“We are a family, we are a community, we have a mission”

Arequipa, 01/19/15 (Sodalit News – Peru). With great expectations and excitement to begin the Fourth Plenary Assembly of the Christian Life Movement (CLM), participants gathered in the auditorium of the Catholic University of San Pablo in Arequipa to attend the inaugural talk, “Spiritual Family and Charism,” given by Alessando Moroni, Superior General of the Sodalitium of Christian Life.

In this talk, Moroni described different aspects of the Sodalit Family, which began as a seed in its infancy which is no longer the case. “Today it is a tree, and the tree has grown.” He stressed that “all the foundations and apostolic works that have attracted thousands of people worldwide are part of this great tree planted in the field of the Church, which is our spiritual family, the Sodalit Family.”

Later, speaking about the Sodalit Family, Moroni said that “all of us here, we have a spiritual bond, a real bond; it interiorly configures us and generates bonds of spiritual kinship, which are real, strong, deep and permanent. For this reason we are a family, and that gives us a significant identity for the mission that God entrusts to us.”

“In our spirituality we find the key to our unity,” continued the Superior General, detailing the scope and breadth of the charism. He explained that it “is consolidated in unity, and unity is in our spirituality and charism that we have received as a gift from God. Therefore, this unity will be stronger in as much as we deepen and internalize our charism and spirituality.”

He also spoke about the Year of Consecrated Life which Pope Francis opened a few months ago, as well as the next World Meeting of Families and the Synod on the family to be held in October.

Alessandro Moroni also stressed that the Sodalit Family “is formed both by priests and consecrated men and women, as well as those called to holiness through marriage and family life. We know that the bonds are diverse, both personally and collectively, and the ways to serve or work are also abundant. That’s part of our richness; something that each day we have to understand and appreciate more.” He explained that in a world that misunderstands freedom, the testimony of marital fidelity and the consecrated life must be understood as ways of life.

Finally, Moroni took the example of Our Lady of Guadalupe noting that She “has much to say to us. She wants to speak to us loud and clear in this family, in this movement that was born in America. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a clear and perfect expression which God has given us for the journey.” He highlighted the example of St. Juan Diego as “a paradigmatic model for us. He obediently accepts Mary’s petition even though he tells the Mother that he is a poor Indian whom no one would believe. Juan Diego knows that alone he is insufficient, he knows that what Mary asks surpasses his abilities, but also knows that if he follows trusting in the Mother of God, he can do what She asks of him.”

The talk concluded with a round of questions and answers, in which numerous assembly members shared their reflections and exchanged viewpoints in an atmosphere of enthusiasm for the apostolate and the mission.