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While this eagerness for God does not indicate an appreciation of an indwelling presence, like the other themes we have i~lready noticed it is an ideal preparation for the new dispensation and its revelation of God’s familiarity with man. 5. Delightful Rest in God Theme Man is present, intimately present, to that in which he rests. He is present, too, in a vital way to that in which he fully delights. The theme of refuge in God’s protection together with a gladness and joy in His surrounding presence is indicated in the Psalmist’s invitation addressed to all who take their refuge in the Lord that they be glad and exult in Him, for He is joy to those who love Him.100 When the Hebrew is sad, God is afar off, but when "he can come near to his Maker heis glad and joyful.101 The Lord has only to let the light of His countenance shine upon man’s soul to bring to it gladness, peace, and security::°2 This God is so good, and seemingly so dose, that man can somehow experience His sweetness: "Look to him that you may be radiant, with joy .... Taste and see how good the Lord is

happy the man who takes refuge in him:" x0a While these two statements do not speak of an indwelling, they come as close as words can to indicating God’s immediate pres.ence to man. One cannot taste what is distant from him. 4" 4- 4- REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 228 ~ Ps 41 ~ Ps 62:2-4~ ~ Ps 118:131. ~Ps 142:6. See also Ps 118:10020,81,145,174

Pry 28:5

Ezr 6:21

7:10

8:22

Ct 3:2

Wis 6:11

Is 51:1

Dn 3:41

Hos 3:5

5:15

10:12

Amos 5:4,6

Zeph 2:3

Za 8:21f. 1~0 Ps 5:12f. ~ Ps 42:2-5. ~1o~~ P Pss 43~:7:6-,99.. Even a man who has sinned grievously can regain the presence of God and enjoy his Savior: "Cast me not out from your presence, and your holy spirit take not from me. Give me back the joy of y6ur salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me." 104 We may be tempted to see an implicit recognition of the divine presence in the soul contained in the last phrase, since to sustain man’s spirit within him God must be there. Yet, while this inference is valid, we do not believe that the Psalmist was, thinking of it. The :communication between God and the soul is brought out in all of its rich personal relationships under the images of a well spread banquet, exultation, night watching, winged protection, a clinging fast: "As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied (with God), and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you. I will remember you upon my couch, and through the night-watches I will meditate on you: that you are my help, and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy. My soul clings fast to you." lo5 This delightful rest in God, this joy-full closeness to Him is to be man’s lot forever: "You~will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever." ~08 We are surely now less than a step away from the indwelling presence and its beatifying con-sequences: "The just live forever, and in the Lord is their recompense, and the thought of them is with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive the splendid Crown, the beauteous diadem, from the hand of the Lord--for he shall shelter them with his right hand." ~07 If man’s joy is in the Lord God, if he is destined to possess a life of delights in ~the divine presence, if his reward is to live in the Lord and thus have his crown for-ever, it follows that man’s heart has only one goal, one destination, one resting place. "Only in God is my soul at rest

from him comes my salvation." 10s The absoluteness of this statement is striking. Even shocking. To say in God only is man’s rest is to say that the human heart is weary and disturbed and discontent until it dwells somehow in its Creator. Nothing on earth can s.atisfy or calm it. Noth-ing. Perhaps this is why St. Paul will later admonish us to "rejoice in the Lord always," 109 and the Master Himself will say "these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." ~o In any event there is implied in these words, "only in God," an :o~ Ps 50:lM. m Ps 62:6-9. ~oo Ps 15:11. lo~ Wis 5:15f. raps 61:2. Other references to man’s delight in God may be found in Ps 103:35f

