The particular should link with the universal

IT’S indeed good that we be faithful and loyal to the

particular vocation, spirituality or charism that we have. That is a

God-given gift that we should try our best to be most faithful to. We

just have to see to it that such fidelity and loyalty do not prevent

us from appreciating the other spiritualities, vocations and charisms

within the Church.

  

            More than that, we have to learn how to work in tandem and

in solidarity with the other Church-approved spiritualities, no matter

how different they may be from ours. In this, we have to take the

initiative to know more about them and to see what we can do to be

able to work with them for the good of the whole Church, since every

spirituality, vocation and charism is meant for building up the

Church.

  

            We have to be wary of the danger of falling into some

restrictive and exclusivistic lifestyle that would isolate, if not

alienate, us from the others. This, sadly, is a common tendency among

the many Church institutions and groups, giving rise to petty

rivalries, jealousies and gossips.

  

            Obviously, the higher authorities of the Church should

exercise the prudence of how to orchestrate the different institutions

with the different spiritualities in play. But each institution should

do its part of coordinating and establishing linkages with the others.

   

            There has to be mutual respect among them and the

legitimate differences should be acknowledged, respected and made to

work along the lines of complementation and supplementation in order

to work for the common good of the Church.

              We have to remember that no spirituality, vocation and

charism has the exclusive possession of the universal essence of what

is to be holy, of what true love is, etc. And every spirituality,

vocation and charism is not a frozen thing, but a dynamic one, alive

and always open for further enrichment, deepening and adaptation to

changing circumstances.

  

            Thus, a Church institution that only talks about itself or

about its particular spirituality and charism, with hardly any effort

to know more about the others, would be going along a dangerous path.

We need to break away from that attitude. Everyone should try his best

to follow what St. Paul once said: to be all things to all men.

  

            Especially at this point of Church and world development,

there is need for us to be more united in pushing for what is

essential in our life while respecting and coordinating the different

ways of doing it. Everyone should have a universal outlook while

keeping his respective particular spirituality.

  

            We have to face this challenge squarely if we want to be

truly faithful to God and to affirm our real Christian identity. I

wonder if our Church authorities in the different levels are doing

something about this.

  

            It seems ironic that with all the progress we have in our

communication technologies, we do not seem to make corresponding

progress in coordinating the different institutions and groups within

the Church.

   

            Yes, indeed, there are some efforts toward this end, but

we look like we are still ages away from what can be considered as a

working ideal. If, for example, we ask today some Church-goer at

random about this issue, most likely we are going to hear that he has

not heard anything about this concern.

  

            We have to have a way of determining that we are making

progress in terms of more and more people aware at least of this issue

and doing something about it.

  

            I am sure there are many relevant issues involved in this

concern and that need to be addressed. They can be complex and

complicated. But we should at least try to work on them little by

little.