PAULINE MISSION IN THE CHURCH

According to the book of Genesis “God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; man and woman he created them” (Gen 1:27). But what does being created “in the image of God” mean? “Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of self­-knowledge, of self-­possession and of freely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons. And he is called by grace to a covenant with his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature can give in his stead.” (CCC, 357).

The lost image of God is restored in us through our Baptism. However, this image of God gets distorted every time we sin. During our lifetime we constantly strive to get back the lost image. And this is possible only through our sincere effort to grow in holiness to which every human person is called.

To be holy and to give glory to God is the purpose of our life. We do that by our praise and worship of God and by our proclamation of His greatness, and by accomplishing His will. We live our life for the One who has created us. How this is lived is up to each individual. God considers us as “His useful collaborators in spite of our limitations and misery” (AGC X, 13.1).

We have many choices before us. The Sacrament of Baptism opens to every believer the other Sacraments and other forms of consecration. Each one has to choose freely and responsibly the path suited for him in the plan of God. And this choice is nourished by the Word of God and the Sacraments (1 Jn 3:1-2; Rom 8:14-17; Gal 4:6-7). One such choice is to live the consecrated life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church defines Consecrated life as a stable form of Christian living by those faithful who feel called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way recognized by the Church. It "is characterized by the public profession of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, in a stable state of life recognized by the Church" (944). They live lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Church by the virtue of her authority has accepted and approved this particular way of life.

We, the members of the Society of St Paul are invited to be creatively faithful to the Charism of our Founder Blessed James Alberione. The Society demands the members to have an in-depth knowledge of the principal elements of our Pauline identity in the Church. We are challenged to live our consecrated apostolic life and the mission of evangelization through the communication media in the context of the socio-cultural and ecclesial changes of our times.

Paulines are called by Christ to bear witness to the Gospel and to serve the Church announcing the Good News through the means of social communication. What the Paulines aspire is to live fully the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our Master, the Way, the Truth and the Life, in the spirit of St Paul the Apostle under the protection of Mary Queen of the Apostles (cfr CD 1, 2 & 7). In doing that we use the means our Founder used: the machine, the mike, the screen as our pulpit, and the press, the cinema hall, the projection studios as our church. And in the changing times, we put into use the most modern means of communication in the culture of communication. Steps have to be taken to introduce trained laity into the field of digital communication when we lack Pauline personnel (cfr AGC X, 13.5).