118:14-6o24,35A7,70,72,92,105

16:15. ~ Phll 4:4. mjn 15:11. 4. 4. ÷ Indwelling God VOLUME 26, 1967 Thomas Dubay, $.M. REV]EW FOR RELIGIOUS ~0 utter detachment, and so later in the Psalm comes the, logicaLadmonition: "Only in God be at rest, my soul." 111 The next development in closeness could scarcely be anything but the indwelling itself. Summary Any attempt to schematize divine freedom in revealing to a culturally rude people so sublime and mysterious a doctrine as the presence of God to man must labor under a degree of artificiality. We feel, nonetheless, that a sub-stantially accurate and a considerably helpful pattern can be provided. Looking back upon the salient steps in the divine preparation--but without any pretense of indicating a set chronology--we find that God did condition and dis-pose the minds of His people by several distinct doctrinal themes, themes that marvelously paved the way for their acceptance of the trinitarian indwelling of the new dis-pensation. These themes touched upon every important manner of divine closeness short of the Trinity’s inbeing. There was the natural omnipresence through immensity, a some-what impersonal presence common to all things that are, living and dead, rational and irrational. There was the omnipresence through omniscience, a decidedly personal matter, for it was usually spoken of in connection with God’s knowledge of man, his every step, his every thought, his every desire. Then there were the special divine pres-ences among the chosen people, in the holy city, in the Temple, on the ark of the covenant. Certain men, more-over, enjoyed a divine closeness that rather obviously was more than a spatial or local matter. They were intimates of God. Finally, we have the divine-human familiarity themes: mutual love, tender concern, sure refuge, ardent longing, delightful rest. It is obvious upon a modicum of reflection that philosophy could never have dreamed of so touching a set of God-and-man relationships, relationships so beauti-ful, so sublime, so divine that’0nly the revealing heart of God could have told of them. They bring us to the very threshold of the indwelling mystery. The stag~ is set for the Word to reveal it. (to be continued) m Ps 61:6. PAUL H1NNEBUSCH, O.P. The Signs of the Times and Epikeia "The Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel." With these words, Vatican II in-troduces the introductory statement of the Pastoral Con-stitution on the Church in the Modern World. The Church must ever be up-to-date, keenly aware of the contemporary situation, understanding the world of the here and now--its needs, its hopes, its expectations--so that in language intelligible to the contemporary men-tality, "she can respond to the perennial questions which men are asking about this present life and the life to come" (CMW, ~(4). The world of today, however, is changing so pro-foundly and with such bewildering rapidity and is be-coming so exceedingly complex that much of mankind is hopelessly confused. "Influenced by such a variety of complexities," says Vatican II, "many of our contempo-raries are kept from accurately identifying permanent val-ues and adjusting them properly to fresh discoveries. As a result, buffeted between hope and anxiety, and pressing one another with questions about the present course of events, they are burdened down with uneasiness" (CMW, ~ 4). What is the remedy for this anxiety and uneasiness, this inability accurately to identify perm~inent values? In our day, perhaps as never before, even the most sacred of values are being questioned. Even in religious life, affected by the spirit of the times, we detect much in-security and inability to distinguish the permanent from the ephemeral, the absolute from the relative. And yet, religious, as servants of the Church’s mission of salvation, should be among the leaders in the Church’s work of in-terpreting the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel and of "accurately identifying permanent values and ad-justing them to fresh discoveries." ÷ Paul Hinne-busch, O.P., writes from Rosaryville

Ponchatoula, Loui-siana 70454. VOLUME 26, 1967 REVIEW FOR RELIGXOUS To direct religious in their share in this task, the Coun-cil laid down guidelines in the Decree on Adaptation and Renewa! o~ t~eligiou~ "LiJe. This document reasserts all the permanent values of religious life which have been called into question, and gives principles for adapting them to the world today: But knowledge of basic values and of principles is not enough

much more is needed. There is a special virtue-- we might call it a crisis virtue--which forms in us right attitudes and correct procedures for dealing unerringly with swiftly changing times and situations. This crisis virtue is epikeia. Epikeia is a firm will to act according to the intentions of the lawgiver, for the common good, in those cases where following the letter of the law would harm the common good, or in those cases where the law does not adequately cover a situation. In a world which is changing with such bewildering rapidity, religious are certain to run into frequent situa-tions which are not covered by existing laws. They will discover that they are no longer equipped with a set of laws capable of directing their actions in practically any situation in which they find themselves

