Fr. Sosa to the Maltese Jesuits: “Open to the new”
After the meeting with the Maltese Jesuits at Mount St Joseph, Fr General, celebrating Mass at Loyola House in Naxxar, spoke of listening and discerning new needs: “Where is God leading the Maltese Jesuits today, what is he asking of them in this concrete situation? Today you are once again invited to experience the transformative power of change, in a time of diminishment, allowing the process of a new Province and the new directions of your mission within it, as expressed in the Universal Apostolic Preferences, to reshape your path.
Having experienced faithfulness in the past, you are called to trust and embrace this present, to listen to the Spirit and allow change to mould you to meet the needs of today. You are being called to new growth and renewal of spirit, to new life”.
Therefore, let us reflect on our ways during the last years, letting go of nostalgia, of wanting to do things exactly as we have done in the past in order to be ready for the new.
Let us seek new ways of doing things and of being together. Let us be bold and look at what being a new province really means, the novelty and the new responsibilities it carries”.
Rediscover Ignatian indifference
An essential part of our charism is to not be attached to a territory or a way of doing things.
Once I was visiting the Midwest USA in a meeting with young Jesuits and I was asked ‘what is the most important virtue for a Jesuit’? My response was ‘indifference’, it is our most important virtue today. Without indifference we cannot discern – it is crucial for a good discernment. So we must ask ourselves – Are we really free to follow the Spirit? We don’t need doctors in the Society, we need Jesuits!”
Vocations
“Vocations come not of our own initiative but from the Lord. We are all vocation promoters through our prayers. Are we living in a way that is attractive to young people? We have to change and be more transparent.
Have we a plan for vocations promotion, with people, resources and time. And to have at least one Jesuit brother and a woman on the team! Why women? Because they have a special intuition to identify candidates and a point of view that is very important.”
Lay collaborators
“We are blessed by having so many good lay people who help us to be better Jesuits! How can we continue to foster this collaboration? Well, we don’t ‘have’ collaborators, we ARE collaborators – otherwise there will be a tension of powers… who will have the last word?
To conclude Fr. Sosa stressed a renew attention on the ongoing formation of lay collaborators, topic on which Curia Generalizia is gathering the experiences from different Provinces to see what resources we have to share.
