Opera Santa Maria della Luce
I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
(Jn 8, 12)
OSMdL News
The newspaper of the mission
Beato Antonio Bonfadini
Antonio Bonfadini nacque a Ferrara nei primi anni del XV secolo. In età adulta (1439) entrò nel convento dei Frati Minori della sua città. Il 27 maggio 1458 ricevette a Bologna l’ordinazione sacerdotale. In età avanzata, si recò in Terra Santa. Al ritorno, decise di stabilirsi a Cotignola, nella Romagna d’Este.
Morì a Cotignola il 1º dicembre 1482. Nel 1495 la sua salma fu traslata nella nuova chiesa dei frati minori, terminata in quell’anno. Il suo corpo fu trovato perfettamente conservato e incorrotto. Si diffuse ben presto, attorno alla sua figura, la fama di santo. I fedeli che si recarono a pregare sulla sua tomba divennero sempre più numerosi. I frati minori decisero di celebrare la sua festa il lunedì di Pasqua, in memoria del giorno della traslazione della salma, avvenuta il 14 aprile 1495. Il 12 aprile 1666 fu inaugurata l’attuale cappella, dove il beato riposa in un’artistica urna.
Gode da sempre di un’enorme venerazione nella cittadina in cui è sepolto, dove è chiamato popolarmente “il santo di Cotignola”. La Chiesa ha riconosciuto ufficialmente il suo culto il 13 luglio 1901.
A Cotignola, la memoria liturgica del Beato Antonio è celebrata nella chiesa di S. Francesco, nella forma di festa, ogni 1º dicembre. Il paese lo ricorda soprattutto il lunedì dell’Angelo, che a Cotignola è chiamato “Festa del Santo”.
Fonte: Santuari Italiani - Associazione CNS
Beato Antonio
New Project in Brazil
In Brazil, in the city of Palhoça - SC, near the “Ponta do Papagaio” beach, we received a donation thanks to the generosity of a couple of friends and so a project was created.
The Opera Santa Maria della Luce has thought about building a home-school and with a lot of effort and the help of the Italian Episcopal Conference, donation from friends and collaborators. This idea began to take shape.
In this place we would like to welcome people in need of the neighborhood and those who are already in the welcome house Associação Vida Nueva, offering training courses, such as food supply, sewing, recycling, guitar courses, vegetable garden and gardening, carpentry, blacksmith and plumbing.
We can all join in this work to help redeem the needy and see the human face of God in the other.
HE Mons. Gualtiero Sigismondi
Bishop of Orvieto-Todi
... to the faithful of Santa Maria della Luce ...
<< Opera Santa Maria della Luce >>
12 years in Mission
Dear brothers in Christ and friends of the OSMdL,
On December 8th our Community Opera Santa Maria della Luce (OSMdL) will be 12 years old . It was in fact December 8, 2008, when Bishop Giovanni Scanavino issued the decree of recognition of the Association, approved to be in the future Society of Apostolic Life.
Public association of clerical faithful because it was founded by some of us with the intention of being a religious community of brother priests, deacons and aspiring priests and deacons.
After 12 years of life, the Work of Santa Maria della Luce has about 45 brothers. Why about? Simply because today there are different people who ask to gain experience with us. The number matters little and that is why it fluctuates because some are in the process of discernment. Some ask to enter to become aware of our life. Some come from previous religious experiences. Sometimes from mere acquaintances of institutes or congregations. Since the website www.operasantamariadellaluce.com , directed by his father, was opened Everton, several young people, others not so young, contact us, and ask to have an interview with the managers; still others ask for specific clarifications on our charism. We thank the Lord for this sign that the Holy Spirit gives us as if to underline the confirmation of continuing on the path we have taken.
In past years none of us would have ever imagined that one day, from our individual vocations, a community reality would be born, an experience of fraternal life in common .
One aspect that continues to strike us is the variety of our origins. Different cultures, languages and backgrounds who wish to be part of a single reality of apostolic life.