for a profoundly changing world has produced situations of which no: one could ever have dreamed when their existing legislation was drawn up. Nor should confused young religious too severely con-demn their elders for not adapting their life sooner to modern times. Even if their superiors had been the most alert people on earth, they still could hardly have kept abreast of the times, because the changes have taken place in the world with such explosive rapidity. The great problem therefore is: What does one do when old laws and procedures and customs are no help, but seem to be even a hindrance in a new situation? What is to be our guide while we are waiting for our laws to be revised and adapted to the times in accordance with the will of the Council? What will guarantee that we will make the right adaptations and not bungle the work of revision? And even when the revision has .been completed, how can. renewal "be encouraged in a continuing way" (ESr 19)? What will prevent legislation from again becom-ing ossified? The answer to all these problems is the virtue of epikeia. This virtue, we said, more badly needed than ever, will give us certain basic attitudes and manners of pro-ceeding in cases in which existing laws are no help. Epikeia received little attention in the oxcart days, when life was so leisurely that it changed less in the course of five centuries than it now changes in the course of five years. In those days of little change, existing laws were usually quite adequate to govern most of our actions, and so Lady Epikeia did not have too much work to do. But in our times, she will have to be one of the busiest of all virtues. Therefore we need to be introduced to her, if she has not yet been formed in our lives.. Who is this Lady Epikeia? The Greeks gave this virtue her name. Aristotle knew her well and even described her for us. Thomas Aquinas drew her portrait clearly in two articles in the Summa (2-2, q.120). Yet she is practically unknown to most of us, and the average English diction-ary does not even carry her name. Since her task is so crucial in our present crisis, her name "epikeia" ought to be granted full citizenship in our language and inscribed in the rolls of citizenship~our dictionaries. But above all, the idea expressed in this word should take its right-ful place in our moral thinking, so that we may carefully cultivate the virtue it signifies. She is already slightly known in English as "equity," but this word carries many legalistic connotations. That is why we suggest that we take over officially her Greek name, "epikeia." What then is epikeia, and how do we acquire it and exercise it? Epil~e. ia" s .Family In the kingdom of the virtues, ruled by Queen Charity, Lady Epikeia belongs to the noble family of justice. Her name, however, seems at first sight to deny these family ties, for it is made up of two Greek words which mean, "above what is just." Does she belong, then, to a more noble family than justice? No, her name merely means that she is an elder sister of legal justice. "Epikeia does not set aside what is just in itself, but that which is just as by law established" (Summa, 2-2, q.120, a.1, ad 1). Legal justice acts according to law, epikeia acts when the law is inadequate in achieving justice in a particular situation. When many human beings live and work together, their relationships need to be regulated by law, which directs all their actions in an orderly way to the common good. Anyone who truly loves his fellowmen loves the common good

and consequently, in charity he willingly follows the direction of law in achieving that common good. Legal justice, the virtue which prompts one to live willingly according to law in order to achieve the common good, is therefore an expression of charity. But laws regulate human actions, and since human actions are contingent upon circumstances and no two situations are ever quite alike, human actions are innumer-able in their diversity. Therefore, it is not possible to lay down rules of law which apply in every single case. Legisla-tors in framing laws attend to what commonly happens. For though it is true that each situation is unique in some √∑ √∑ VOLUME 26, 3.967 + √∑ √∑ Paul Hinnebusch, O.P. REV1EWFOR RELIGIOUS details, it is true on the other hand that varying situations do have a great deal in common, and so workable laws can be made to direct human actions to the good of the whole community. Ordinarily, therefore, human actions according to law bring order and justice into human re-lationships. When Epil~eia Works But now and then there are unusual situations in which action according to the letter of the law would defeat the intention or spirit of the law and harm the common good which the law intends to establish. "For example, the law requires deposits to be restored, because in the majority of cases this is just. Yet it happens to be injurious some-times

for instance, if a madman were to put his sword in deposit, and demand its delivery while in a state of mad-ness, or if a man were to seek the return of his deposit in order to fight against his country. In these and like cases, it is bad to follow the law, and it is. good to set aside the letter of the law and to follow the dictates of justice and the common good. This is the task of epikeia, which we call equity" (ibid., a.1). It is clear, then, that in all ordinary cases, the virtue of legal justice, inspiring human action according to the law, guarantees the justice required for the common good. But epikeia, the sister of legal justice, takes over in extraor-dinary cases, where the law defeats its own purpose or is an inadequate guide because it did not foresee certain situations. In our unsettled, rapidly changing times, the extraor-dinary cases---those in which the law is inadequate-- have become much more frequent, and therefore epikeia will have to work overtime until laws have been revised to take care of all the new kinds of situations which now arise. It is very important, then, that we become better acquainted and more intimate with this virtue. She works, we said, only in the situations where the letter of the law is inadequate. Epil~eia" s First Characteristic Exactly how does epikeia work? When a particular law does not cover a situation, epikeia acts according to a higher principle, namely, the intention of the lawgiver. She considers carefully what goals the lawmaker had in mind in making the laws

