Can Christian transformative spirituality and structured religion co-habit? They were predestined to be one. This oneness was instituted by Christ, the bridegroom, who proclaimed a transformative gospel message for all times, creating a community transformed by the love of God and others, a community that seeks to relate to the deeper needs and concerns of the human heart. Christ also sacrificially and lovingly chose the Church to be his bride, and endowed her to proclaim joyful message of salvation through him, the way, the truth and the life.

Yet the splendour of the marriage between the bridegroom and the bride seems to be sadly dissipating in the eyes of believers, especially the young. Church participation is minimal, sometimes becoming a routine and an obligation rather than a way of life. Some may not be open to the liberating message of the gospel, while others might be, except they do not see, or have not found in organised religion the reasoned and convincing answers to the compelling questions brought forward by the complex reality of their lives.

In our quest for liberating truth and a deeper meaning in our life, we recognise the need for a transcendent dimension to our searching. Many speak of Christian spiritual transformation that changes lives rather than outdated religious format, substance rather than form. The essence of Christ’s mission is for the bride to accompany all people, listen to their needs, desires, disappointments and despair and restore hope.

Spiritual transformation is about the movement towards authenticity, where the gift of peace grows from the rebuilding of our relationships with God, ourselves and others. More than rigid outdated structures, the Church needs to create space where new relationships can be developed by inviting all people to become part of a community of believers.

It is the Christian community that opens up the space that allows people to enter more deeply into the paschal mystery, and through the power of the Spirit, to become more and more authentically human. The Christian community helps people to discover some enduring truths about human life; the transformative power of gratuitous love, the joy of forgiveness, the liberating power of divine acceptance, the undeniable need for connection, the power of friendship and the search for meaning.

Without attention to the inner dimensions of human life, the lived experience of religion is cold and lifeless

In the words of assistant professor of theology Fr Daniel Groody, “some are baptised and catechised and engage in the sacramental life, but often these same people are formalised and wooden in their approach to prayer and worship. Still others are evangelised and energised, but poorly socialised, resulting in a lack of social concern, intellectual openness, psychological integration, or even the ability to dialogue with people who hold a perspective different than their own”.

Transformative spirituality begins in the human heart. Without attention to the inner dimensions of human life, the lived experience of religion is cold and lifeless.

The inner dimensions of loneliness, belonging, good and evil, hope and despair, peace and division, justice and injustice… such issues can only be worked in the inner depths of the human heart. Fr Groody refers to the heart as “the place where we forge the metal of what we most value, values which are the central catalysts in the process of human transformation”.

The more the Church participates in the mission of God, however, the more it becomes painfully aware of the distance between who it is and who it is called to be. The Church seeks to transform not only others through a life of teaching, preaching and service but also has to undergo a continual process of conversion that lead to its own transformation.

As ambassador of the living God, the Church is shaped by the needs, challenges and insights of its particular social context. It must continually reflect on its mission amid the signs of the times, the truth claims of other religion and the deepest longings of the human heart. It is not solely a process of re-engineering its format or organised structures, but in the words of Pope Francis, “only with the energy of the Holy Spirit can the Church find the impetus to reach out from itself and evangelise all people”.

gordon@atomserve.net

Gordon Vassallo is an accredited spiritual guide at the Centre for Ignatian Spirituality.

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