We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
Editor: This is the fourteenth in this series of articles based on the eight Dossiers (from February 1978 to November 1981) totaling 718 pages in this study. In 1982, Fr. Eugene Barrette, M.S., the prime mover in this historic study, was elected the thirteenth La Salette Superior General (1982-1988). Other articles on Religious Life are available in our La Salette Online Library
In this video (above), we hear Noah describing to his children how sin entered our human history. He concludes by saying that “man must end” and be cleansed by a deadly flood. Then humankind can begin with Noah’s family the long process of reconciliation with God and others. A new covenant with God can begin, with God’s sign, a radiant rainbow.
La Salette Rule:
Likewise, the Missionary makes every effort to be:
• available to all people since they are all loved by God;
• respectful of the culture and personality of the people he serves, identifying himself with them, uncovering the richness and values of their culture, and offering, along with them, these innate gifts to Christ;
• open to people's problems and difficulties to help them find solutions that are consonant with the Good News of Christ. (#40cp)
What are some challenges we as
La Salettes face in our ministry of reconciliation?
Noah's sacrifice by Daniel Maclise (1806-1870)
1) Sin in Old and New Testaments:
2) Sin has personal and communal dimensions:
“For the individual, sin becomes bondage because it accepts or creates idols that enslave, that thwarts growth, that limit and deny our deepest hunger for the infinite... But today we no longer speak of sin simply in personal or individualistic terms. We are once again becoming aware of the communal implications of sin. Personal sinful attitudes create social sinful conditions.
3) Submission leads to Salvation and Liberation:
“Therefore we must speak of liberation if we speak of sin. Salvation and liberation become interchangeable... And ultimately liberation is found only in submission...
Mary said: “‘If people will not submit...’ Our deepest freedom and liberation comes only in recognizing the right order of things – as dependent on God's loving dominion: reconciled with God, reconciled with one another, reconciled with ourselves (see also Gaudium et Spes, #13). Therefore when we speak of the reconciliation of sinners, we necessarily are speaking of personal and communal sin: we are necessarily speaking of the liberation of [humanity]; we are necessarily speaking of submission to God.” (1)
Reflection Questions:
• When have you faced a very intense situation which needs reconciliation? How did it turn out?
• Other comments…
La Salette Rule:
Members serving in parishes are to make a specific contribution to the life of the local Church by honoring with great fidelity their religious consecration and their commitment to community living and the apostolic orientations of the Congregation. They also do all in their power to stimulate an intense ecclesial life characterized by:
• an earnest commitment to the cause of reconciliation
• a keen openness to the needs of the Church, especially in the areas of evangelization, vocations, and missionary work;
• a solid Marian devotion;
• a vigorous participation of the laity in the life of the parish community through its different councils, ministries and other commitments. (#45cp)
What is involved in “combatting the crimes (or evils) of the day”?
Fr. Bernie Baris, M.S. (bottom row, far right) visits a school in Haiti built and supported by our Parish of Our Lady of the Cape in Brewster, Massachusetts
“We are bringing back a formula that has been part of our tradition from the earliest days. When Fr. François Denaz wrote to the Bishop asking to become a religious, he explained that he saw the vows as a way to remedy the ‘evils of society’ that Our Lady had denounced. The Rule of 1858 speaks of the ‘present evils in Christian society. The Rule of 1880 says that ‘the Missionaries apply themselves especially in fighting the crimes of the day.’
1) What do we mean by evils of the day – contemporary disorders?
“[They] are sinful situations – conditions that block our access to God and also close us off to the rights and dignity of others... The situation of sin that results becomes autonomous and eventually imbedded in our structures... The result is the very dangerous condition where evil becomes so interwoven with everyday structures that we tend to accept it and to adjust to it....
2) What would be an initial list of the evils of the day?
• Religious ignorance or indifference, apathy, prompt many to prescind from moral principles, whether personal or social. More than two billion human beings do not know God.
• A life’s philosophy of getting to the top, dominating the weak, living solely to satisfy one's pleasure.
• Individualistic materialism works against communion and participation, against solidarity.
• Consumerism with its unbridled ambition to have more – suffocating any sense of generosity and austerity and paralyzing any genuine fraternal sharing;
• Deterioration of basic family values making family members easy prey to divorce or abandonment; loss of public and private integrity; frustration and hedonism leading people to drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity;
• Urbanization that leads to new loneliness – instead of fostering and favoring fraternal encounter and mutual aid;
• Corporation and multi-national exploitation depriving peoples of their rightful share and participation;
• The arms race / the destruction of God's creation/injustices inflicted on racial or sexual minorities/difficulties with migrants and refugees. (2)
3) How do we fight against the evils of the day?
[Editor: Here is a simple and direct method for dealing with the “evils of the day”:]
La Salette Apparition scene in the La Salette Shrine in Engerazhofen in southern Germany
One successful approach in social ministry is the “See – Judge – Act” methodology (commonly known as the “Pastoral Cycle”). It comes from Joseph Cardijn (1882-1967), a Belgian priest and cardinal and the founder of the Young Christian Workers in the 1920s. His methodology, now used by social action and church groups around the world, was formally endorsed by Pope Saint John XXIII in his 1961 Encyclical Letter, Mater et Magistra (#236-237).
It is a simple method that helps people in ministry to stop, stand back from a situation and reflect on it before they commit to a course of action. This process helps them to develop critical judgment about situations, events, and structures. Often the three stages overlap and intermingle. It includes:
a) See: examine the concrete situation; that is, see, hear, and be sensitized by the lived reality of individuals and communities:
• What is happening?
• Who are the people involved?
• Who gains from this situation? Who loses?
• What is the situation doing to people?
• Why is it happening? Why does it continue?
b) Judge: analyze the situation and make an informed judgment about it:
• How do you feel about this situation?
• Have you ever behaved or acted like anyone in the situation? If so, what happened? Why? How did you or those involved feel?
• What do you think should be happening?
• What does your faith or Catholic Social Teaching say about it?
c) Act: plan and carry out actions aimed at transforming the social structures that contribute to suffering and injustice:
• What can you do to bridge the gap between what is happening (the reality) and what should be happening (the ideal or what your faith says)?
• What action are you going to take?
• Who can you involve in your action? (3)
Reflection Questions:
• Recall a very challenging La Salette ministry in which you have been a part? What specific challenges did you face? How did you deal with them?
• Other comments…
Endnotes:
(1) Fifth La Salette Dossier by Fr. Eugene Barrette, M.S., pgs. 26-27; (2) Ibidem, pgs. 29-31; (3) La Salette International Social Justice Newsletter, topic #2, compiled and edited by Fr. Ron Gagne, M.S.