I would like to thank you for inviting me to address this gathering of the Christian Life Community. I am very happy to be here with you. It is a privilege and honour. And it is fitting that today is the Feast of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus and the inspiration for the CLC. I have been asked to talk about: "The common Ignatian heritage of the CLC and the Society, and the possibilities of collaboration."

It seems to me that there are two topics in this request: (1) common Ignatian heritage and (2) collaboration. Let me say a few words about each one.

The first topic is our common Ignatian heritage. As all of you know, the Christian Life Community and the Society of Jesus are very closely linked. The seeds of CLC were sown in

the time of St. Ignatius almost 450 years ago. Originally it began as a movement with special devotion to Our Lady, called Marian congregations. These congregations gradually developed and evolved. Over the years they took different forms and shapes.

They eventually became known as Sodalities of Our Blessed Lady, and the orientation was Marian devotion with things like praying the rosary and saying the litanies of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then in 1967 there was a desire to return to the founding inspiration of the sodalities.

This inspiration is Ignatian spirituality. This return coincided with a movement within the Society of Jesus, a movement to go back and rediscover our spiritual sources, the inspiration of St. Ignatius.

It would take countless pages to adequately expound the spirituality of St. Ignatius, but briefly in summary form let me say that St. Ignatius was a man on fire with love of God and Jesus Christ. This made his prayer mystical.

But his mystical prayer was not lived for and in itself. It was lived for the greater service of God and for the greater service of the Church. In other words he was a contemplative in action. This is the heritage of the CLC and of the Society of Jesus: being a contemplative in action.

What St. Ignatius wants for each one of us is to be a contemplative in action. This translates for each one of us into two elements: contemplation, action. There must be a contemplative element in our lives. This means we must be people of prayer - regular personal prayer, on a daily basis. It is only through our prayer that we can develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We become rooted in our love for him. We must be on fire with love of God and with love of Jesus Christ. This is the reason we must be contemplatives.

We must also be people of action. Our prayer life is not something private and personal, not meant for ourselves alone. Our prayer is not a private affair between God and me. Our prayer must result in some type of action, not any aimless action, but action that is for the service of the Church and for the service of the human community.

We are to be people with and for others, especially the needy, the under-privileged, the oppressed, the poor. This means that we must constantly strive to promote justice and the option for the poor. These are basic gospel values and Ignatian values. Our prayer life must result in some social outreach - trying to help the less privileged both by doing charitable work and also by trying to change the unjust structures of society. We need to work for justice so that the world is a better place to live.

Therefore, our common heritage is the Ignatian ideal of being contemplatives in action - to be people of prayer and of action.

The second topic of your request is collaboration. In the Society of Jesus, General Congregations are the legislative bodies of the Jesuits. These

General Congregations make the laws and set the direction of the Society of Jesus for the future. In 1995 the 34th General Congregation was held in Rome. One of the documents of that Congregation is titled: Co-operation with Laity in Mission. In other words: collaboration.

This document has the radical vision that the next millennium will be the millennium of the laity. (GC34, D13, no. 1) What does this mean? Over the past centuries the Church has been dominated by clerics: by priests, brothers, and sisters.

They took upon themselves responsibility for everything: for knowledge, for information, for resources, for control, for power. Unfortunately in certain situations they dictated and even oppressed. They took upon themselves the roles of the leaders and the providers. The sources of all know-how, the final word on any and every issue.

In the past few decades that has changed, especially because of Vatican II. It finally dawned on everyone that just because a person is ordained a priest, or took vows as a sister or brother, that did not make that person an

expert in all things. Yes, they may have training providing them with certain information and know-how, but there are a lot of gaps in that information and training. And perhaps the laity can help fill those gaps.

The clerics and religious need not feel defensive about these gaps nor should they feel a threat that they will lose their position and that the laity will take over their power and control. A co-operative effort is now encouraged so that even more good may be effected. In collaboration with the laity, we Jesuits can fill those gaps and provide for a better future for our communities, our Church, our world.

Since the early 1960's the laity have been given more voice and more responsibility in the running and direction of the Church. The laity is playing a more prominent leadership role in the Church. They are no longer just followers.

However, Decree 13 of the 34th General Congregation goes beyond that. If we read the document carefully, we will see that it says that we Jesuits should collaborate with the laity in their mission. (Nos. 5 & 7) It doesn't say in our mission. This means that we Jesuits don't ask the laity to come along and help us in our work, but rather we Jesuits have to be open to be asked to help the laity in their work, in their mission. As you can see, this is a big shift in emphasis!

It seems to me that there are two consequences of this shift in emphasis. Unfortunately some Jesuits still have the "Big Bwana" mentality where they dictate and control. They want to keep all power in their own hands. So the first consequence is that there is a need for a change of heart in the Jesuits so that they look on their work with laity as partners, not as controllers.

The second consequence is that the laity can no longer be passive. They cannot shift all the responsibility to the Jesuits in Church matters. The initiative is no longer necessarily in the hands of the Jesuits.

The leadership is no longer necessarily in the hands of the Jesuits. The responsibility is no longer necessarily in the hands of the Jesuits. It is saying that the laity has the ability to take the initiative, to be the leaders, to be responsible for the mission of the Church.

This is a serious task, a heavy responsibility, a big challenge for the laity. But that same document of the 34th General Congregation says that we Jesuits will help the laity in this endeavour. They are not left to do it alone. The Congregation suggests concrete ways that the Jesuits will help prepare the laity for their mission. The following are the suggested concrete ways:

• We Jesuits can offer help by sharing with the laity our spirituality, the spirituality of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. It is through the Spiritual Exercise where we Jesuits and laity find our inspiration and motivation.

Together on an equal footing, Jesuits and laity can move forward, and in mission together help create God's kingdom here on earth.

How can this collaboration be realised more effectively here in Zambia? Let me offer two suggestions.

1. Perhaps we Jesuits can establish a Commission for the Lay Apostolate. A commission with 3 or 4 lay people with 3 or 4 Jesuits. This commission would be a way of keeping open dialogue between Jesuits and laity, including laity in other Ignatian movements besides CLC.

This commission can make suggestions to the provincial about ways of helping the laity become formed in Ignatian spirituality and Ignatian ways of proceeding. It can suggest ways that the laity and Jesuits can collaborate more effectively. It can suggest ways of integrating lay presence in Jesuit works and Jesuit presence in lay works. I would advise you to petition the next provincial to set up such a commission.

2. The second suggestion is something that is being seriously considered by us Jesuits. We Jesuits will soon initiate a feasibility study on the possibility of establishing a Centre of Ignatian Spirituality. This centre would have as one of its main purposes the training of lay people in Ignatian spirituality and retreat giving.

This would include theology, spirituality and methods of directing people's spiritual lives. In this way we Jesuits would be sharing our Ignatian heritage and spirituality. When a feasibility study is being done, I would advise you to make your contributions. Make sure that the voice of the laity is heard in the planning. Make sure that the centre makes provisions for integrally involving laity.

During this talk, hopefully, I have been able to offer you some information about our common heritage in St. Ignatius. And hopefully I have provoked some thought that will challenge you to think and act in a collaborative way as laity in the Christian Life Communities.

Thank you very much, and on this Feast Day of St. Ignatius may God bless each one of you.