Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation

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Browsing Institute of Spirituality and Religious Formation by Author "Angelica Aguilar Ochoa, Paula"

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    Inculturation - Incarnation: The Challenge of Religious Life In The Third Millennium
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-03-19) Angelica Aguilar Ochoa, Paula
    Today, in our changing world, we Religious are experiencing a period of crisis and of witnessing. We are living in a time of rapid change where globalisation is taking place. Our world has been defined as a "Global village" where cultural change is greatly impacting the local culture.' Understanding culture as our way of being human in the world, as our identity, we can see the influence of a global cosmopolitan society coming to tell us how to live, to feel, to act and react... This global culture is passing through our hearts and minds and it is reflected in our behaviours. For example: we can see here in Kenya Christian youth knowing "something" about the cultural heritage of the clan/tribe they belong to, but rarely this knowledge has been integrated, reflected upon and challenged so as to have a clear stand in their behaviours and options as members of the society. Few people have been able to discern which are the cultural values2 the person has received, which are the ones that this global culture is presenting and which are the Gospel values one uses to make a choice in his/her way of living. As daughters and sons of their times they are experiencing a dualistic life standard that weakens their self-identity, sense of belonging and the all-embracing African worldview of the human person.3 Consequently, we can say that we are experiencing a state of total confusion in a society of frustration and addiction. Although in a false way, addictions supply what the real cultural values formerly provided in terms of self-identity. These changes that we are facing are taking place so fast that awareness of them seldom has room in our daily lives. They leave no space to reflect, integrate and make choices about questions like: Who am I? Who am I called to be? To whom do I belong? How to deal with so many different issues: anger, stress, 'freedom', war, hatred, the mass media, consumerism, new forms of Gnosticism, etc. This is happening not only in Africa but in other continents as well. This general situation, of course, also affects the life of the Church. The Church as a body is composed of different members who belong to different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. As in the society, we are experiencing a period of transition. self-awareness and self-emptying, such as the one of the Father who, moved by perfect love that is God's essence, was revealed in the Son, the Word. Thus, God humbled himself, taking the form of a humankind who collaborated and participated in freedom in the salvation of humankind (cf. Phil 2:6-8). It is through Mary who in total availability to God was overshadowed by the Spirit, that the Word, the Son of God, became one of us in response to the Father's love. The Incarnation, something no human being could ever have imagined, constitutes a dangerous memory6 for us, prompting us to be what we are called to be (Chapter 2). That is to know ourselves as well as the Gospel' and the charism' of our institutes, in such a way that Christ may be born once again in each one of us, in our communities and consequently in the Church and the society (Chapter 3). We are called to the integrity of a prophetic love that has as its core the Kingdom of God. As expressed in the Beatitudes which embody a spirituality of conflict so necessary and urgent in the current times (Chapter 4).