It is good to remember, once again, that we are not a religious congregation. We are not a secular religious institute. Our will is to live as brothers , precisely associates, to be a Society of Apostolic Life . That is, a community that has the purpose of sharing the apostolic experience in evangelization , and this in order to be lived fully, needs a common life , uniting the desire to feel like a Church , issuing the evangelical counsels as well as Jesus Christ, Son of God. he indicated in his living as a true man to his disciples in poverty, chastity and obedience. And this is exactly what distinguishes a Society of Apostolic Life from a religious congregation which instead adheres to a mother rule and spirituality. For the Work of St. Mary of the Light the Life of Christ and of His apostles is put in the foreground, and, consequently, to bring the Gospel with being Light, everywhere and with anyone (John 8.12). The Gospel first of all, therefore, supported by the sharing of common and fraternal life and with attention to the least. A reference to the Beatitudes (Mt 5: 1-12) will always give us a correct reference to this last point. Putting ourselves, not forcibly, in the last place, but placing ourselves at the level of the poor, the suffering, and shaking hands with the man who awaits the sign of Love, only in this way will we be able to understand that we are part of the One Church, of the only life plan that the Son of God - incarnate, lived, died and risen - has revealed to all creatures.
Alongside this wonderful purpose, if we want to call it charism as well, we let ourselves be reached by some great witnesses of the love of Christ and for humanity: Francis of Assisi, Vincent de 'Paul, Don Bosco. Like real bees in search of the best pollen to grab, hungry for God, reached and conquered by the power of the Holy Spirit, we have felt the richness of such great men of God. Great precisely because they are small, minor, enlightened, attracted by the invincible power of the Word made flesh. From here, therefore, a road with no return. It is not possible to "go back" after having known the Light of God, the Love of the Father, the Sacrifice of the Son, the Strength of the Holy Spirit.
Best wishes brothers. We thank the Lord every day who made us meet.
father Ruggero
THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENTS
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF OSMdL
"SERATONINA"
THE PERIMETER OF THE TEMPLE
Bearers of the light
which is Christ
Father Ruggero Iorio
Priests and brothers
of the OSMdL
they renewed
the evangelical counsels
Opera Santa Maria della Luce
"The first ten years"
A little more than ten years have passed since the recognition of the OSMdL. I believe it is right to recall the steps taken by our community and reflect on how the events experienced have given us proof of the Spirit who leads those who place themselves at the service of the Gospel. Regardless of the results achieved, it is also necessary to communicate some data to us that will be useful to everyone and in particular to those who are preparing to enter the Opera S. Maria della Luce.
We have had good suggestions and support from bishops, priests, religious and from various people. It is important to remember, in chronological order: Mons. Dante Bernini (Bishop emeritus of Velletri), the Bishops of Orvieto-Todi: Mons. Decio Lucio Grandoni who directed us to Fraternal Life in common, also suggesting that we take the name of "Opera S. Maria della Luce "; Mons. Giovanni Scanavino who on 8 December 2008 issued the Episcopal Decree n.220 / 08, concerning the birth of the Public Association of Clerical Faithfuls: "Opera S. Maria della Luce" (OSMdL), approving it and to be in the future , Society of Apostolic Life. In Brazil, the Archbishop of Florianopolis: Dom Murillo Krieger SC and his successor Dom Wilson Tadeu Jonck SC were the first to welcome the OSMdL in Brazil. Also in Brazil, the Archbishop of Porto Alegre, Dom Jaime Spengler OFM, gave the “welcome” to the OSMdL to start a presence in the city of Viamao. Subsequently, the Bishops of Mpika: HE Ignazio Chama and HE Justin Mulenga opened the doors to us in Zambia; and for just over a year, Bishop HE George Pallipparambil SDB and Archbishop Dr. Thomas Mar Koorilos, respectively in the Diocese of Miao (Guwahati - Assam State) and Tiruvalla (Kerala), in India. Negotiations are currently underway with Archbishop SE Domingo Diaz Martinez Archbishop of Tulancingo (Estado de Mexico) to give life to a fraternity in Mexico where the mission began several years ago in collaboration with the Associazione Comunità Nazareth (erected in 1993 as a Public Ecclesial Association), made up of lay people and consecrated persons.
In Italy HE Mons.Dominic Graziani, Archbishop of Crotone-S.Severina and SE Mons.Mario Toso SDB, Bishop of Faenza-Modigliana, allowed to be present, respectively in Umbriatico-Perticaro-Pallagorio (Crotone) and Cotignola (Ravenna) .
Wherever we are, we have the pastoral care of parishes and works of charity aimed at the elderly, the sick, the needy, refugees and the homeless poor.
To date our community has 45 members including 16 priests, 2 deacons, 1 permanent aggregate deacon and 26 students admitted to the novitiate-aspirantate. Among these, five young people will begin a time of discernment in the next year 2019-2020.
