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So, from 1951 on, Fr. Lombardi found himself involved in living a spiritual experience that was fundamental to the vocation and mission to which he would dedicate his life: that of contributing to “re-making the world”. As a Jesuit, he was familiar with the “Spiritual Exercises” of St. Ignatius. Their purpose is to lead persons to discover God’s will in their lives. From that starting point and in line with his own conversion, Fr. Lombardi changed the subject or protagonist, the method and the purpose of the Exercises, giving them a communitarian meaning. The subject doing the Exercises is communitarian, the Church, community-people of God. The method is communitarian: the traditional silence is emphasised because from it comes word, communication, prayer that is shared. The scope or purpose is communitarian: to discover God’s will for humanity today, and within that and through it to discover also God’s will regarding oneself. This experience, that gave his life its meaning, was made into a text which is constantly updated and has taken the name of “Communitarian Exercises for a Better World”. It is something that involves a group, a community. It also becomes a “retreat of the Christian community”. However, it is not simply an experience lived over a period of 8-10 days but the whole spiritual dynamism that such an experience generates and demands.
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