Address to the Supreme Board of Directors
of the Knights of Columbus

by the Most Reverend William E. Lori, S.T.D.
Bishop of Bridgeport and Supreme Chaplain

Quarterly Meeting, San Antonio, TX
October 11, 2009

Introduction: The Apostolic Visitation

You may have read or heard about the Apostolic Visitation of women’s religious communities in the United States. This visitation was authorized by Pope Benedict XVI and, at the request of the appropriate department of the Holy See. It is being headed by Mother Clare Millea, the General Superior of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; an splendid leader of an excellent international community.

As you probably also know, news of this Apostolic Visitation was greeted with mixed emotions, ranging from happiness, to confusion, to suspicion and anger. As usual, what is in shortest supply is reasoned analysis. All these reactions, however, seem to have a common root: belief that Church authority is cracking down on those who broke the rules. Some think the Church has no right to do this. Others think that it’s high time the Church took some corrective action.

But you know, neither of those reactions sound much like the Pope Benedict whom we love and respect both as Successor of Peter and also as a world-class theologian. What does resonate in the Holy Father’s pastoral care for the Church Universal is the striking statement in today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews: “…the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword.” Few could be more keenly aware than our Holy Father of the power of God’s Word to split open and reveal not only what is in our hearts but also what lay at the heart of our plans and projects. Out of love and respect for religious life in the United States and beyond, the Holy Father wants it to be opened to the clear light of God’s Word.

Authentic Religious Life

Indeed, today’s Gospel about the rich young man sheds light on the profound reason why this Apostolic Visitation is underway – it is this: the Church cannot do without vowed religious – without religious sisters, brothers, and priests – not just because of the work that they do but because of the witness to Christ and the Gospel that they provide. The Apostolic Visitation aims to ensure that the form of life we call “consecrated” will not go away or be hopelessly distorted – lest we all misunderstand who and what we are to become as members of the Body of Christ.

Unlike the rich young man in the Gospel – who kept the rules within the ambit of a comfortable existence – vowed religious are to be so endowed with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit that they take the Lord at His word when He says: “Go, sell what you have, and then you will have treasure in heaven.” Instead of relying on silver or gold, power or prestige, beauty or brawn, consecrated religious adopt a form of discipleship which demonstrates that the Lord’s love is the great treasure beyond which nothing else is needed. “God alone is enough,” St. Theresa of Avila wrote. “Jesus, I trust in Thee,” St. Faustina said.

Religious life, therefore, is not merely a matter of rules. Rather, living in consecrated chastity, poverty, and obedience, religious are called to “a transfigured existence capable of amazing the world!” – to use the words of Pope John Paul the Great.

Why This Is of Concern to the Whole Church

Yet we may be asking ourselves: what does this have to do with us? None of us are in religious vows as such and it would probably be an unpleasant surprise if your spouse suddenly decided to start living the vows as such! So people are asking: Isn’t it solely the business of these religious communities to live as they see fit?

Well, not really.

Their vowed life and the quality of their consecrated life matters to us and it matters to the health of the Church and the vigor of her mission to preach the Gospel. Without their radically evangelical style of life, we who are immersed in secularity may never take today’s Gospel seriously. We may never discern how to allow possessions, positions, and the preoccupations of daily life to loosen their grip on us, to loosen their overwhelming claim on our affections, our thoughts, and our plans.

We’ll be too busy to sit at the Master’s feet and listen, too caught up in the world for the seed of the Gospel to germinate. After all, we are called to be more than decent people who make time for the Lord. No, we are called to observe the commandments in the spirit of the Beatitudes: to be poor in spirit, pure of heart, meek and humble, hungry for holiness.

Conclusion

A most startling truth is that the redeemed in heaven are chaste, poor, and obedient. Those in consecrated life by word, witness, and work are to help provide us with a roadmap for becoming those sorts of persons, people who live in this passing world with our hearts set on the world to come. Of course, if we live long enough, nature may eventually impose a form of poverty on us – for we either lose our possessions or no longer enjoy them and also possibly a form of chastity . . .

But nature doesn’t impose obedience! That we must choose for ourselves in love. In the grace of the Holy Spirit, we must choose not to walk away sad but rather to choose to be ‘poor in spirit, pure of heart, meek and humble, - so that the ‘Father will see and love in us what He sees and loves in Christ.’

Vivat Jesus!


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