As the annual celebration of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus approaches, I offer this short and beautiful passage from one of the prayers of the Church’s liturgy:
Never did you turn away from us, and, though time and again we have broken your covenant, you have bound the human family to yourself through Jesus your Son, our Redeemer, with a new bond of love so tight that it can never be undone. Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation I
This bond of love so tight that it can never be undone, is truly fundamental: it offers a solid foundation that precedes our coming into the world; it opens up a horizon of hope because we know that we are always loved; it commits us today to act in the concrete circumstances of life, as a human response (always fallible and on a journey).
In this sense, what is the scout promise? It is obviously a human word and a gesture that expresses a deep confidence in our freedom – always progressive and according to the capacities of each age and each person: I can decide to promise! But at the same time, it is a response to the promise of fidelity of God himself. As Saint Paul would say, ‘nothing can separate us from the love of Christ’ (Romans 8:39). That is why the scout makes his promise because he feels promised, loved.
I am convinced that this is the main characteristic of Catholic scouting: it offers a concrete experience that I can promise because I am based on God’s promise. A scout pedagogy that takes the spiritual and religious dimension seriously must of course have moments of prayer and liturgies, but above all it must make visible, through games, life in the patrol, activity in nature, this founding promise of God, ‘that nothing can undo it’