The Preferences do not call us to start doing things unheard-of before. But they do invite us to convert our ways of being apostles in whatever we do, integrating everything in a deeper vision of our service as collaborators in Christ´s mission in the world today.
1. As I begin my prayer, I ask for the Grace: of letting myself be converted by the action of the Spirit in my life.
2. I listen to Jesus addressing me now. And I desire the freedom of Paul.
This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel. (Mk 1: 15)
Brothers, I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession. Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3: 13-14)
3. With this attitude, I consider the kind of conversion the UAPs call us to.
“we experienced a strong call to personal, communal and institutional conversion. Receiving the preferences means that we initiate their implementation immediately by changing any styles of life or work that hinder the renewal of the persons, communities, and works committed to mission.”
“the preferences are an instrument for deepening the style of life-mission indicated by GC 36 when it invites us to spiritual and apostolic renewal, incorporating discernment, collaboration with others, and networking into our daily lives.”
“we understand them as orientations that go beyond “doing something” and enable us to achieve our transformation as persons, as religious communities, and as apostolic works and institutions in which we collaborate with others.”
“The universal apostolic preferences will help us to overcome every form of self-centeredness and corporatism, so that we may become authentic collaborators in the Lord's mission, which we share with so many people inside and outside the Church.”
- How is my desire for conversion? What are the strongest resistances I feel?
- What may it mean for me conversion in being more than in doing?
I consider these questions and talk about them with the Lord.
4. Following my prayer, I reread section III of Fr. General’s letter Feb. 2019 "The necessary personal, communal, and institutional conversion" (pp. 8-10), noting especially the call to: spiritual depth and intellectual depth, communal discernment and the deepening of collaboration.