"Consider each Order has a special devotion, and ours is to Our Lady, bearing Jesus within her. Thus the indulgenced prayer that we say daily, 'Oh Jesus, living in Mary' is so specially our own. Now this devotion ought to have an effect on our lives. The angels at least ought to see this mark upon us and people also should see it.
What is that spirit? Love of a hidden life. For some time, no one not even St. Joseph, knew that Jesus was there. Afterwards, it was St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth and no one else.
Ask yourself: 'Have I got a strong inward spiritual life, such as no one knows but myself?' "
"Since formation must also have a communal dimension, the community is the chief place of formation in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Initiation into the hardships and joys of community life takes place in the community itself. Through the fraternal life each one learns to live with those whom God has put at his or her side, accepting their positive traits along with their differences and limitations. Each one learns to share the gifts received for the building up of all, because 'to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good'(1Cor 12:7)...
...it is important for consecrated persons gradually to develop a critical judgement, based on the Gospel, regarding the positive and negative values of their own culture and of the culture in which they will eventually work...
...they must be trained in the difficult art of interior harmony, of the interaction between love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters; they must likewise learn that prayer is the soul of the apostolate, but also that the apostolate animates and inspires prayer."
Excerpts from "Vita Consecrata" Pope John Paul II, No.67, P121
A friend of mine sent me the Lenten reflection from Cardinal Bergoglio now Pope Francis that he wrote for Lent 2013. The reflection was on the passage "Rend your hearts not your garments..." It made me think about how many times I have thought that the outward signs were so much more important forgetting that the Lord wants "a pure contrite heart".
What is that spirit? Love of a hidden life. For some time, no one not even St. Joseph, knew that Jesus was there. Afterwards, it was St. Joseph and St. Elizabeth and no one else.
"Since formation must also have a communal dimension, the community is the chief place of formation in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Initiation into the hardships and joys of community life takes place in the community itself. Through the fraternal life each one learns to live with those whom God has put at his or her side, accepting their positive traits along with their differences and limitations. Each one learns to share the gifts received for the building up of all, because 'to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good'(1Cor 12:7)...