then she wisely plans her action in this situation in such a way that she will effectively achieve these same goals, fulfilling the purpose of the law without the help of law. For example, when Lady Epikeia is a Dominican and finds herself in a new situation where her Dominican constitutions or customs have no law covering the cast,., then she must ask herself, or the superiors whom she should consult if possible should ask themselves, how would our father and lawgiver St. Dominic act in this case? Epikeia, whether of the superior or of the subject, can answer this question only if she is very intimately and lovingly acquainted with St. Dominic and his spirit and ideals and the specific goals which, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he has set for the order. Such loving knowledge is an indispensable part of Dominican epikeia. This is why Vatican II in its decree on religious life lays down as a basic principle of adaptation the necessity of maintaining the specific spirit and goals of each re-ligious congregation. Revision of laws will be prudent and correct only to the extent that the revised laws effec-tively embody the spirit and achieve the goals of the founder in the contemporary situation. Or again, this is why the Council devoted so large a part of the decree on religious life to reasserting the permanent values of religious life, listing, for example, in paragraph five what all religious institutes have in common. In giving the evangelical counsels, Christ the Lawgiver set these changeless goals for religious, and the Church made them more explicit in legislating practical ways of living them, intending that they be achieved in the specific way outlined by each religious founder. Epikeia in making adaptations to changing times must ardently love these goals and intentions of Christ and the original lawgivers and find effective ways of achieving them in modern situations. Christian epikeia, then, re-quires that one have what St. Paul calls "the mind of Christ" (1 Cot 2:16), and this is possible only if one has the Holy Spirit of Christ. We shall return to this idea. The first characteristic of epikeia, then, is a sincere will to fulfill the intentions of the lawgiver, inspired by a great love of the well-being of the community and of the Church. The religious lawgiver always intends the com-mon good of the community and of the Church. Epikeia Respects Legal Justice In admiring the beauty of epikeia, we must beware of slighting her sister, legal justice. Epikeia, we said, is often a crisis virtue. But when, with her help, laws have been revised to fit the new times, then legal justice will take over again, achieving the common good intended by the lawgiver by inspiring action according to the new laws. Let us examine more closely the sisterly relationship o[ these two virtues, lest we ever succumb to the temptation to pretend we are exercising epikeia, when in reality we are trying to get out of fulfilling the letter of the law which ought to be fulfilled in legal justice. "Epikeia," we said, means "above the just," the just as VOLUME 26, 1967 4. Paul Hinnebusch, .O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS prescribed by law. It would seem, then, at first sight that epikeia gives greater freedom than her sister legal justice who always lives ’according to the law. But this is not so

legal justice is every bit as free as epikeia. Legal justice is not the slave known as legalism. Legalism is a vice mas-querading as the virtue legal justice. True legal justice is free, for she is ever inspired by love, love of the common good of the community, into which she brings peace and order with the help of law. In her .ardent,love for the common good, legal justicei is just like her sister epikeia, They are true sisters in-deed, very much of one mind and one heart. They are social vir(ues, very community-minded, working for the common good, though in differing ways. That is why they are such ideal handmaids 6f Queen Charity. Charity in her love of all mankind knows that she must foster the good of all, and this good can be achieved only with thei help of justice, in the harmony of a well-ordered com-munity. Legal justice, inspired by charity in living ac-cording to the law, ordinarily does a beautiful job in. maintaining the just order, in which alone community love can thrive. Epikeia, we said, works for exactly, the same goal, though in different circumstances. When the letter of the law defeats its own purpose, we said, epikeia acts according to the true spirit of the law by fulfilling the intentions of the lawgiyer. But legal jugtice also acts’ according to the spirit ofl the law in carrying out the letter. For she is not legalism, who sometimes carries out the letter contrary to the spirit. "Without doubt he transgresses the law ’who by adhering’ to the letter of the law strives to defea( the intention of the lawgiv~r"*($urnrna, 2-2, q.120, a.1, ad 1). An example of this would be the religious who insists on his rights prescribed by law, even though the apostolate suffers. ~ Action according to the letter of the law is virtuous only when~ Such action fulfills the intention and the spirit’ of the lawgiver. But most of the time the lettdr Of the ’law adequately manifests this intention of the lawgiver and therefore the letter can be ftilfilled in the spirit. When a law adeqdately covers a situation and effectively leads to the common good intended by the lawmaker,th~n the in- .tention and the spirit of the law is best achieved precisely in carrying out the letter. This is the role of legal justice and is rio place’ for epikeia. Epikeia must never be pre-tended as an excuse to escape the letter of the law when the letter ought to be observed, and especially, when law-ful authority insists upon the letter. Sinc6, then, legal justice is truly a virtue and not a masqudrader, she ever acts in the true spirit, and pre-cisely by carrying out the letter. For love--love.of the common good--transforms observance of the letter ofthe law from mere legalism into a beautiful virtue, legal justice, handmaid and expression of charity. Only in those cases where the letter of the law clearly defeats the intention of the lawgiver does legal justice step aside so that her sister epikeia may find a course of action in full accord with the intention of the lawgiver. Epikeia Is Not Vitiated by Selfishness Although a sincere love of the intention of the law-giver is an essential characteristic of epikeia, this in it-self is not enough for her perfection. One needs in addi-tion a mature unselfishness, lest one claim to be using epikeia when in reality one is only seeking an excuse for ignoring a law which hinders one’s selfish goals. Both Saints Peter and Paul warn against using freedom from the law as a cloak for malice (1 Pt 2:16

