RESPONSE TO THE KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Response to the Keynote Address

Samuel H. Canilang, CMF PHILIPPINES

OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 67 RELIGIOUS LIFE ASIA VOL. XVII NO. 4

I would like to thank Archbishop Savio Hon for giving us a comprehensive theology of consecrated life – which he successfully did in just a little more than an hour! The schema used and the themes developed by the Archbishop recall the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation of John Paul II, Vita Consecrata. The document’s three chapters are devoted to the three basic aspects of the consecrated life, namely: consecration, communion, and mission. These three aspects correspond to the three aspects of the Church as envisioned by Vatican II, namely: mystery, communion, and mission. In the Church-mystery, consecrated life is confessio trinitatis. In the Church-communion, consecrated life is signum fraternitatis. In the Church-mission, consecrated life is servitium caritatis. The second part of the Archbishop’s presentation is on “the way of beauty”. He gave a rich and beautiful explanation of the via pulchritudinis from the perspective of the western tradition. Perhaps, it would be helpful to complete the picture by looking at beauty with eastern eyes. St. John Paul II once said that it would be healthier for the Church to breathe through her two lungs: the West and the East. This sheds light on his introduction of the theme of philokalia – a very eastern mystico-theological theme in the East – in the document Vita Consecrata. He cites a long text from one of the works of St. John the New Theologian, a very important mystic and theologian of the Orthodox Church. Philokalia, love of [divine] beauty is the core of the spirituality of the hesychasts (monks OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 who dedicate themselves to a life of mysticism). Understanding 68 consecrated life from the perspective of philokalia recalls the experience of the prophet Jeremiah: “You have seduced RESPONSE TO THE KEYNOTE me Lord, and I permitted myself to be seduced.” It belongs ADDRESS to the nature of beauty to attract. And, God is Beauty Itself. Consecrated men and women are so attracted to God-Beauty that they left everything behind to adhere to God in Jesus Christ. This sheds light on the meaning of consecration and the evangelical vows. Philokalia is related to the eastern theme of theosis (divinization). The way of the philokalia leads to theosis, that is, becoming more and more the likeness of God. This sheds light to the consecrated person’s progressive configuration to Christ. The theme of beauty is close to the heart of Asians who hold harmony as a great value. Similarly, the theme of divinization resonates with Asians who is familiar with the journey towards becoming one with the One. Archbishop Savio did not include the aspect of communion – fraternal life in community – in his presentation. Card. Joao Braz de Aviz spoke a lot earlier on the urgency of the spirituality of communion. The religious community is a sign of the gift of fraternal communion in the Church and in the world. Furthermore, the religious community manifests the communion nature of the Church. I would like to relate to this point a common experience of not a few religious men and women in various parts of Asia. It has to do with their relationship with the hierarchy. They verbalize their experience using such expressions as: “We feel like an icing on a cake”; We are simply considered as resources in the Church”; “We feel treated like a source of cheap labor for the various projects of the Church”. A good number of consecrated men and women ask the basic question: “What is our place in the Church?” According to Lumen Gentium, consecrated life belongs to the charismatic dimension of the Church. Card. Braz de Aviz, in his address, has offered us the key to the understanding of the right relationship of consecrated men and women with their brothers in the hierarchy. He explained that the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions are constitutive elements of the Church and are mutually related. He stressed that each of the two dimensions is not subject to the other. OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2015 I would risk posing the following question – in the presence 69 RELIGIOUS of our brothers in the hierarchy – “Are those who represent LIFE ASIA VOL. XVII the hierarchical dimension of the Church ready to embrace NO. 4 those who represent the charismatic dimension as their equal partners for the life and mission of the Church?”

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