Founded in Poland
VATICAN CITY, 9 JUNE 2006 (ZENIT)Here is the description of the
Light-Life Movement which appears in the Directory of International
Associations of the Faithful, published by the Pontifical Council for
the Laity.
Official name: Light-Life Movement
Acronym: RSZ (Ruch Swiatlo-Zycie)
Also known as: Light and Life
Established: 1954
History: The beginnings of Light and Life go back to the 1950s when,
under the guidance of Father Franciszek Blachnicki (1921-1987) the
experience of the so-called Oases was started in the dioceses of
Katowice, in Poland, as 15-day spiritual retreats for teenagers.
Between 1963 and 1973, when Light and Life worked mainly in the field of
the religious instruction of young people, the movement further
clarified its character by making its specific field of action the
implementation of the renewal brought about by the Second Vatican
Council.
Founded on the word of God and on the liturgy, the key ideas of
Light-Life, new person, new community; new culture emerged. After the
1970s, in addition to teenagers, the movement began to organize retreats
for students, workers, priests, religious, seminarians and in particular
families, who, set up as a community, were to take the name of "domestic
Church."
On July 11, 1973, the archbishop of Krakow at the time, Karol Wojtyla,
the future Pope John Paul II, consecrated the Light-Life Movement to the
Immaculate Conception of our Lady, mother of the Church, which marked
its official foundation.
Identity: Light and Life sets out to foster growth in the faith of its
members; to build up communion through evangelizations and religious
instruction; to develop works to transform the world according to the
spirit of the Gospel; to build up the parish as a "community of
communities."
The purposes, program and pedagogical method of the movement are
expressed and defined in terms of the unity between the light shed by
God, and action: namely, the unity of known truths, and as such,
recognized, declared and acted upon.
The formation process of the members (deuterocatechumenate) is a gradual
one, beginning with an individual evangelization retreat or a basic
retreat, to lead the person to welcome Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior (New Life Oasis, level I), and to enter the group of Christ's
disciples.
The first stage of the deuterocatechumenate is based on 10 points, which
are called the "Indicators of the New Person," and prepares them for
participation in the New Life Oasis, level II.
Liturgical initiation that begins during these retreats continues in the
second stage of the course, which is significantly characterized by
participation in the Easter Triduum and by the renewal of the baptismal
covenant. The third stage
—
mystagogy
— (New Life Oasis, level III) focuses on deepening the meaning of
belonging to the people of God, helping them to discover their own place
in the Church, and to place themselves at the service of the various
diakonie.
The course also includes systematic daily work (self education), weekly
meetings in small groups led by an animator, and attending Communion
Days. The course for married couples, the purpose of which is mutual
sanctification and matrimonial unity to implement a catechumenate within
the family, is underpinned by the spirituality of the teams of Our Lady.
Organization: The Members of Light and Life form small groups, creating
communities within the parishes. The head of the movement is the g
eneral moderator.
There is also a moderator at the national, diocesan and parish levels.
Moderators perform their service with the assistance of a diakonia made
up of both members of the laity and religious.
Responsibility of the family branch is entrusted, at every level, to a
moderator together with a married couple. The officials of Light and
Life meet once a year for the N ational Consultation of Leaders, which
is a major opportunity for praying and reflecting on the tasks of the
movement, in the light of the magisterium of the Church and the signs of
the times.
Membership: There are no exact figures on the number of members of the
movement. In Poland, there are reckoned to be about 100,000. Light and
Life is present in 17 countries in Europe, North America, and South
America.
Works: Light and Life gave rise to the Crusade for the Liberation of
Man, which is a social movement to combat alcoholism and other forms of
modern slavery.
The Diakonia of liberation is particularly committed to serving
alcoholics and their families, for whom it organizes evangelization
retreats, and runs the Prevention-Training Centre at Katowice. In recent
years there has also been a service to help persons with problems of
homosexuality.
Another important initiative is the commitment to protecting unborn
children, which involves above all the Diakonia of Life, which organizes
retreats on this subject for youth and adults.
Publications: "Oaza," published every two months; " Eleuteria" and "Domowy
Kosciol," published quarterly.
Web site:
www.oaza.pl
Headquarters:
Centrum Swiatlo-Zycie
UI. Ks. Franciszka Blachnickiego 2
34-450 Kroscienko
—
Poland
Tel. (48) 18-2623235
—
Fax 18-2625641
E-mail: KopiaGorka@oaza.pl
© Copyright 2006
—
Libreria Editrice Vaticana [adapted]
ZE06060929
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