GENERAL COUNCIL F.I.C. - Prins Bisschopsingel 22, 6211 JX Maastricht, The Netherlands  Phone: *31 (0) 43 3508373
Friday, March 29 2024  - 1 User Online  
HOMEGUESTBOOKCONTACT USFORUM 



21.08.2018 13:47:23 1662x read.
INSPIRATION
Homily on 20 August 2018 by Fr. Bernard Mardiatmadja. SJ.

HOMILY 20.8.2018


Some people say that the FIC Congregation does not have a formulation of Vision, Mission. In the Constitution there are some formulation of Vision and Mission of the Congregation, but in a different way with some managerial way of formulating Vision and Mission (although you have to read the way some manager do). The difference come from the fact, that a Congregation does not treat its members, just as workers, but as a whole person living a total life. That is the reason of the specificity of the way a Congregation formulate its Vision and Mission. We can see the whole background:

It can impress people, how the 15 first days of this General Chapter, has been filled with so much thoughts and signs of affections to the vision of the Founders of the FIC. In the meantime, the Congregation has developed very much. Some sciences has developed very clearly and setting themselves differently from the older sciences, like sociology, philosophy or theology. But internally, there are still relationship between the many sciences: for example about vision and mission.

The Vision: From the point of view of Spiritually, a Congregation learns from the Divine Teacher through The 8 Beatitudes: it is formulated in FIC as the Integration of Community Living, Prayer, Apostolate.

For The Mission FIC learns from the Divine Teacher in Mat 25:31-46: It is the Last Evaluation of any Friends of the Lord. The FIC make it precise as the Service of Education (more than schools and others), especially for those poor, who live with us in our country or even our neighbours.

To do it we need appropriate Attitude: Psychological Attitude: positive – educational, who look for a happy Future.

For Our Strategy: we learn from the Lord: creative, encouraging and future oriented way, as well as practical.

According to these thoughts: we can see

Historically: we can hear the Spirit of the Founders (e.g. Const 9) beginning the pilgrimage of the FIC, with every high and low sides in the nearly 200 years experiences and in so many context of lifes. That is the vision, in a way of expressing it, different of a management way. Because it includes the whole life (including the Spiritual Life) of so many persons, and not only the works and organization.

Spiritually, we can hear the Spirit of St. Bernard, that we remember today. He has lived in touch of three Partners: God (his famous book is “The Love of God”), human relationship from the point of view of the faith (he has written a commentary on the Book “Song of Songs”), the World-Nature-Social-Life (he has opened his Cloister to the poor people around his village/towns).


Our reflection can continue like the following:

we have to be contemplative, in the sense of having deep relationship with God in prayer; to be educative and positive in our way of living and serving; to be integrative in our combining community living, prayer and apostolate.

One of the important members of our community is our brothers, who have introduced us to and been leading us to and in this congregation, working and living with us: but who are now becoming weak, because of their age. People say, that love begins at home: there live our brothers. There, we are invited to find the Lord among the weak.

There are truly similar points between the reflections in the General Chapter and the spirit of St. Bernard, who was also the Patron of Br. Bernard Hoecken.

 

By. Fr. Bernard Mardiatmadja SJ.








^:^ : IP 9.9.7.1 : 1 ms   
BROTHERS FIC
 © 2024  http://brothers-fic.org//