Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

80 ment in temporal affairs risks becoming ever more absorbing,” (VC 26). This approach refers to one of the most important evangelical inspirations and motivations present from the very beginning of monastic life. This is the embodiment in the earthly life of the longing for Christ’s second com- ing and also the reality in which “they neither marry nor are given in mar- riage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mk 12:25). Religious consecration is to remind and show how Baptism transfers man into the reality of the escha- ton , to a life of eschatological tension, where the Christian is “in the world but not of the world” (cf. Jn 17: 6-19), where “he does not have a lasting city, but is seeking the city which is to come” (cf. Heb 13:14) and where he keeps constant vigil, “for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (Mt 24:44). To close, it is worth recalling the opinion claiming that – from the point of view of the charismatic dimension – the search for a category which would contain the entire reality of consecrated life in a uniform and closed system, is being pressed too much today. Indeed, on the one hand, there is a need for a theological and canonical order, but on the other hand, it is easy to force a uniformity, to re-emphasize the meaning of the category of “consecration” in the understanding of this phenomenon which presents an incredible richness in charismatic terms. 17 This problem transpires, for example, in the handling of societies of apostolic life and new forms of evangelical life, which do not belong, strictly speaking, to institutes of con- secrated life, but which – in their charismatic dynamics –are not generally inferior to any of them. Summarizing this study, we shall say that for a proper understanding of the specificity of religious consecration, it is important to emphasize the primacy of God’s consecrating action and man’s free response to it as a to- tal dedication of his life to the service of God. Furthermore, any attempts to interpret the identity of a religious outside of the clear baptismal context should be regarded as questionable, at the very least. Theological reflection on the identity of consecrated persons is con- stantly developing. Recent events on this topic include the International Seminar Consecratio et consecratio per evangelica consilia organized in Rome in 2018 by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the subsequent supplementary convention and 17 See F. Ciardi, Una molteplicità di esperienze di vita , in: Congregazione per gli Istituti di Vita Consacrata e le Società di Vita Apostolica, Consecratio et consecratio per evangelica consilia . Atti del Seminario Internazionale. Roma 1-3 marzo 2018 , op. cit., pp. 117-129.