Based on our origins and nationality, we are currently divided as follows:
Italy : 6 incorporated and 3 in discernment; Ireland: 1; Brazil: 9; Haiti: 1; Zambia: 6; Nigeria: 1; Cameroon: 2 in first discernment; India: 9; Mexico: 1 And 3 in discernment; Albania: 2.
Many brothers entered. Others came out after a short experience. Others share fraternal life in common. To consider that the entire training process is taking its first steps. The aspirantate and the novitiate take place, for now, in the major fraternities and the formation for the ministries of the diaconate and presbyterate in the major and inter-congregational seminaries, when and where it is possible to do so.
We address to all brothers, priests, deacons, students and brothers in discernment, the invitation to pray constantly for the Work of St. Mary of the Light so that we can increasingly constitute "one heart and one soul" (Acts 4.32) and thus incarnating the "new commandment of Jesus" ... that you love one another as I have loved you, so you too love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another ”(John 13: 31-35). We note how Jesus insistently repeats the same founding principle of fraternal life.
None of us imagined that in such a short time, our small community would achieve the results we have before our eyes. For this reason it is increasingly necessary, obedient to the new commandment of Jesus, "to love one another as he loved us" and to live in harmony with one another, willing to walk the daily journey in agreement and in mutual respect.
This is the founding principle of our reality . We are learning one thing from the experience we had: it is not possible to proclaim the Gospel and share the choice of consecrated life without being inspired by the model of the first apostolic communities. Hence the goal of the OSMdL to be, in the future, a society of apostolic life. We have a lot to go. It is no coincidence that in 2008 the Work of S. Maria della Luce was approved as a Public Association of Clerical Faithful to be a "Society of Apostolic Life".
Our charism is Christological and ecclesial: "Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). To this passage of Jesus is added the intercession and protection of the Mother of God, Mother of Light.
Holy Mary of the Light, lead all of us to live Jesus Christ, Light of the World!
The example and testimony of Francis of Assisi, Vincent de 'Paoli and Don Bosco strengthen the will to be, in the Church, children of God and brothers of the poor.
Our Constitutions and the Formative Project show us, promptly, the path to take, the breaks to take and the stages to be reached, considering that the three important points of our mission are: Evangelization, Fraternal Life in common, Service to the poor.
The houses and works that are open, thanks be to God, remind us that wherever we are and wherever we will be, the first step to take is “to bring the Gospel”. Being faithful to our vocation is witnessing the Word of God and fraternal life in common, it is the guarantee that we are and will be on the right path.
Service to the poor is the fruit of all that is lived: the poor and poverty. It is no coincidence that we have chosen and placed at the center of the Constitutions the evangelical minority to be understood ad extra and ad intra, ideal to underline that a true attention to the poor and the least must correspond, with the same intensity, attention and help within the same community in which we live and in which we share the same bread, the same faith, the same charity. Poverty, which is present in each of us, must be respected and loved by the brother (cf. OSMdL Constitutions, 1.6; Training project, II.4). It is necessary to believe in this, otherwise, our path will not be possible.
The Evangelical Counsels (poverty, chastity and obedience) that we are called to jealously guard and embellish every day provide to strengthen our belonging to the Church and to the commitments that are assumed and renewed annually. Prayer and spiritual reading, lived individually and in community, constitute the necessary strength to look daily reality in the eye, which is often not easy to face. Without prayer we will never go on and it would be illusory to replace it with an activism - even charitable - deluding ourselves and those who live next to us. Jesus loves and feels the inalienable need to pray and to withdraw to talk with the Father (Matthew 14.13; Mark 1.35; Luke 4.42).
It is useless to think of going forward in our mission without or with little prayer.
Our Constitutions also provide for the possibility of dedicating oneself temporarily or permanently to the life of prayer and silence. It is desirable that some of us - sooner or later - ask to practice a lifestyle based on prayer and meditation, also welcoming people who wish to have such an experience. (cfr. Constitutions 3,16 with explicit reference to Hosea 2,16).
In the celebration of Holy Mass, in Eucharistic Adoration, in the Visit to the Blessed Sacrament we will always find Jesus Christ who invites us, who supports us and who awaits us.
Do not let us never forget Jesus' great gift to humanity: "Behold, I am with you to the close of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
On behalf of everyone, we would like to send the fraternal embrace that unites those who love each other and those who esteem themselves.
We are a small reality of consecrated persons. We also belong to different cultures and this enriches us and stimulates us to “get out of ourselves”, to question ourselves and also to know and have new experiences and to inculturate ourselves, challenging our own ways of thinking and acting.
