From the General Chapter

«The 27th General Chapter that reunited us at San Bernardino was an occasion to review the experience of our religious family life, so that we can begin again. For us, to begin again is to go out and to encounter life», so says Fr. Sylvain Dansou Hounkpatin, Chapter delegate. Behind this re-reading, of course, are long sessions of reflection, confrontation, questioning and inspiration for the future, for which our brother offers us a synthesis.

The rapid progression of today’s world, the historic, sociocultural and ecclesiastical context on the one hand, and on the other hand, the grip of Pope Francis’ words on consacrated life and simply on life, his encouragement to go out, to dare, to discover, his expectations and concerns, have greatly contributed to the orientations on the vocation promotion and spiritual accompaniment. Impressively, we were all in this same group, religious dedicated to education in various parts of the Congregation. The whole reflection is part of the tangible experiences we have lived through here and there. It is all part of our story, of our collective stories and not of our vague ideas or projects or even of our good intentions. Our story, our collective stories which are our experiences, did not lead us to establish a source of principles on which we might conclude consequences, rather they have been a source of examples through which we could potentially draw lessons of caution.

As educators, we are more aware that education must be a major concern. To be an educator is an opportunity and a responsibility that we must make the most of right to the end and for the good of the Church, of our religious family and of the youth themselves. To neglect this would be unforgivable on our part. That means we put our trust in God. To rely only on our own strength, our personal merits, on well-trained educators, on our structures, our meticulously prepared education projects (Ratio), is to delude ourselves. Let’s believe also in Jesus ; He is the one who calls. Understanding that, defuses our anxiety and our concerns. That way, we live in peace, assured that God is there, watching over our little religious family better than he watches over the flower in the fields. Otherwise, what is there to say about the lack of vocational perseverance amongst consecrated persons ? What are we to think of people leaving prematurely after the first vows, the perpetual profession or ordination? Where do we place the responsibility? Errors in discernment and selection? Shortcomings in spiritual accompaniment?… if the heart is cluttered with invasive longings, it cannot pick up the voice of the Lord.

There is also a necessity, as much for the educators as for the community in training, to love Christ, to let Him capture our hearts. Without a real, deep, sincere love, it is not possible to give our vocational life that higher quality, that Christ-like dynamism, where the only desire is to ‘please to the Father’, by totally submitting to Him until ‘death on a cross’. The Chapter reminded us that vocational life is to be experienced by all religious (young and old). All the religious must go out to take part in their vocational activities. The superiors must urge the communities to do this, in the strength of the Spirit, so that they feel the problem of vocations is also their problem.

The Chapter has once again opened our eyes wide to this fundamental reality, already recorded in the spiritual doctrine of St Michael (DS 286) : ‘Vocation can only come from God : woe to the man who attributes this right to himself.’ We have understood in our Congregation today, more than yesterday, that God in His sovereign freedom calls when He wants and how He wants, and that in His infinite patience, He waits for the favourable moment. If God says yes, who can say no? We now speak more comfortably about ‘instances of adult vocation and about candidates having had other religious experiences’ when not long ago we still had an age limit to enter Betharramite religious life and we were very suspicious towards candidates having had other religious experiences. The question from now on for us at Betharram is : ‘How do we make them welcome? Here, it is about everyone who knocks at the door of our Betharram family. Here, each vocation is perceived as a new and personal event and kindled by the Lord. How do we make them welcome? According to what criteria? What pathway do we suggest to them? If the candidates have had other religious experiences, attention and serious discernment are needed. Whatever the case, it’s about waking the candidates (youth and adults) up to the fact that they have to test the possibility of a calling, of the beauty of giving themselves completely to the Kingdom’s cause, and to put their calling to the test under the light of the treasures of St Michael Garicoits’ experience in searching for the will of God (method for knowing the will of God).

This is indeed the direction we are heading in through tangible acts. If Betharram is a little family, it is called to ‘grow’. It is the mustard seed that must become a tree in the shade where birds will come to make their nests. With courage, let’s promote the vocational life, so that all those who are actually called will discover the precious gift that the Lord wants to offer them, due to a special preference, within the Betharram family.

Sylvain Dansou HOUNKPATIN,scj