We give thanks, Lord, for the meeting of all the superiors of our communities, for the reflections and conversations that have gone through our minds, our hearts and our will. They have aroused the desire to respond to his calls, to serve him and love him more and better in brothers and sisters. We want to value the gifts of each religious and translate them into service. We are aware that no one can renounce the gift of discernment and that there is an inalienable horizon to live the relationship between authority and obedience: a vision of the Church as a communion that builds on the gifts that the Spirit gives to each one for the edification of all.
From our docile search attitude, we have also asked ourselves how to interpret the exercise of obedience without falling into authoritarianism or the narcissistic closure of people, how to build and care for a healthy and benevolent relational quality and what style of power we exercise and how we use it
In this path of questioning we realize that authority is not understood as delegation but as a sign of common affiliation where each member of the community is an irreplaceable mediator to recognize and detect his grace and his will. But the most important thing is that in order to be obedient and seek his will together, the fact of loving each other is constitutive and gives us happiness. Co-responsibility and decentralized dialogue with an open mind, open heart and open will continue to be the teachers to reach shared decisions in the Spirit of their own constitutions.
We know we are fragile but seduced, sometimes incoherent but passionate, sinners but saved and we continue to commit ourselves to open paths to grow.
We have also reflected on Longevity and the "extra time" of Consecrated Life in the s. XXI and we have wondered how to reconfigure our communities, our ministries and our Congregation so that this long-lived generation can carry out services in the mission of the Spirit, knowing that the Spirit still has their complicity. It is necessary to consider life from the dynamics of desire because that makes us cultivate our abilities and keep dreams alive even in old age.
As Pope Francis says: "Only if our grandparents have the courage to dream, and our young people imagine great things, will our society succeed. If we want to have a vision of our future, let our grandparents speak to us, let them share their dreams with us. Today we need grandparents who dream! They will be able to inspire young people to act creatively in imagining a future."
