Apostles for Today
Prayer and Reflection
September 2017
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Dialogue, a Path that leads us to Ourselves, to God and to the Other
There are several
kinds of dialogue, but I will only consider two, which I believe are the basis
for the others.
üInner Dialogue: is the most demanding. It is a
necessary process for the human being to grow in consistency. It is in this
inner dialogue that the world of the conscious and unconscious relationships
between the human and the divine manifests itself.
üExternal dialogue: is with all that is added to our
existence from outside of ourselves, stirring up desires that are not always
necessary for our existence, but both are pertinent to each other; since the
interaction between the two favours the solid construction of the identity of
the person and the world in which one lives.
For
our Pallottine family, such dialogue is, or at least should be, informed by a
particular kind of prior experience, because Pallotti's pedagogy brings us back
to the Cenacle where one learns and is enabled for the universal apostolate.
The lack of such a profound personal experience of the Cenacle and of its
transforming power limits us as persons, with a corresponding limit in our
apostolate.
Effective
apostolic action requires an understanding and appreciation of oneself and of
the world in which our apostolate is carried out, an understanding of the
bearer and the receiver of the message, of the person and of the culture.
"Dialogue, a path that leads
us to ourselves, to God and the other."
In the episode of
Pentecost, everyone understood what the apostles were saying (Acts 2: 8), all
understood the message of salvation despite being people of different languages
and cultures. That dialogue generated the communion between people and their
cultures.
Today's culture
continually influences us to increasingly become simply consumers of things and
ideas. Even the simple advertisement of a chocolate bar has the power to stir
up this question in me: is this necessary for me right now? So it is in
relation to many other things, which are unnecessary for our happiness. For
many, having is more important than being.
The external
dialogue produced by the greed of few has caused the lack, the poverty, the
absence of a profound inner sense of the human heart. Therefore, there is more
interest in knowing the other, what is different, because the richness of the
inner self is not known (you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free, Jn 8:32).
Those who have been
given a space for dialogue from an early age, will have no difficulty in
experiencing and manifesting to the external world the consistency of their
inner world.
"Dialogue, a path that leads us to ourselves, to God and the
other."
In all peoples, the
family is central in the formation of the person, with the richness and the
imperfections of each member. The dialogue between the members includes that
between the older and younger generations, thus enabling the transmission of an
enduring identity with the proper characteristics of the particular cultural
and social group.
The cultures which
were evangelized by Christians soon found in the Christian-apostolic tradition
an understanding of the saving event through the words of Christ after his
death. Faithful to the command of Jesus, the apostles carried the message of
salvation to all peoples, through dialogue, accompanied by signs of the effects
of the evangelical proclamation in the hearts of the hearers of the Word.. (Go
into the whole world and preach the gospel to all nations; Mt 28:19, Mk 16:15).
Modern life has
made it much more difficult for people to truly encounter themselves, the other
and God. There are many conversations, much knowledge of the outside world, but
there is also so much emptiness inside people. We are almost constrained to be
experts in the knowledge of things. As far as human beings themselves are
concerned, however, we seem to be increasingly unaware of the power of our
nature. Encounters with others often serve to reveal the inconsistency of the
human being.
Jesus’
dialogue with the disciples on the road to Emmaus is a wonderful model of
encounter in dialogue leading to new life. He began by asking them a simple
question regarding what they were speaking about, giving them the space to
express all that burdened their hearts so deeply in their current situation.
Only after listening deeply to the depths of their pain and anguish did he
speak to them a life-giving and life-changing word, a word that had the power
to cut through their despair and challenge them to look at their situation and
their lives with new eyes open to the hope that the Gospel gives. It was only
later, after the Lord had opened their eyes fully to who he was, that they
recognized the mysterious power of their dialogue with him on the road and the
mysterious effect it had been having within them: "Were not our hearts
burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening
the scriptures to us?" (Lk 24:32). It was by learning to listen again with
new ears, by seeing again with new eyes, that their hearts were transformed, that
they were confirmed again as disciples of the One who had laid down his life
for them, and that they were able to became bearers of the reality of his Risen
life and presence to others.
