Who makes the work of the Church possible? Is there any relationship between co-responsibility, support and vocation? A few days ago, a friend of mine - without faith, but intellectually restless - asked me how the contribution of the Church is made possible. Spanish Church in favor of society. He had seen in a publication data on its celebratory, pastoral, evangelizing and charitable-assistance activities, which had pleasantly surprised him because he tends to receive only negative news about the institution.
My answer, centered on people and far from economic questions, also challenged him. The figures speak for themselves: more than 15,000 priests, 83,000 catechists, 500 permanent deacons, 8,000 cloistered monks and nuns, 33,000 religious, 75,000 volunteers from CaritasWhat would the Church in Spain (and throughout the world) be without the dedication of each baptized person based on the specific vocation that God has given him or her?
Discovering and responding to that "call" is transformative for both oneself and others. The campaign reminds us of this Xtantos This year's Diocesan Church Day asks us a suggestive question: "What if what you are looking for is within you? Certainly, we live surrounded by external stimuli and the doses of dopamine that we receive relentlessly through cell phones do not manage to fulfill the longing for fullness that dwells in our hearts.
Spain is the country with the highest consumption of tranquilizers in the world, according to data from the International Narcotics Control Board. The daily consumption of anxiolytics has increased ten points in the last decade and cases of anxiety and depression are frequent. So much so that mental health is no longer a taboo subject and is beginning to take center stage in public debate and everyday conversations.
Beyond the necessary medical response and the collective reflection that this reality demands, the Church puts on the table on this Diocesan Church Day an aspect that, sooner or later, is inevitable in the life of any person: the question of "meaning" or, as the new generations say, of "purpose", already so present in the business world and in those who seek to overcome an existential crisis or those vital feelings of emptiness that are gradually consuming the spirit.
Different vocations, same Church
Why do I do what I do? What is the point of it all? The Church offers us a hymn to hope with a message that, as the Diocesan Church Day testimonies available on the web show 'www.buscaentuinterior.es’can transform a whole life. Each one from his or her own vocation, knowing that we have all been created by God with a mission and that we are unique and unrepeatable. Discovering and responding to this call is "revolutionary" and invites us to live with authenticity, commitment and fullness.
This healthy "revolution", not without doubts and uncertainties, is illustrated by Pilar, Montse, Litus, Pedro, Diego, Carmen and Alberto in the Xtantos campaign. They responded with a yes to God's plan for each of them, embracing a life full of meaning from their respective vocations. Before, in one way or another, they experienced that what gives happiness in the eyes of the world (an outstanding job, money, parties, a good social position, etc.) did not fulfill them, like those hundred Harvard University alumni -young achievers in different aspects- who confessed in a survey that they were not happy because their life lacked meaning.
Pilar, Montse, Litus... really changed when they opened themselves to listen to the voice of God and allowed themselves to be guided by Him. In this way, they achieved what the philosopher Alfonso López Quintás defined as "a well-oriented life", directed towards its "true ideal"..
In this process, it is especially important to become aware that we have been created by Love with talents - a divine gift - that we are called to cultivate and make available to others.
This aspect is transcendent because co-responsibility arises from gratitude: the awareness of how much we have received and the desire to share part of these gifts with others. It is participation in the being and mission of the Church, with a direct impact on society: it is a lifestyle (witness) and it is time, qualities, prayer and financial support.
Vocation and co-responsibility
The Church in Spain is sustained thanks to so many people, women and men of our time, who give what they are and what they have to the service of the Church and society. From those who help to clean the church in their neighborhood or the hermitage of their town, who announce the Good News as catechists or as volunteers in the soup kitchen of their parish, who pray from the cell of the monastery or from the subway -in the middle of the world- for the needs of the Church, who contribute in the collection of the masses or with a recurrent donation and for those who understand life -in short- as a gift and a task, trying to make the talents they have received work.
Last October, Pope Francis invited us to pray for a new "synodal lifestyle, under the sign of co-responsibility".in which the following are promoted "participation, communion and shared mission." among all God's people. This is because, as the Synod made clear, "To walk together as baptized people, from the diversity of charisms, vocations and ministries, is important not only for our communities, but also for the world".
As early as 1988, the Spanish bishops made this clear in a pastoral instruction in which they stated: "We know by faith that in the last analysis it is God himself who sustains the Church through Jesus Christ, who calls her together, presides over her and vivifies her through the interior power of the Holy Spirit who moves the hearts of men. At the same time, however, they emphasized that "God himself has willed that this supernatural action should ordinarily pass through the mediation of our free response".
Co-responsibility is never the fruit of fear or obligation, but of generosity. And this, there is no doubt, springs from grateful hearts. For this reason, far from impositions, it is essential to help us discover the gifts we have received freely from God.
By becoming co-responsible, we accept those talents and enjoy sharing them. That is the 'recipe' of Christian communities.
In the face of prefabricated formulas by gurus and influencers that sell happiness but often only generate more dissatisfaction, the Church offers the light of Christ as the source of a successful life.
This is how the Church is sustained," I said to my friend. With many anonymous stories of joyful and generous dedication, like those of Pilar, Montse and Litus, who are happy to make God's dream come true in their lives, each one in his or her own way.
Director of the Secretariat for the Support of the Church of the EEC.
