Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance (Trappists)
THE UTOPIA OF THE CISTERCIAN FAMILY
(Homily for the 3rd centenary of the death of Abbot de Rancé, 27 Oct. 2000)
Texte en français
Texto en españolToday we celebrate the centenary of the death of a Cistercian monk, Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de Rancé. He was a brother of ours who knew how to discern the kairos or "God’s time" within the chronological period of his own lifetime. The Gospel just proclaimed speaks precisely of that. Jesus’ contemporaries were incapable of discerning the signs of God’s Kingdom in the person and actions of Jesus. On the other hand, they were quite capable of reading the weather according to the atmospheric conditions of the sky. Yet this was of no use for understanding the present time or kairos as the opportune moment for a life decision. The time for ultimate decisions had arrived, and Jesus therefore invited his listeners to be reconciled before it was too late (Lk 12:54-59).
The expression, signs of the times, has become very familiar to us in recent years. These signs, which must be detected and discerned, are above all events and facts that characterize a particular period of time. They reveal human aspirations, needs and concerns withing a given epoch. More concretely, these signs point to deep and irreversible realities, things that many people notice and which give reason to hope for better times.
The Church, guided by its pastors and attentive to the skies of our world, have discerned many signs in recent years: the promotion of work, the active presence of women in public life, the emancipation of peoples, the search for the truth as reflected within the conscience, the thirst for authenticity, the means of communication, the recognition of the cultural identity of younger peoples, openness to the international community on the part of individual nations... In many of these signs of the times, it has discerned signs of God’s saving will, of his fatherly and merciful providence, signs of the presence of the Kingdom. The signs of God are embodied in the signs of the times even though the two are not always completely identical.
Nor are signs of the times and signs of God lacking in the ecclesial skies: the increasing catholicity of the Church, the active participation of the laity in evangelization, inculturation of the Gospel, ecumenism, interreligious dialogue... Moreover, if we open wide our eyes of faith, if we let ourselves be led by that wisdom that transcends all knowledge, we also find many divine signs in the monastic sky of Cîteaux. Let us focus our attention on one of these signs of God: the Cistercian Family.
A little over a century ago, the single Cistercian Order was turned into a Cistercian Family which at first consisted of two separate Orders according to their respective monastic observances. Recently, Pope John Paul II used this expression once again on the occasion of the ninth centenary of the founding of Cîteaux. The Pope invited the "great Cistercian Family" to return to the sources of the founders’ charism. From that moment forward, the name "Cistercian Family" has broadened its boundaries to include all communities that have their origins in Cîteaux above and beyond whatever juridical relationships they might have.
For this reason, the communion we long and hope for today is not based on juridical unity or uniformity of observance but rather on adherence to the Cistercian charism, with an appreciation for the plurality of authentic forms that embody this charism. If our Fathers described their undertaking in the expression e pluribus unum, we recognize our ideal of a Family in the phrase unum in pluribus. This is how we can become "experts of communion, witnesses and architects of the plan for unity which is the crowning point of human history in God's design." Only in this way will be able to present ourselves as "signs that dialogue is always possible and that communion can bring differences into harmony" (Vita Consecrata, 46 and 51).
On the 8th of September of this year the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order promulgated a message addressed to all members of the Order on "Communion in the Cistercian Family." All members of the Family could certainly endorse the concluding paragraph of this message: "If we sincerely accept the fundamental concepts here presented by the General Chapter, and if we are attentive to the signs of our times which encourage us to promote communion in the Cistercian Family, we can hope and trust that the word of the Holy Thursday Mandatum liturgy will apply also to us: "where there is true love, God is present."
These words were sealed with a fraternal sign of peace, mutual pardon and reconciliation between the two Abbot Generals representing their respective Orders.
Immediately after this I offered a proposition for the discernment of the Chapter, a practical suggestion that would allow us to translate our good intentions into common efforts, i.e. to establish a Collaborative Body made up of one member from each group of the Cistercian Family. The principle aims of such a body would be:
a. to stimulate whatever might help deepen our understanding of Cistercian spirituality.b. to further Cistercian fraternity among the various members of the Family.
c. to suggest ways of collaborating in the area of formation.
d. to promote discernment of our monastic conversatio in the face of the challenges of today’s world.
e. to help evaluate the experience of the inculturation of the Cistercian charism in various cultures and sub-cultures.
Some might think that this is all rather utopian. Of course it’s a utopia, and in the best sense of the word! Utopias condense our hopes in the manner of a spring and give us an impulse towards the future. Only in this way can something new germinate, only in this way do we have a taste for living. What is needed is not a new reform, which has to do with structures and laws, but rather we need to renew ourselves, convert, seek another way of being and acting. Without wanting to scandalize anyone, it might be said that we need to put a little disorder in the Order as it is at present with its boundaries of prejudices and fears, in order to make way for real life which pushes us upward, forward and toward communion.
Once the "politicians" of our Orders and Congregations come to an agreement and are willing to take the risk of something new and unknown, the jurists will come along, if need be, to establish whatever needs to be institutionalized. Be that as it may, effective fraternal relations are of much greater urgency and importance than institutionalized organization.
Let us ask our brother Armand-Jean to help us put into action the signs of the times we have discerned, and to be extremists, as he was, when it comes to God’s cause. Amen.
Bernardo Olivera
Abbot General