Gal 5:13). A per-son can tell himself he is seeking the common good in justice inspired by charity. But the selfishness Still in him may lead him to misinterpret his mere personal advantage as though it were for the common good of all. We see, then, the danger of too easily claiming that a law does not apply in a case and pretending to be practic-ing epikeia in acting apart from the law. One of the great blessings of law is the fact that it points out the paths which save us from mere self-seeking

a willing con-formity to law mortifies one’s selfish tendencies. It is obvious, then, that one needs a rather high degree of all the moral virtues before he can safely exercise epikeia entirely on his own. Ordinarily, because of the danger of selfishness creeping in, one should take counsel with wiser heads than his own, and the normal person with whom to take this counsel is the superior, the one who has the care of the common good. Epikeia is not a substitute for true obedience

epikeia cannot act contrary to the expressed will of a superior unless one has solid evidence that the command of the superior is sinful. We hear only too frequently these days of religious masquerading their disobedience as though it were epikeia, claiming that their conscience tells them they must not obey in this situation, or that this or that constitution does not apply here and now. Obedience too belongs to the justice family, and has good sisterly relations with epikeia. Together they are concerned about the common good intended by the law-giver, which is also the concern of all right exercise of authority. Since ordinarily the intention of the lawgiver finds its best expression in the law and in government according to the law, conscience must ordinarily form it-self according to law and authority, and an appeal to conscience in countering these can proceed only from a genuine epikeia with an absolutely sincere love of the in-√∑ √∑ VOLUME 26, 1967 tention of the lawgiver, unvitiated by pride or sensuality of any kind. "You have been called to liberty, brethren," says St. Paul

"only do not use liberty as an occasion for sensuality, but by charity serve one another" (Gal 5:13). Epikeia and the Holy Spirit Epikeia, finally but most importantly, is attentive not only to the intention of human lawgivers, but above all seeks ever the intentions of the divine Lawgiver. One’s epikeia is not Christian unless one acts according to what St. Paul calls "the mind of Christ." Only a few lines be-fore, the Apostle had called such a one a "spiritual man," contrasting him with what he calls "the natural man, who does not grasp the secrets of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him" (1 Cot 2:14). The spiritual man is he who is led by the Holy Spirit to a penetration of the divine purposes in our regard. "No one comprehends the secret things of God except the Spirit of God. But we. have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit proceeding from God" (I Cor 2:11-2). Only under the living guidance of the Holy Spirit can. we accurately scrutinize the signs of the times and inter-pret them in the light of the Gospel. For although in the Bible God has revealed to us the Good News and the overall plan of salvation, the details of the continuing working out of salvation until the end of time are still in large measure hidden and are being unfolded to us only gradually. One of the chief ways in which God manifests the directions in which He is leading his people is that of the "signs of the times" (Mr 6:13). "The signs of the times" in the biblical sense of the term are the current events of history in which God is giving signs of whither he is leading His people. Vatican II declares: The People of God believes that it is led by the Lord’s Spirit, who fills the earth. Motivated by this faith, it labors to decipher authentic signs of God’s presence and purpose in the happenings, needs and desires in which this People has a part’ along with the other men of our age. For faith throws a new light on everything, manifests God’s design for man’s total vocation, and thus directs the mind to solutions which are fully human (CMW, ~ 11). ÷ ÷ ÷ Paul Hinnebusch, O.P. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS 238 Ours, then, is a living God, ever active in His universe, ever Lord of history, even in these bewildering times in which so many of our contemporaries can no longer dis: tinguish permanent values. Just as the Spirit of Yahweh moved over primeval chaos and brought order into it, so the Holy Spirit who has been breathed upon us by Christ is renewing the face of the earth, accomplishing the purposes of divine love. Just as in the Babylonian exile God was fashioning the holy remnant into a spirit- ual Israel according to His own heart, so in the trials of our times He is purifying a people acceptable to Him. Christian epikeia must ever be attentive to discern these workings of God in the seeming chaos where old patterns of law and custom do not seem to work. But only those who have "the mind of Christ" can discern these things. One does not have Christian epikeia to the extent that he does not have "the mind of Christ," and he does not have the mind of Christ to the extent that the work-ings of the Holy Spirit are hampered in him by disorderly emotion, willful ignorance, pride, bad will. One who does not consistently practice Christian mortification in these areas can hardly be a master in epikeia, for he is not open to the mind of Christ, the divine Lawgiver. Thus we have a supremely important characteristic of Christian epikeia: its attentiveness to the eternal Law-giver and Ruler of the universe, Christ the Lord. He rules us by His Holy Spirit, whose grace is the new law: "I will make a new covenant... I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts... I will put my Spirit within you and make you liveby my statutes" (Jer 31:31f