"Dialogue, a path that leads us to ourselves, to God and to the
other."
Dialogue with
authorities has often proved fruitless and not conducive to communion, with
little compatibility of thought. It seems that we have men and women who are
infantile in their relationships. The crisis of the human being came about
through the crisis of authority; we have many authoritarians, and few true
authorities. Authoritarianism involves an absence of affective presence,
because it is through affection that we acquire that adult maturity which is
able to welcome the other without losing one´s own identity.
In my opinion, in
all our Pallottine apostolate we urgently need to learn to perceive, explain
and integrate into our praxis the verbs: to feel, to hear and to see, because
these verbs are responsible for authentic and consistent dialogue between
people. Awareness of feeling is the basis of inner dialogue. What we hear is
the basis of listening, of knowing how to open ourselves to other values. What
we see forms the basis of our overall vision about the totality that manifests
itself in our existence and in the world in which we live.
Dialogue
as an instrument for liberation has a principle that we use in our therapeutic
community of Mother of Divine Love, in the recovery of chemically-dependent
young men who reside in our house; "The diseases that affect the soul
enter by the feelings, by what we hear and by what we see. The disease leaves
through the mouth, that is, if you do not say what you feel, there is no
recovery”.
The ten years of
the existence of this charitable apostolate to people who have chemical and/or
emotional dependencies have shown us that the more one speaks of what one
feels, the more quickly one gains or regains health of soul. The whole
therapeutic process is based on love.
Love Heals: detoxification of
the body
Love saves: perseverance,
those who persevere will be saved from the trafficker, from death, from
judgment, from crime, guilt, rejection, etc.
Love liberates: to know one’s
inner world, to realize what has led them to the prison of unhealthy affections
and drugs.
Love reconciles: with oneself,
with God and with others, that is, makes reparation for what one did in a
dishonest way.
Living with these
brothers, we identify that there are innumerable causes that led them to such
suffering, but the main cause was the lack of that dialogue which makes people
feel at one with others. Such lack of communication through affective dialogue
particularly with those in authority in their lives, with their primary
caregivers, has left them fragile, falling into the trap of chemical and
affective dependency.
"Dialogue, a path that leads us to ourselves, to God and to the
other."
Thus, the charism
of our Holy founder Saint Vincent Pallotti remains a light for the men and
women of today, as it was for the people of his time. This inheritance belongs
to all Pallottines (Fathers, Brothers, Sisters and Laity).
We are called to be
a light for every child of God in whatever misery or suffering they find
themselves, since the grace of our baptism qualifies us for this purpose. Each
one who is armed with the salutary sign of the holy cross, can be sure to do
all that is of the greatest glory of God and for the sake of one´s own soul and
the soul of the other (cf. OOCCIII.449-450)
In Amoris Laetitia, the Holy Father Pope
Francis says: those who love are capable of speaking words of comfort,
strength, consolation and encouragement. These were the words that Jesus Christ
himself said: "Take heart, my son!" (Mt 9:2). "Go in peace"
(Lk 7:50). Do not be afraid! (Mt 14:27). (Amoris
Laetitia, N° 100).
All of these words
should be shared in our families and communities, where the weak becomes
strong, the fearful takes courage, the sinner attains holiness.
In short: Dialogue
is a door that brings us to the knowledge of the human and divine mystery.
Questions:
1.
What
dialogue do we have with our inner world - what do I not want to see and why?
2.
Has
our apostolate revealed the Pallottine charism to the poor of today?
What kind of dependency do we have that prevents us from being the image
and likeness of God's love to ourselves and to others?
Fr.
Orlando SAC.
Brazil
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Segretariato Generale,
Unione dell’Apostolato Cattolico
Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti 204,
00187 Roma, Italia uac@uniopal.org
