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The Verbum Dei draws its vitality and spiritual life from four sources:
- the indwelling of the Holy Trinity,
- the Holy Eucharist,
- the Mystical Body of Christ and
- our Mother Mary.
Our spirituality is at the service of all the Church of Christ and not in function of our personal sanctification. It cannot be fed by our personal likes or our own whims, neither to be carried by whichever shifting wind of doctrines. It necessitates and should be nourished with the solid food and security of the Word of God: " We listen to God when we read His Words"(Dei Verbum 25)
Verbum Dei Statutes 201
It must be guided by the Word of God and oriented by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, for the good of all the children of God and for the glory of God. (Verbum Dei Statutes 209) |
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The Indwelling of the Holy Trinity
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The Holy Trinity- Three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but One God - dwelling within us is the root of our faith, hope and love.
"In Him, we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)
"What eye has not seen and ear has heard, what has not entered the human heart"?
(1 Corinthians 2:9), God reveals to us as He engages us in total friendship and constant companionship. And it is He who shares with us the fullness of His pure, perfect and eternal love.
With the Holy Trinity's constant presence within us, our lives will be formed into the "house of prayer for all peoples". (C.f. Isaiah 56:7)
And it is in this constant, simple, committed and loving dialogue with Him that we will pray and teach others to pray.
Our communities too, will be a faithful transparency and revelation of the living and dynamic experience of the Kingdom of God within us.
"Do you not realise that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you and whom you received from God"?
(1 Corinthians 6:19)
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The Holy Eucharist
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The Holy Eucharist signifies and makes real the union of all people in One. Its own particular fruit is communion. (C.f. LG 11) and it is the foundation of the People of God.
Nourished by the same bread and the same cup, we become a sister or a brother to all people, creating a universal fraternity. (C.f. LG 26)
The Eucharist is the real, graphic and palpable presence of Jesus among us and in us and He leads us to work unceasingly for the unity of all the community.
Our intense life of prayer, which revolves around the tabernacle, reaches its fullness when we imitate Jesus in His untiring and unconditional self-giving of love.
In this forge of the Eucharist where intimate dialogue with God takes place, the missionary is formed into His witness for the whole world.
The Truths of Faith become alive and calls for our urgent and focused dedication until all "have life and have it to the full". (C.f. John 10:10)
"Father may they all be one.? (John 17:21)
"may they be so perfected in unity that the world may believe it was you who sent me". (John 17:23) |
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The Mystical Body of Christ
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The Love of the Father, the voice of the Holy Spirit, the constant dialogue with Jesus and Mary's attentive gaze impel our lives and urges us to apply ourselves completely to the Crucified Christ of today; the Mystical Body of Christ.
"I am thirsty!" the last words of Jesus from the cross (John 19:28), still resounds today in the multitudes of people around the world.
Whether it is in the ravages of war and violence, in the senseless abuse and deprivation of life, in the indifference and lethargy of the people, in the desperate loneliness of so many, etc?it is the same Christ who is in each one of them.
It is this living Christ of today who is the reason and cause of all our life, our mission and our prayer.
The root of broken humanity is none other than the absence of God's Life and Love in each person's life.
Therefore, we will pool and commit all our personal and communitarian capacities in order to respond to this pressing need of propagating the Life and Love of God in the world through our specific mission of prayer and ministry of the Word - the Word which is "Love and Life". (C.f. John 6:63)
"I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me into your homes, naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me" Whenever you did this for one of the least important brothers of mine, you did it for me! (Matthew 25:35-36,40)
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Our Mother Mary
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Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, will always occupy a unique, decisive, indispensable place in the Verbum Dei. (C.f. LG 61. 62)
Gathering around her, as did the first Christian community (C.f. Acts 1:14), she guides and motivates the rhythm of our prayer life, apostolic-missionary life and fraternal life.
The vital and loving presence of our Mother will accompany our laborious days of missionary journeys with her proven and living faith.
Her "Yes!" to God 2000 years ago (C.f. Luke 1:38) leads us in our own "Yes!" to the will of God for our own lives, for the community and for the world.
With her, we are guaranteed of abundant joy, perseverance and optimism in our following of Christ.
And holding her hand, we will guide others to follow Christ, drawing from her, interminable patience rooted in a humble and pure love for God. |
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