«Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her, … so that she
would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but
holy and faultless » (Eph. 5,25.27).
On the
occasion of the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of Vatican Council II,
in the light of Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes which helped us see that
the Church is the People of God, the Body of Christ, Mother of believers,
servant of the world, and aware that it is « the Church's task to reflect
the light of Christ in every historical period, to make his face shine
also before the generations of the new millennium » (NMI 16),
as the
Salesian Family we commit ourselves to
Rejuvenate the face of the Church, the Mother of our faith.
It is
not a matter of a “face-lift” or of cosmetic surgery, but of committing
ourselves to grafting onto her new energies, and making her more beautiful
and attractive, to love her and give ourselves for her. The beauty of the
face of the Church consists in reflecting the face of her Lord. The new
Jerusalem is not just something in the future, it needs to be prefigured
and anticipated already here and now.
Our task is that of being in the Church, or rather being Church,
working with the Church and for the Church.
The challenge is precisely that of making people, especially
young people, fall in love with the Church, of seeing that Christ shines
through her and she takes on the appearance of “heavenly Jerusalem” (Ap.
21, 10-23):
- a
community of believers renewed by the breath of the Spirit, which gives
life;
- a
community enriched by many vocations, charisms and ministries;
- a
community open and welcoming, especially towards the poor;
- a
community that lives with a passion for life, justice and solidarity;
- a
community that is the leaven of hope for a society worthy of man and for a
culture rich in moral and spiritual values;
- a
young church, in which the young feel at home, part of the family.
« Take your place in the church, which is not just as objects of
pastoral concern for the Church but as active protagonists in her mission
(cf. Christifideles Laici, 46). The Church is yours, or rather you
yourselves are the Church!» (John Paul II. Message for the V World Youth
Day 1990).
1º.
Rejuvenate the Church:
means returning to her origins, to her youth, so that she might reacquire
her credibility and the abilty to listen. She ought to be a Church marked
by martiria, euangelia, leitourgia, diakonia, according to the lines
traced out in the Acts of the Apostles.
2º.
Rejuvenate the
Church: that is
make her a home for the Young, insisting on the mystagogia path towards
her. Here some ICON might be developed, such as that of the disciples on
the way to Emmaus, in the sense that the Church is the home of those who
believe in Jesus and want to live and bear witness to this faith in
common.
It is
an exhortation to make the Church young and to ensure that the young are
Church.
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