Charism
Gift		Service

 

"There are many different gifts but it is always the same Spirit; there are many different ways of serving but it is always the same Lord. There are many different forms of activity but in everybody it is the same God who works in them all."  (1 Cor. 12, 4-6)

In the writings of St. Paul the term charism has a double meaning. In the broad sense it designates the "gift" of christian life in general received at baptism. In the strict sense it means a particular, specific "gift" received by individuals or groups for the service and building up of the christian community. It is in this latter sense that we speak of the charism of religious families, each of which has received from the Spirit through its founder a particular charism to realise a specific mission in the Church. In the history of salvation God has a loving design for each religious family that gives it its reason for existing, its identity and proper mission. This does not, however, reduce it to a mere instrument, pre-determined for a divine strategy. The "charism" of religious life is not a rigid structure or programme but a spiritual energy from the Spirit, a power of life to be communicated. It is a dynamic force that incorporates religious men and women into a family gifted with a "charismatic mission". That is why a founder's charism can never be identified with his or her "works" that are marked by the needs of the founding period. A charism is a living gift, a breath of the creator Spirit at the service of a dynamic history that is never simple repetition of the past. This life power, this spiritual energy should constantly be incarnated in and adapted to the times and places, to the socio-cultural contexts and the needs of people everywhere.