3. UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE COMMON MISSION[65] Richness of the Spirit's gifts The Church receives from the Risen Christ the Spirit of the Father which makes her a participant in the life of the Trinity, unifies her in communion and ministry, and adorns her with various charisms and gifts. The Spirit prompts the Church to open herself to the world and to cultures so as to transform them by the force of the Gospel, and renews her in the different phases of inculturation, finally leading her to perfect communion with her Spouse.18 Through the action of the Spirit, the ecclesial community is an organic community, characterized by the presence of different and complementary vocations, charisms and ministries.19 They are at the service of the growth of the Body of Christ in history and of his mission in the world. [66] Plurality of ministries All in the Church are consecrated and sent out in virtue of Baptism and Confirmation. Nevertheless the ordained ministry and consecrated life presuppose a specific form of consecration in view of a particular mission. The lay faithful, through the consecration of Baptism and Confirmation are called to be signs of the Kingdom in the world, dealing with temporal matters and ordering them to God. The secular character is the distinguishing element of their Christian existence.20 They live the common vocation to holiness in work, in the family, in politics and economics, in science and art and in social communication, with a commitment to human advancement and evangelization. The lay Christian is therefore a member of the Church in the heart of the world and a member of the world in the heart of the Church.21 The ordained ministers, in addition to the fundamental consecration deriving from Baptism and in virtue of the anointing of the Holy Spirit received in the Sacrament of Order, are marked by a special character which conforms them to Christ the Priest.22 They are stimulated by the charity of the Good Shepherd to give life to the sheep23 and to build an ecclesial communion animated by the Bishop, who presides over it. The ordained ministry is at the service of the common priesthood of the faithful. Consecrated persons who embrace the evangelical counsels receive a new and particular consecration which, without being sacramental, commits them to making their own the form of life of Jesus which he proposed to the disciples.24 Religious life manifests in a particularly rich way the evangelical benefits and the purpose of the Church, which is the sanctification of the human race.25 Their life of communion becomes a sign for the world and orients it to belief in Christ.26 [67] Reciprocal and complementary nature of the man-woman relationship in Christ The new rapport with God in Christ provokes an innovation in the deep relationship between man and woman. The innovation is made visible particularly in the vocation to marriage, becoming a sign of the intimate union between Christ and his Church.27 In the ecclesial setting the mutual relationship between man and women is of vital importance. There seems to be an urgent need for allotting more space to the woman in social and also ecclesial life.28 [68] Mary, Icon of the Church as Communion Let us turn our eyes to Mary. She has been called to a particular communion with the Trinity
who willed that she should be the Mother of the Word to give him
to the world. The Church looks to her on its pilgrimage through
time. To her Don Bosco turned from the moment of his dream at the
age of nine, by her he was educated and became a man totally for
God and totally for the young. |