How can we expect to remain full of creative vitality, of zeal for the Word of God, of desire to serve, and motivation to inspire our often-numbed congregations? Where are we supposed to find nurture and strength? How can we alleviate our own spiritual hunger and thirst”[1] Henri Nouwen raises these questions for the ministers of the Word in the contemporary world. I found these questions even more urgent to answer or at least, to ponder upon as we are bombarded by so much information today.
Our Founder, Saint Guido Maria Conforti offers us insight to answer these questions and his answer is rekindling the ardor of silence if we want to be relevant and credible missionaries. Looking at Jesus as the perfect model, our founder asked us to take silence seriously as an essential part in proclamation of the gospel. In fact, our Constitution states that “following the example of the Lord, who often withdrew to a quiet place to pray to the Father in solitude, we feel the need to reserve ample time for individual prayer, reflection, and contemplation even, if necessary, at the expense of charitable work and apostolic ministry. We will thus avoid the risk of running around aimlessly….”[2]
Therefore, for the Xaverian Missionaries withdrawing to a hidden place in solitude is an essential practice and part of the ministry. In other words, apostolate and contemplation are two dimensions that are inseparable and cannot be neglected. For the Xavierians, “contemplation is the source and the nourishment of the apostolate.”[3] It is in the time of contemplation that we deepen our love and care for the people in the ministry. The more we listen to God, the more we have space for others.
Unfortunately, this spiritual practice of spending time in solitude, prayer and contemplation has been neglected in the lives and missions of the Xavierian missionaries today. This lack of attention in practicing contemplation can be found in the letter of the Superior General in which he describes, “As missionaries we are tempted by doing, by activism, by believing that we are the saviors, to the point of reducing ourselves to doing things in the ‘name of God’ but without him. We then further justify ourselves by saying, “I have no time for these things; we are missionaries, not monks…”[4]
Moreover, the emphasis on work over prayer (contemplation) can be found in our individualistic mentality. This individualism as the General Direction describes it is the cause of most difficulties. Individualism also lies in the conviction that mission is a personal project and has nothing to do with the community. This self-centred mentality in fact has no room for community research, reflection, and discernment.[5]
Moreover, rekindling the ardor of silence also aims to deepen our self-knowledge, for as our Founder puts it, “We can’t know our own life if we don’t know our heart. We will be capable of loving as God wants us to love only if we allow ourselves to be seduced by Him. The foundation of love is falling in love with God. And love is made manifest in action.”
As we celebrate today the Feast of our Founder, Saint Guido Maria Conforti, let us live out his gift of contemplation by rekindling the ardor of silence as a necessary condition for prayer and, consequently, for a credible witness of the Word. Without silence it is difficult to know ourselves better and to see, seek, and love God in all things.
[1] Nouwen, Henri J.M., The Way of the Heart: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Ministry. New York: The Seabury Press, 1981. P.12-13.
[2] See, Xaverian Missionaries, Constitutions (Rome: MISSIONARI SAVERIANI, 1984) Chap. V, 43.
[3] See Xaverian Missionaries, Ratio Formationis Xaverianae (Brescia: CSAM Scri, 2014). P. 14.
[4] See, Letter from the General Direction to the Confreres for the Xaverian Jubilee 2020-2021, p. 61.
[5] Ibid. 62