The difference often contains true wealth.
We want to convey to everyone the joy of feeling part of a single family ready to open up to the new. Certainly not to the news of a newsletter, but to the Good News of the Risen Christ who brings Peace and Salvation to everyone. Let us commit ourselves to the constant duty to communicate and share our missionary experiences with the brothers. Today there is no lack of means of communication to be able to do this. And alongside constant mutual listening and connecting among ourselves, we evaluate the importance of the periodic review of life that must not be lacking in a fraternity that walks and questions itself day after day.
Some recommendations to be made to everyone are the knowledge of the Franciscan Sources, the letters of San Vincenzo de 'Paoli. It is necessary to learn the Italian language and other languages. This last invitation must be taken into consideration, in particular for those who, over time, will find themselves making commitments within the guidance of the OSMdL.
Being able to connect and increase the exchange between us is more necessary than ever.
The whole community feels the desire to be updated on the life of the brothers. For example, the possibility of contact with video-conferences and with all possible means is being considered to make what happens in the missions and fraternities flow among us, and to grasp with greater participation, the invitations offered to us by the local churches that welcome us. Let us think, for example, of the latest reality that is starting in the Diocese of Miao, in the north-east of India which is an interesting area, located between southern Tibet and the border with China. We thank the Indian brothers for this courage and so do the brothers from Zambia, Mexico and Italy. Our thanks go to the brothers of Brazil for the commitment and richness they witness with constant and confident abandonment to Divine Providence.
Let us say goodbye, wishing each other good, without forgetting that there is no lack of evidence and there will be no lack of it and always remembering that Christ has conquered the world (cf. John 16: 28-33).
Per aspera ad astra (through roughness you reach the stars).
To all the greatest and most fraternal greeting, full of Peace and Good.
May 22, 2019
Ruggero Iori
OSMdL moderator
______________
Documents of the Church which should be referred to in periodic fraternity meetings.
- Lumen Gentium, IV; (Doc. Conc. Vat. II); Optatam totius, I-VII; (Doc. Conc. Vat. II);
- Consecrated Life (1996); Fraternal life in community (1994);
- Identity and Mission of the Religious Brother in the Church (2015);
- Young people, faith and vocational discernment (2018), - Synod of Bishops XV Ordinary General Assembly -; Document of Aparecida, (V Conf. Episc. Latin America and Caribbean) 2007;
- Evangelii gaudium (2013); Baptized and Sent - The Church of Christ on Mission in the World (Congr.Evang. Dei Popoli Pont. Op.Miss.) (Suggested for the next extraordinary missionary month October 2019).
The virtue of poverty
as an Evangelical Council
One thing is undeniable: we live in an age where money dictates the rules. We are immersed in negotiations on money, strength, power, currency, stock exchange and profit on a daily basis. And understanding all these terms is becoming more and more necessary, given that our evangelization activity does not take place outside this globalized world, but it is even more fundamental to understand our role and position in the face of these challenges of the modern world.
It would seem out of place to speak by virtue of poverty to a generation where economic development is the first goal and even more unusual to preach poverty when we ourselves, even if we live various times of difficulty, are not poor, not of that poverty known to the world, the poverty of the lack of essential provisions for existence. We must be honest: in this sense we are not poor.
St. Francis of Assisi is the Christological icon of poverty. For him poverty is not an idea, but a person, about to invest her with the title of sister. For Francis of Assisi poverty is personified in the person of Christ. This is why Franciscan spirituality is not that of living poverty, but of being poverty. It is Jesus the poor that Francis announces, this is the poor that Francis takes in his arms in the image of the Child Jesus, this is the poor leper that Francis embraces, it is with this poor wounded that Francis shares the pains of the passion.
Francis of Assisi personified poverty in a way that perhaps some of us would be able to follow him, but more than this Francis has left you a testimony of poverty that goes beyond the limit of "merely not possessing".
Sometimes we speak of two levels of poverty: spiritual and material. However, it is impossible to separate the two dimensions because one is the foundation of the other. Both sizes they are concretized in the one virtue of poverty.
For this, first of all, it is necessary to demystify this formula of poverty divided into interior or exterior, spiritual or material.
The virtue of poverty is intimately linked to humility. In the hymns of praise created by St. Francis to celebrate virtues, poverty and humility take the first place. For Pierre Brunette they are the traces of Christ that Francis recognizes in the face of each poor found, so that poverty is transformed into a meeting place when it is assumed as a form of life1. In this sense Francis understands poverty above all as a fraternal attitude, manifested outwardly in simple clothes, in moderate nutrition, in personal work, in helping others, in the refusal of money and privileges, in the freedom to act without waiting for anything.
