Alejandro Ulpindo, cicm
Missionary in the Philippines
Nine years after Vatican II, our Congregation held its 8th General Chapter in Albano, focusing on reflection. Understanding the insights in "KINDLING THE FIRE" requires looking into Vatican II and particularly Gaudium et Spes, which addresses the Church's role in the modern world.
Key Points of Gaudium et Spes
Pope St. John XXIII was pivotal in Vatican II, emphasizing the council's aim to update the Church for spiritual strength, unity, and world peace, rather than to condemn. Among the 16 documents produced, Gaudium et Spes is the most significant as it connects the Church and the modern world, showing that the Church exists within it.
Transforming the World Through Christ
The joys and struggles of today's people are shared by Christ's followers. The Church aims to bring Christ into the world, transforming it rather than merely adapting to modernity. The idea that Vatican II was about modernizing the Church misinterprets its goal; instead, the Church should influence the world through Christ. Pope Paul VI noted that if the Spirit was at work in Christianity, it was evident in the Catholic Church. This insight leads us to examine the contemporary issues facing us.
Interpreting Contemporary Issues in Light of the Gospel
The Church must analyze current events—like global hunger and social injustices—through the lens of the Gospel. It’s important to recognize both positive and negative signs of the times, understanding that the Church must engage with the world to reflect Christ's influence.
Option for the Poor
Gaudium et Spes emphasizes the need to assist the poor, suggesting that those in need have the right to take from the surplus of others. We must focus on the marginalized, as their rights are precious to God.
Understanding Human Dignity
Human dignity comes from being loved by God and created in His image. Our dignity involves our capability for thought and our search for truth, which can lead to restlessness. Our conscience, as stated in Gaudium et Spes, guides us to understand right from wrong, seeking goodness and longing for God. In today's context, freedom often means choice, but true freedom, according to the Bible, is about pursuing good and coming closer to God.
Finding Our True Self in Christ
The Church plays a vital role in helping us connect with Christ and discover our true purpose in life through Him.
KINDLING THE FIRE
KINDLING THE FIRE took off from the spirit of VATICAN II and came to rekindle our first love when we first said yes to the call of God. Kindling the Fire wants to ignite and rekindle the spark of that first love. Kindling the Fire calls for renewal from both personal and congregational levels. Kindling the Fire puts the spirit of Vatican II in a meditative, inspirational, and spiritual way. It is inviting us all CICM to go back to our original call to follow the Lord and live up to the radical dream of God for the world and humanity and, at the same time, to live up to the radical dream of our founder, Theophile Verbist, namely to proclaim the Good News to all creatures. His dream was to go out to China to care for abandoned children, especially orphans, and also to proclaim the good news to the "pagans" because, without Christ, they are in the dark. I want to pick up two fundamental concepts from Vatican II in Kindling the Fire: Reading and examining the signs of the times and the options for the poor.
Reading and examining the signs of the times
Reading the signs of the times means taking and studying the reality of the world today seriously. As a community, we need to discover the salvific will of God in the signs of time: "listening to the word of God and reading the signs of the times." (KF p. 75). In Kindling the Fire, to examine the sign of the times is to listen to the voice of the spirit working in the world through the cries of the poor, the excluded, the marginalized, those thrown at the wayside, and the excess of society. Discerning the signs of the times means listening and learning from other religions, hence the importance of Inter-religious and cultural dialogue; listening to the cry of the environment, our common home that is on the verge of destruction; to enculturate the gospel in the different cultures of people; to listen and appreciate the secular world that goes its way and the Church is going the—another way; a call to trust the lay people as our partners in the mission.
The spirit works in the poor environment, cultures, other religions, and the secular world. Our founder is an example of a discerning person. In this way, we can say that he was ahead of his time. He was a man who listened to the spirit working in the world. To him, discerning the signs of the time is "trusting in Divine Providence." To him, there is a guiding hand that leads the world and the Church. That is the Holy Spirit.
