North American Diaconia

An Adventure at the
Start of Each Day
More than 50 CL responsibles gathered with Frs. Julián Carrón and José Medina for the annual Diaconia. Like a breath of fresh air in a cultural climate of solitary ambitions and apathy, the attendees were invited to recognize the One who causes real life to “explode.” One of them tells here how every aspect of life is now engaged in this “problem of knowledge.”

by Juliet Joly

I was very happy to attend this year’s National Diaconia, a one-day meeting of the leaders of Communion and Liberation from all over the United States and Canada, which took place at the national offices of CL in downtown Manhattan starting Thursday evening, January 17th, and concluding in the late afternoon of Friday, January 18th. Fr. José Medina, head of CL-USA, and Fr. Julián Carrón, international President of Communion and Liberation, guided the conversations. 
A few things really struck me in those days. First was the fact that 50 to 60 leaders of the CL Movement took off at least one day of work to attend. Our gathering consisted of Masses and meals together, and moments of reflection and conversation about what we see happening in our lives, and how we see these events supporting those others in our respective CL communities around the country. The mere fact that all of these friends were present was a clear sign that this meeting carried a great significance in our lives, to the point of sacrificing a day or more of work. For what is worth making such a sacrifice of time and money?
Another fact that struck me was the insistence by Frs. José and Julián on our looking at our experiences, the events of our lives. They insisted that we look at what has happened to us, and how we have confronted challenges, to detect signs of Christ’s preference for us and His presence among us. Their constant insistence was impressive because it reminded us with urgency that Christianity gives flesh to our faith, making it real and tangible.

A great weight. Out of love for us Americans, both Frs. José and Julián have been meticulously examining the causes of our apathy in front of life, and our willful preoccupations with what tiny things we build and create in this great world we dwell in for a short time. They insisted that, as modern people, our default way of living is not one of drama–the good kind of drama from which our deepest questions emerge. We do not perceive that every little thing we see, hear, touch, and create carries a great weight. We often choose loneliness because we think our happiness lies in our “independence,” our “freedom,” which is really our isolation from others. Fr. José pointed out the research of NYU’s Professor Eric Klinenberg, who found that one in seven American adults live alone. This is why the most beautiful–though sadly also the most tragic–moments of our humanity are when great disasters happen that force us to remember our fellow men and our hearts’ impulse for communion, such as events like the Boston Marathon bombings, school shootings, and natural disasters like the typhoon in the Philippines. But we quickly go back to a position in which we don’t feel the impact reality has on us. We discussed how, sometimes, our friends whom we invite to our Schools of Community do not perceive that our lives carry a great dramatic tension. Sometimes they cannot perceive that our living truly, in accordance with the radically beautiful part of the Church we have encountered through the reality of CL, really depends on how seriously we examine the effects of our presence in the world and offer this as a point of education to our friends at School of Community.

With our eyes wide open.  Both priests challenged us with the question, “So, how can one live?” They invited us to recognize that to learn how to live we must know what happened to us, and thus we engage in a “problem of knowledge.” I understood this to mean we must become fully human in our awareness of what has happened to us, this fact that Christ has taken hold of us and changed us down to the very depths of our awareness, thinking, decisions, and passions. Thus, our challenge is to simply continue living, and to continue recognizing, understanding, and therefore knowing the One who is truly making our lives beautiful and different, which is possible only when we live with a prayer, with our eyes wide open in order to witness the impact Christ has on our circumstances. Our challenge lies not in what we make or create, although we tend to think the problem lies there: Am I doing the right thing? Instead, our real challenge is simply accepting an invitation to love. That is, being in love with Christ present in our lives, we are simply called to allow our lives to happen to us, “keeping our eyes attentive to the signs of His presence.” It is not a formula; this openness to His presence makes reality look different, the way it does for Fr. Julián and Fr. José, and those others in our lives whose witness to Christ’s love remains a provocation for us. 
Later, the adventure begins when our actions, all these things we “do”–in the things we study, the ideas we implement at work, the cooking and cleaning for our families, the papers we write–become opportunities to engage with His presence, instead of products of our own work for personal glory. Which is a more beautiful, true way of living the same circumstances?
So even “organizational concerns” are no longer administrative, but are part of this personal journey of falling more in love with Christ present. For example, one important reality Fr. José shared with us is the need for all members of the Fraternity, as well as those attending School of Community, to take seriously the proposal to participate in the Common Fund. Fr. José insisted that participation in the Common Fund is a point of real education in our lives. What does it mean that being asked for money can educate us? We must ask ourselves a question we asked at recent vacations and exercises: What do we hold most dear?
I was particularly moved by this conversation on the Common Fund because, for me, money is something that I perceive to be an extension of myself. I tend to be frugal because the more money I lack, the more I think I lose myself. But when do I feel most myself, and has money ever offered me knowledge and fulfillment? I realized how false my position was when, completely to the contrary, Fr. José pointed out that we must be educated to recognize the value we ascribe to our money, as Jesus reminded the Pharisees in the Gospels. Are we willing to give something so precious to us as our money for this human reality where Christ dwells? If not for the growth of the Kingdom of God on Earth, we might donate on one extreme out of a sort of philanthropy or, on the other, out of duty. But, as Fr. Carrón kept insisting with us, when we are in love, our entire perspective facing every question and problem is viewed with the eyes of one in love. That is, our love for Christ and all we have been given can begin to move us to view our money differently.
If Christ really is the One whom I encounter, our attitude toward money changes, our urgency to engage in the work of the School of Community grows, and our desire to work well and live fully explodes. Let us help one another remember that Christ is the reason for our living and being together.