RELIGIOUS LIFE AND JUSTICE, PEACE, INTEGRITY OF CREATION

Passionate for the Kingdom JPIC: Religious Life Passionate for the Kingdom 2

JPIC IS AN INVITATION FROM GOD’S SPIRIT TO RELIGIOUS LIFE “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,     because he has anointed me     to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners     and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free“ Lc 4,18.   In this invitation the meaning and significance of Religious Life is played out today. 3

A PRECIOUS HERITAGE FROM VATICAN II: “The joys and the hopes,   “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts” GS, nº1. 4

“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men [women] of this age…”.

IT IS AN INVITATION: To discover the face of God, Father of Jesus, who revealed himself in history and is to be found in reality To live, following the Lord, with clarity and compassion, in an unjust, torn and violent world  To discern the signs of the times being raised up by the Spirit today.

A God who is FATHER AND MOTHER, for the whole of creation: WHICH FACE OF GOD? A God who is FATHER AND MOTHER, Faithful in love, Whose project is LIFE for the whole of creation: The Kingdom. “I came so that you may have LIFE and have it to the full” Jn 10,10.

WHICH FACE OF GOD? A CREATOR God, A breath of life, who continues to create and invites us to take responsibility for peace, justice and the care for creation. “God of our ancestors, Lord of mercy, who by your word have made the universe, and in your wisdom have fitted human beings to rule the creatures that you have made …” Wisdom. 9, 1 y 2.

WHICH FACE OF GOD? A LIBERATING AND COMPASSIONATE God, who loves justice and right, who defends the oppressed, the poor and the marginalized. “He will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save” Psalm 72.

A LEADING FACILITATOR JPIC is called to be a facilitator of a new paradigm of Religious Life that is MISTICAL AND PROPHETIC: passionate for the God of the Kingdom and the Kingdom of God.

JPIC A WAY OF LIFE a way of being, a style of life, which desires to respond to the great projects of humanity: PEACE, HUMAN RIGHTS, ECOLOGY and a dignified life for every human being.

EMBRACING THE WHOLE OF LIFE JPIC is TRANSVERSAL, reaching into all dimensions of Consecrated life: spirituality, mission, the vows, fraternity giving a new focus to our missionary-liberating charism.

peace and non-violence. IT IS NOURISHED AND FLOWS FROM A PROFOUNDLY BIBLICAL SPIRITUALITY:  ð   Centered on a compassionate love based on the experience of knowing we are children of God and universal sisters and brothers.  ð  Faithful and committed to history in the spirit of the Beatitudes from the perspective of peace and non-violence.

A SPIRITUALITY: ð “Samaritan” cultivating a sense of solidarity and pro-active fidelity: “Go and do the same” Lk 10,37. ð    Prayerful and celebrative of the signs of life and accomplishments achieved.     

ð from the simplicity of everyday life ð and for every phase of life. JPIC OFFERS FOCUS AND MOTIVATION TO MISSION: ð in all presences, tasks, missions, apostolates, specific new services, such as in education and health… ð from the simplicity of everyday life ð and for every phase of life.

obedience, poverty and chastity The VOWS Take on new meaning and significance in the light of JPIC, pointing to ways that obedience, poverty and chastity might be lived as alternatives to the present ways of exercising power, the distribution of the goods of the earth and the pillage of life on the planet.

Fraternal and universal COMMUNITY LIFE Calls for concrete expressions of Fraternal and universal relationships: openness and attentiveness to the cry of the poor, fortified by compassion and solidarity. This is a JPIC journey.

TO LIVE FROM A JPIC PERSPECTIVE: Leads to a personal and communitarian committment to the tranformation of unjust social, economic and political systems which govern our world today:  ð in defense of the dignity of every human being and against every type of oppression, injustice and violence, while analysing the underlying causes. ð Building PEACE - a gift of God and a human task – is only possible when based on truth and justice and beginning with a chage of heart. ð Caring for and defending creation, the rights of the Earth and the sustainability of the planet.

A JPIC METHOD OF WORKING SEE and analyse reality and what is happening Judge it in the light of the Word of God and Catholic Social Doctrine Act in a transforming and evangelizing way.

TO LIVE FROM A JPIC PERSPECTIVE:   It brings one to connect with other people and organizations, one’s own institute, other congregations, social movements, other belief systems and religions. It is a privilaged arena to practice ecumenism and the ”inter” - all that involves intercongregational, interreligious and intercultural initiatives…-.

TO LIVE FROM A JPIC PERSPECTIVE: Is to embrace God’s Word from the mouth of Micah: «He has told you, O man [woman], what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God» Micah.6,8.

It is possible to download this PowerPoint from the web site: http://jpicformation.wikispaces.com/EN_JPICCommission   THE JUSTICE, PEACE, AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION COMMISSION OF THE USG / UISG JPIC PROMOTERS Roma