Creative Fidelity
Marist Moment: Creative Fidelity
Perhaps we are either surviving or thriving; coasting comfortably or pursuing passionately. We all inherit situations and circumstances, the difference is how we respond. Creatively living what we have received from our past and applying that in a new and fruitful way today is a call we are all invited to respond to.
A popular Marist Book called ‘The Age of Mary’ offers some thoughtful ideas on the Marist Way of looking at and living life.
Creative Fidelity
What do you do with a spiritual inheritance? Snijders says it is both a heritage and a trust: given to us not for ourselves alone, but for the good of the Church and the world. And he poses a bracing question — the real issue is never survival, but faithfulness. Have we put our talents to use, or buried them in the ground?
His answer is the beautiful phrase “creative fidelity.” We cannot build a future by pulling up our roots — pure creativity is an illusion. But neither can we build a future by repeating the past — in fact, there is no surer way to destroy the original meaning of a tradition than literal repetition. Words shift; the world changes; like a sailor whose horizon moves every hour, we must constantly readjust our course. “It is by interpreting that we can hear again” (Paul Ricoeur).
This is liberating for anyone exploring Marist spirituality today. You are not being asked to imitate nineteenth-century France. You are invited to take an old and tested wisdom and let it speak into your own life — your questions, your culture, your language. Snijders calls this a wager: we cannot prove in advance that the Marist way will prove life-giving. We can only enter into it, openly and prayerfully, and see where it leads. Faith has always worked that way.
Marist reflection question
What have I received — from family, parish, or people of faith — that is both a gift and a responsibility? How am I translating it, rather than just preserving it?
Marist practice
Choose one inherited practice of faith (grace before meals, a prayer, an act of service) and renew it this week in a fresh way that fits your real life now.
Marist Resources Download
This resource comes from a Marist Spirituality Series: ‘The Age of Mary’ by Jan Snijders. Click here for full reflection guide
