Challenges Today
What do you see as today’s most crucial issues?

We need to recognize the emerging fruits, such as greater, shared participation and togetherness. The concept of authority has also changed. This is very important because there will be no true sense of togetherness if superiors remain "superior" as perhaps was the case in former times. They are called to be brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers. No more than that. Why is this? Because, according to the Gospel, they must occupy the lowest place, in the service of their brothers and sisters.
Then there is the question of relationships between men and women. We always saw these as a danger to consecrated life. But this is not the case. God did not create men or women in isolation. We must arrive at a new synthesis of the man-woman relationship and this should be clearly seen in communities.

Of course, nothing is certain, because power and control can exist even in the name of Jesus. Thus when Jesus' way of manifesting himself in a community has become one of commanding others, then we are on the wrong track. The sincere search for a harmonious relationship between authority and those who are part of the community does not lead to anarchy but wisdom. It is an area in need of further study. 

This also involves a broader scope if we think of the national and continental groupings of consecrated people, such as CLAR in Latin America, for example. We are moving towards a sense of human solidarity and there is a lot of ongoing study and development in this regard. There is profound desire for support, for happiness, to be able to journey together.  It is happening right now. Of course, we are referring to organizations which are institutional in nature where each is striving to have a soul which is not characterized by division and conflict but rather are aiming towards communion.  We also need to look into the loneliness that some are experiencing.  
 
Holiness and Voluntarism 
Is the ideal of holiness still fashionable among consecrated men and women today?

I believe it is. But one challenge is the transition from a personal experience of God to one which is also communal. There is still a way to go in this regard. It is a goal, but we do not yet know how to achieve it. It’s not something to be entrusted solely to experts in psychology or sociology. We need to bring out the theological dimension of this in such a way that enables us to experience the presence of Jesus among us and bear witness to it rather than dealing with it simply as an intellectual exercise. This transition to a communal approach is not one which can be imposed by arguments from outside but, rather, one which is inspirational, experiential and ultimately something attractive. 

One step to take with regard to holiness is a shifting away from ‘voluntarism’ – holiness that is achieved through one's own efforts – in order to experience God's life offered to us as gift, as a welcomed gift to which we then communicate (to others).  Certainly we need to have mastery over ourselves but this is not simply a question of controlling my own will.  Even with all my best effort, I will never be able to sacrifice myself as Jesus did.  Yet I am able to love as Jesus loved us because there is the  Holy Spirit who gives us his love and renders us capable of loving like him.

This leads us back to the Trinity, as well as the mystery of the Incarnation and the Paschal mystery.  There is no other way. Here we draw on the life of God. It is necessary to respect the ancient ascetic traditions that have served as a guide for so many but we must also bear in mind that voluntarism leads to oneself, not to others. There is need for a transition to loving together with others, as Jesus did.

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