From Decree 2 of the Society of Jesus' General Congregation 35 (2008):
Our way of proceeding is to trace the footprints of God everywhere, knowing that the Spirit of Christ is at work in all places and situations and in all activities and mediations that seek to make him more present in the world. This mission of attempting "to feel and to taste" (sentir y gustar) the presence and activity of God in all the persons and circumstances of the world places us Jesuits at the centre of a tension pulling us both to God and to the world at the same time...
Being and doing; contemplation and action; prayer and prophetic living; being completely united with Christ and completely inserted into the world with him as an apostolic body: all of these polarities mark deeply the life of a Jesuit and express both its essence and its possibilities. The Gospels show Jesus in deep, loving relationship with his Father and, at the same time, completely given over to his mission among men and women. (GC 35, D. 2, n. 8, 9)
What a great explanation of the tension in our lives - the great desire to sit with our Lord and the desire to be present for others as we are called.
ReplyDeleteBeing in the Lord's company is what it is all about.
Delete