Ez 36:260. Christian epikeia is humble and won-derfully docile to the Holy Spirit

and we mean docility in the strong and vigorous sense manifest in the etymology of the word. The term docility derives from "docere," to teach. Docility is the virtue of one who is learning well

it is the active cooperation of a student with the teacher

it is alert receptiveness to enlightenment. Christian epikeia is ever awake to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, ever consulting the eternal Lawgiver and Ruler who "reacheth from end to end mightily and ordereth all things sweetly" (Wis 8:1), and receiving His gift of counsel whenever reason and even the light of faith are insufficient in charting a course where law is an inadequate gafide. The surest guarantee that we will ever be open to this divine light is sincere fidelity to conscience, seeking, like Christ, to do always the things that please the Father. We can please Him, however, only by working within the framework He has established for us

and this He has revealed to us in the word of revelation. This word is made alive and relevant for us only "under the action of the Holy Spirit" (Constitution on Divine Revelation, ~I0). The word of God is found in its fullness in sacred tradition, Sacred Scripture and the living teaching authority of the Church, which "are so linked and joined together that one cannot stand without the others, and all together and each in its own way under the ac-tion of the one Holy Spirit contributes effectively to the salvation of souls" (DR, ~ 10). "Thus God who spoke of old t~ninterruptedly converses with the bride o~ his be-√∑ 4. VOLUME 26, 1967 ~9 Pau! H~nnebmch, 0~. REVIEW FOR RELiGiOUS 240 loved Son...Through the Holy Spirit... the living voice of the Gospel resounds in the Church" (DR, ~ 8). i It is clear, then, that the. interpretation of the signs of the times in the light of the gospel is impo.ssible except under the action of the Holy Spirit, to whom all who claim to be exercising epikeia must be closely attentive. And since the full gospel light, the fullness of the word, is. in tradition and in the teaching authority as one with the Sacred Scriptures, we see why Vatican II insists, in the Decree on Religious, that "the adaptation and renewal of religious life includes the constant return to the sources of all Christian life" (RL,

~ 2). "Drawing therefore upon the authentic sources of Christian spirituality, mem-bers of religious communities should resolutely cultivate both the spirit and practice of prayer" (RL, ~ 6). In prayer ’we become alive to the Holy Spirit, who shows us in the authentic sources the light of the Gospel as it bears on present trends. Only in the light of the Gospel in the Church’s ever-continuing tradition can we rightly interpret the present and extrapolate into the future, prudently revising our laws to meet what is ahead. For God’s plan is one, unified, and the signs of the present times can be fully understood only in the light of what God has done in times past, for it is all the un-folding of one consistent work of salvation. I[ we religious are to make our contribution to the Church’s work of helping the world solve its problems according to God’s will for a better world, then under the action of the Holy Spirit, we must search into the sacred tradition and the present teaching of the Church--"the treasury out of which the Church continually brings forth new things that are in harmony with the things that are old" (RF, ~ 1). But at the same time, we must study the signs of the times. The Decree on Adaptation and Renewal of Religious Life says: Institutes sh’ould promote among their members an ade- .quate knowledge of the social conditions of the times they live ~n, and of the needs of the Church. In such a way, judging current events wisely in "the light of faith, and burning with apostolic zeal, they may