Poverty lived in these terms is possible when it is conceived as a gift, as a real inheritance that was given to us, because "this is, my dearest brothers, the excellence of the highest poverty, which constitutes you heirs and kings of the kingdom of heavens, making you poor in things and rich in virtues. Let this be your portion that leads you to the land of the living. And to this poverty, dear brothers, totally united, do not want to have anything else under heaven, forever, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ "2.
In fact, “the evangelical counsels are first of all a gift from the Most Holy Trinity. Consecrated life is the announcement of what the Father, through the Son, accomplishes in the Spirit with his love, his goodness, his beauty "3.
For this, external poverty must always be a consequence of our internal expression. The living of poverty as a virtue is transformed into a restitution to God of all the goods he has given us, being an open space in the life of the consecrated person to live solidarity. Poverty for Francis is a style of life, a way of thinking and placing oneself in relationship with himself, with God and with things.
Poverty can only be understood in the dimension of sharing, solidarity and moderation. It is an education in the ability to recognize the real value of everything, with attitudes that are a sign of a respectful and positive relationship with the goods of the earth, overcoming the appeals of consumerism, interest, utilitarianism. This requires the person to grow in detachment and to allow himself to be challenged by all forms of poverty which afflicts men considered brothers, with the same rights and the same needs. In other words: poverty is the radical nature of human freedom that allows us to detach all forms of goods.
The evangelical counsel of poverty, in imitation of Christ, postulates a life poor in fact and in spirit, industrious and sober, detached from earthly goods. His profession through the assumption of the evangelical counsels entails for religious the dependence and limitation in the use and disposal of temporal goods.
Furthermore, there is a social-community dimension in the virtue of poverty which can never be neglected. For this reason the invitation to imitate Christ in poverty must necessarily produce a provocation in the life of the consecrated person, that against the so-called "materialism", which ignores the needs and sufferings of the weakest. We are provoked not to admit the materialization of human life as something customary, because "Jesus Christ, rich as he was, made himself poor for you, so that you became rich through his poverty" (2 Cor 8.9). There answer of consecrated life lies in the profession of evangelical poverty lived with active commitment in the promotion of solidarity and charity, since God does not reveal himself with the means of the power and wealth of the world, but with those of weakness and poverty.
In this sense, the living of poverty is nothing more than an act of love and love makes people similar, creates equality, breaks down walls and distances. Therefore, the purpose of Jesus' making himself poor, and this must also be ours, is not simple poverty, but, as Saint Paul affirms, to make one become rich through his poverty.
This does not mean that living in poverty is restricted to working for the needy, because "even before being a service for the poor, evangelical poverty is a value in itself, as it recalls the first of the Beatitudes in the imitation of the poor Christ. Its first meaning, in fact, is to bear witness to God as the true wealth of the human heart. But precisely for this reason it strongly disputes the idolatry of mammon, proposing itself as a prophetic appeal to a society which, in many parts of the wealthy world, risks losing the sense of measure and the very meaning of things "4.
Through the virtue of poverty, consecrated life participates in the extreme poverty embraced by the Lord and lives its specific role in the saving mystery of his incarnation and his redemptive death. For this reason “consecrated persons are asked for a renewed and vigorous evangelical witness of self-denial and sobriety, in a style of fraternal life inspired by criteria of simplicity and hospitality, also as an example for those who remain indifferent to the needs of their neighbor. This testimony will naturally accompany to preferential love for the poor and it will manifest itself in a special way in sharing the living conditions of the most dispossessed »5.
Therefore, we will have to live this virtue as a continuous path of assimilation to Christ made poor in order to enrich us, aware that "God's wealth cannot pass through our wealth, but always and only through our poverty, personal and community, animated by the Spirit of Christ "6.
don Everton de Souza
1. Pierre Brunette. Brother Francis and his conversions.
2. Franciscan stamped rule, VI.
3. Consecrated life, 20.
4. Consecrated life, 90.
5. Idem
6. Pope Francis. Message for Lent 2014.
The priests and brothers of the OSMdL
they renewed the evangelical counsels
On 24 April last at the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Luce in Collelungo di S.Venanzo the priests and brothers of the Opera S. Maria della Luce, in the presence of the Bishop Mons.Benedict Tuzia, renewed the evangelical counsels as foreseen by the Constitutions of the Association Clerical Public of the Faithful erected to be a Society of Apostolic Life. The Bishop had significant and encouraging words and the present assembly followed with attention and participation the invitation of Archbishop Tuzia to "know how to see" and grow in the call to "be light for the world" that each of us receives from the moment of baptism e therefore of initiation into the Christian life.