Option of the Poor
The option for the poor is the option of GOD. It is not a philosophical or ideological option. It is a theological option. "And Yahweh said: I seen the miserable state of my people in Egypt. I have heard their appeal to be free of their salve-drivers. Yes, I am well aware of it. Their sufferings. I mean to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and bring them out of that land to a land rich and broad, a. land where milk and honey will flow".(Exodus 3, 7-8)
When I talk of the option for the poor, I can say with humility that the poor are my best teachers who taught me the new face of God and to live as part of the Church, and at the same time, the poor are my evangelizers and my best teachers. I was sent to evangelize, but, in the end, I am the one who is being evangelized by the excluded, the discarded, the condemned of the earth, the surplus of society, those thrown at the roadside, the marginalized people of society. This experience turned me upside down. I began to see the world from below and started seeing things from the position of the powerless, the oppressed, the poor, yet believers in the one holy God. My perspective is no longer from above, from clericalism, from arrogance.
Mission is an Experience with the Risen Lord
Every Monday is a relaxation day for all the priests in the diocese where I work in the diocese of San Francisco the Macoris. One Monday morning, I decided to slow down and have time for silent prayer. As I started to pray, I heard someone knocking at the front door. Upon opening, a poor woman with only one eye appeared before me. I invited her to enter. She sat before me without saying a word. She looked at me with a smile. She took my right hand and put 100 pesos in my palm. Caught by surprise, I said to her: "You look so poor; I think you need the money more than me". She answered, "It is true. Nevertheless my son, a missionary priest, also needs some money. I want to share something of my work". I asked her then: What is your name? Where do you work? I am Susana, and I work in the little market selling salad, and I saved this money for you, and now I come to give it to you". I have heard you talk about the mission and I wanted to contribute. It is very little, but it came from my heart". She stood up, and again, without further saying a word, she left. I was so touched by this simple gesture by the poor woman.
The gesture of this poor woman helped me pray and understand a bit better about mission and missionary life. At the same time, it has given me the possibility to experience a life of faith in the dead and Risen Christ. This experience has connected me to the simple faith of my mother and father, who have transmitted the faith in the God preached by Jesus Christ through their examples and testimony of life. The mission is becoming more and more an experience of the risen Lord.
Kindling the Fire profoundly reflected that “the life of the poor is a school of humanization where we have much to learn. Is not their natural openness to the values of mutual aid, hospitality, and freedom of spirit a daily lesson for us? Their facility in forging personal human relationships is a permanent reminder of the importance of persons. When we see how hard they must work for their daily bread, confident in the Father who does not forget any of his children, we will perhaps come to a more evangelical vision of the future, which will prevent us from immoderate capitalization. The poor will be more aware of their values and qualities if they see that we are learning from them” (KF, p. 83).
In the years I have been here in the Philippines, I am honored to accompany some CICM members who left the congregation. One said: "I have been a CICM, and as a religious member, I must make my financial report. I must tell you that making an accurate financial report is a big joke. We invent what we put in there. It is not serious. We fool ourselves. Now that I am married and have children of my own. Every penny counts, and I have to give a real accurate report to my wife and children. We have a family car. Every morning, I bring my children to school, my wife to her office, and then I go to work. I pick them up in the afternoon, and we go home together. When I was at CICM, I had my car to use. I go wherever I want without anyone knowing where I am. Now that I married, my wife and children know where I go if I go out alone." As I reflect on my CICM experience about the use of cars, I come to realize that when everyone has his own car, it does not promote community life but individualism.
A Jewel of the Congregation
We have a jewel in our hands, namely the Kindling the Fire. Let us not bury it in the ground but in our hearts. I hope and pray that we return to it once in a while to let the message sink into our souls. And we own the Kindling and be renewed from within by the Fire of Jesus and Theophile Verbist. This treasure challenges us to live up to our vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. Finally, Kindling the Fire challenges us in the way we deal with and treat the people around us: our confreres, our co-workers, our mission partners, and collaborators, the poor, and the environment. §
