“The Sodalit charism is a gift from God”

Lima, 09/03/13 (Sodalit News – Peru). This talk, entitled “Sodalit Charism, Spirituality and Style,” marked the beginning of a course on spiritual life that the Christian Life Movement has prepared which will take place during the months of September and October.

Fernando Vidal, Vicar General of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, was the first speaker in a series of seven talks on the spiritual life which will be given to members of the Sodalit Family in Lima, Peru, all of  whom which seek to address the same topic: the Sodalit Spirituality.

In the talk, Fernando explained that charism is a term that, “accentuates the sense of ‘gift ‘, or ‘present.’ We understand that it is always gratuitous, the result of God’s generosity.” Under this meaning of charism, he also explained that, “when we find ourselves in difficult twists in the road, with the demands of the Christian life in our personal life, or in our work or family… or when we encounter apostolic difficulties in the midst of a culture that is far from God, we must renew our confidence that along with the calling, the Lord also gives us the gifts so that we can respond.”

“The gift of God that is the charism,” explained Vidal, “with its particular characteristics and purpose, becomes life in specific people who walk together, as a community within the ecclesial communion. In this environment, their is a dynamic response as the people actively cooperate with the Spirit in the shaping of a spirituality, a style, a discipline, and an apostolic methodology; all of which they do in order to contribute to the construction of the Church.” Here one can more clearly see how a charism is the fruit of both divine and human cooperation in the Church.

Explaining the beginnings, he stressed that, “God wanted to bring about the Sodalit charism within  the ecclesial community to help respond from the Gospel to the challenges and demands experienced by those looking to live coherently their faith in the ever-changing world in the third millennium.” And this has been made clearly manifest by the Church with the approval of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae as a Society of Apostolic Life by Pope John Paul II.” That said, “when we speak of the Sodalit charism, we are speaking about a reality that the Church has recognized as being born of the Holy Spirit; one which is at the service of the Church’s mission and the personal sanctification of each person who receives it. And it is out of the Sodalit charism that the Sodalit Family was born and continues to grow.”

Vidal also reminded those present that the task of each member of the Spiritual Family must be, “to live faithfully our spirituality and style, in an intimate and explicit communion with the Church; to love the gift which he has received, growing in the conviction that within our charism we find the answers to the demands and challenges of our vocation and mission; to deepen in the knowledge of our spirituality;” and “to communicate our charism with more vigor and fruitfulness in the various apostolic fields and in the different circumstances of space and time through which the Plan of God leads us.”

In commemoration of the Year of Faith, he invited the whole Sodalit Family, “to increasingly internalize our faith, and to turn our gaze with reverence and thankfulness towards the gift of our charism. In this way, we must seek to grow in love and commit ourselves to living our spirituality and style, with increasing determination to know, live, deepen and communicate more faithfully the treasure which has been entrusted to us.”