The particular references to the story of the miracle that took place on April 24, 1829 in the ancient church of Collelungo and linked to the image of the Madonna della Luce were interesting:
a page of the Gospel open and offered to those who observe and intend to walk in the Light of Christ and to do so through the mediation of the Mother of God. community is invited to "contemplate, meditate and announce". The prodigious image of Our Lady of the Light presents a decisive fact in the mission of the Work, namely that of a clear and authoritative mandate: The Virgin Mary entrusts her children with the arduous task of receiving and transmitting the Light which is Christ, the Son of God. incarnated, lived, died and risen for every man. And this Mary, always according to the Gospel message of John, does it with strength and audacity: "do whatever he tells you" (Jn 2,5).
To answer again today
Mary's invitation:
"Do what He tells you"
After the celebration of the Holy Mass, the Bishop visited the nearby “Mauro Faina Village” born in the shadow of the Sanctuary and which welcomes young people who need support. This community residence house began its activity thanks to the generosity of Teresa Faina and the availability of different entities, associations and individuals who have demonstrated, and demonstrate, how necessary it is that the Christian faith is always accompanied by concrete signs addressed to man and in particular to those who live in need and in the expectation of receiving help.
The Work of Santa Maria della Luce, in harmony with the will of those who founded it and according to the indications expressed in the statutes, now has about thirty members including priests, deacons and brothers scattered in several communities. Abroad it operates in Brazil, Zambia, Mexico. Its mission is supported by the Associazione Comunità Nazareth, a public ecclesial association born of the same apostolic spirit made up of lay people and consecrated brothers who live fraternal life in common.
Father Ruggero Iorio
What are they
the evangelical counsels?
The evangelical counsels are exhortations that Jesus Christ made in the Gospel to a more perfect life, through the practice of the virtues. These are: voluntary poverty, perpetual chastity and perfect obedience.
In the wake of the Beatitudes, the evangelical counsels constitute a concrete modality through which the Church considers it possible to follow Christ and the full realization of the person who is invited to open himself to love for the Father, brothers, creation. Starting from the Beatitudes and their humanizing perspective it is then possible to grasp the true and profound meaning of every evangelical counsel:
Chastity: pushes towards harmony between body and spirit so that the body is an expression of the deepest values that the person has chosen to live. Chastity lived in celibacy for the Kingdom is an expression of the interior reality of a person who directs and commits all the powers of his being, physical, emotional, intellectual towards the realization of the Father's plan of universal love, that is, the construction of the Kingdom. Blessed Paul VI teaches: "Your chastity testifies to the world that we can love with the indifference and inexhaustibility that it draws from the heart of God and that we can joyfully dedicate ourselves to everyone without binding ourselves to anyone, especially taking care of the most abandoned ".
Obedience: it is living one's relationship with the Father by making oneself available to seek and to realize what is pleasing to him.
Obedience implies a continuous search of the methods and tools that allow you to be an active part in building the Kingdom and these tools are mainly continuous formation, confrontation with the Word of God and the voice of the Church, attention to the signs of the times, openness of heart to the needs of the world and of the brothers in the small and large realities of life. It is always Paul VI who summarizes the sense of obedience for Secular Institutes with these words: "your obedience is the expression of your availability to the Father whom you recognize present in the various circumstances of life, and testifies to the world that one can be happy. remaining fully available to God's will ".
Poverty: it means living the dimension of sharing, solidarity and sobriety. It is an education in the ability to recognize the real value of everything, with attitudes that are a sign of a respectful and positive relationship with the goods of the earth, overcoming the appeals of consumerism, interest, utilitarianism. Evangelical poverty requires the person to grow in detachment and to allow himself to be challenged by all forms of poverty which afflicts men considered brothers, with the same rights and the same material and spiritual needs.
Project
"Village San Vincenzo de ' Paoli "
The Opera Santa Maria della Luce is present on the African continent and has recently started a support project in Zambia, if it concerns the “Villaggio San Vincenzo de 'Paoli, the which will take care of children aged 14 to 18 to train them through agricultural courses in anticipation of setting up an activity cooperative work.
Father Martin, local moderator, tells about the project.
