"There is a variety of gifts
but always the same Spirit;
there are all sorts of service to be done,
but always the same Lord;
working in all sorts of different ways
in different people, it is the same God
who is working in all of them."

(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

Associates:
a living part of the family "Christ Our Hope"

"Each of us must be faithful
to our own vocation,
our own gift, our own identity:
each of us must be as God wishes us to be
and as the Church so acknowledges.
The associate members
are born from the roots
of the same plant, and it is a joy to witness
the growth of "new pollens", other persons
attentive to the same values,
to the same mission".

(Germana)

 The Institute's spirituality and the spirit of the "mission" are shared by our associates: Co-workers "Christ Our Hope", and Family Communities "Christ Our Hope".

Back in 1948 the Church document entitled 'Cum Santissimus' had already affirmed the possibility of having associates, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law (Canon 725) stipulated their precise profile. Our Institute as well has associated to itself other faithful who, called by God in their own state of life, undertake to pursue the evangelical life according to their own "life Project" recognized by the Institute, and to share the spirituality and "mission" of the Institute.

At present we have two branches of associates:

- Co-workers "Christ our Hope"
who undertake to respond with progressive fidelity to their personal calling in order to attain self-fulfillment in love no matter what may be their state of life: single, married, widowed, or on their own in life. They embrace the mission of the Church, seeking to be attentive in all ways to those in need in order to bring Christ to those who suffer, and thereby live the special mission of mercy, proclamation of the Gospel and hope specific to the Institute.

- Family Communities "Christ Our Hope".
United by the sacrament of matrimony and enriched by the experience of family life, mutual love and children, they strive to live their lives in the spirit of the Beatitudes in order to bear witness to Christ. In the spirit of the "mission" towards those who suffer, they seek to discover and enhance the Christian sense of the sufferings and anguish people bear in life. In particular, they undertake to be close to families afflicted by suffering or in the throes of falling apart, seeking, in Christ, to offer them support and hope in the difficulties of their life journey.
In order to live their personal calling in progressive fidelity and achieve self-fulfillment in their "life Project", the associates undertake to grow according to the Gospel, and this also with the help of those who live the same spirituality.
In addition to personal prayer and assiduous contact with the Word of God, the associates:
  • use the formation instruments of the group in order to grow in the spirituality and in the "mission";
  • seek to live in full their personal situation as a family or a couple as an opportunity for growth, in openness to others;
  • are attentive to the word of the Church, and particularly as regards social issues and suffering;
  • undertake, as Christians in their own stead or in ecclesial groups, to collaborate for the construction of a society according to the Gospel in any surroundings, group or association.

To become "associate" it is necessary to:

  • feel called by God, feel endowed with a specific gift of the Holy Spirit;
  • feel most profoundly the desire to share the spirituality of hope and undertake to live it, above all in the "mission" at the service of those who suffer;
  • embrace the "life Project" which expresses the charism and which is recognized by the Institute;
  • live in communion with the other associates and the missionaries in the common spirituality and "mission".