renders us a part of Him, and unites us intimately among ourselves, as limbs of the same body, of which He is the Head (cf. Rm 12:5; 1 Cor 12:12-13). What springs from it then, is a profound communion of love. How beautiful it would be were we to remember more often what we are, what the Lord Jesus made of us: we are his body: that body which nothing and no one can ever tear from Him and which He cloaks with all his passion and with all his love, just as a bridegroom does his bride. This thought, however, should cause to spring within us the desire to correspond to the Lord Jesus’ love and share it among us, as living members of his own body. In the time of Paul, the community of Corinth found great difficulty in this sense, living, as we, too, often do, the experience of division, of envy, of misunderstanding and of exclusion. All of these things are not good because, instead of building up the Church and causing her to grow as the Body of Christ, they shatter it into many pieces, they dismember it. And this happens in our time as well. Let us consider, in Christian communities, in some parishes, let us think of how much division, how much envy, how they criticize, how much misunderstanding and exclusion there is in our neighbourhoods. This dismembers us among ourselves. It is the beginning of war…wars begin in the heart, with misunderstanding, division, envy, with this struggle with others. The Apostle Paul gave some practical advice to the Corinthians, which also applies to us: do not be envious, but appreciate the talents and qualities of our brothers in our communities,…be neighbours and share in the suffering of the least and the most needy; express your gratitude to everyone. The heart that knows how to say ‘thank you’ is a good heart, it is a noble heart, it is a heart that is content. No one consider him/herself superior to the others. Let us invoke the Holy Spirit, that his grace and the abundance of his gifts help us to truly live as the Body of Christ, united, as a family.(Pope Francis, General Audience, 22nd October 2014)
From the writings of Blessed Antonio Rosmini
This is the beginning of charity in the world. Charity came here on earth with the God-Man, and from the God-Man was sent forth into other human beings. Brothers, if we are to see how this took place, we have to return to the very beginning of this talk, that is, to the incorporation of other human beings in Christ. He is the head of the body, the Church (Col 1: 18), and speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in charity (Eph 4:15-16).
St. Paul’s words show that the spiritual nourishment of grace has to be given to us by Jesus Christ, our head, in whom we have been incorporated. We are incorporated into Christ by the impression of the indelible character, Christ in us. He makes himself our head; he makes us his members. The sacraments which we receive, incorporated in Christ, are those ‘ligaments’ of which the Apostle speaks. They are channels or veins coming to us from our head with his Holy Spirit, and bearing nourishment and life. This is how Christ’s charity is shown in the sublime work of our sanctification; this is how Christ transfuses charity in us: Behold what manner of charity the Father has stowed upon us, that we should be called, and be, the sons of God (1 Jn 3: 1).( A Society of Love, IV Homily)
What we desire above all else is this: that the one, simple Body of Christ, beautifully diversified in its members while never split into sections, should become more apparent as its charity daily increases; that each of the brethren should be seen as one of the faithful, and each of the faithful as one of us,… and all Christians may be cherished without envy or deceit as one household. (CIC, n. 712)
Let us pray (Eph 2:13-18)
Ant. In Christ, our head, we form one body.
In Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far off
have been brought close, by the blood of Christ.
For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into
one entity and broken down the barrier which used to keep
them apart, by destroying in his own person the hostility. Ant.
His purpose in this was, by restoring peace, to create a single New Man out of the two of them, and through the cross, to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own person he killed the hostility. Ant.
He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were
far off and peace to those who were near.
Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father. Ant.
ON-GOING FORMATION
PASTORAL YEAR 2014 – 2015
INSTITUTE OF CHARITY
ROSMINIAN SISTERS OF PROVIDENCE

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