Marian Solidarity

a meditation by Brother Alois

Twenty-four years ago, in February 1986, here in Manila there was a celebration of newfound freedom, a time of great joy that remains in the memory of your people and that is not forgotten elsewhere across the world, either. Our first meeting in Manila, in February 1991, was marked by this.

It was a time of enthusiasm; now we are instead in a time of decision and perseverance.

Today, are we thinking enough about the meaning of freedom? Freedom means being able to choose where to set our priorities. Freedom means not giving in to negative tendencies in ourselves. Freedom also enables us to fight against poverty, against the structures of injustice in our societies.

Freedom also means being able to express our faith. During our visit to China, several people told us about the suffering that their parents or grandparents endured for the faith. Let us keep those Chinese Christians in our prayers.

This evening I would like to say a special word to the young people of the Philippines. In your country, the Christian faith has a long history. Throughout the centuries deep roots have developed among you which have allowed your people to keep trusting in God in spite of trials. Often these roots are linked to your family and the parish where you grew up.

Today some of you are trying to renew the expressions of faith, and that is good. Outward expressions can change. Sometimes they have to change, so that the light of faith can shine with new luster.

But this search will only succeed if it goes hand in hand with an understanding of your past. This is a challenge: to create something new while finding support in tradition. Our small Taizé Community would like to remain alongside you in your searching.

The light the children have just lit and that we passed to one another is a sign of the resurrection.

That flame of peace exists to shine on all human beings. So we want to look for ways, quite humbly, of responding to the call to transform the world, to combat poverty, to promote sharing, solidarity, the responsible use of the resources of our planet.

Yes, the light of peace is for everyone. And it leads our community to continue the “pilgrimage of trust on earth” with young people from all continents. This pilgrimage includes meetings in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. Why? Christians know that Christ came to earth for all human beings without exception. Globalization, even with the ambiguities it entails, gives us new opportunities to express the universality of our communion in Christ. In this expansion, we can find the vitality to express our faith in a new way.

Yes, in faith we are pilgrims. For all of us there are and there will be trials along the road. At times they may seem to overwhelm us, so that even consolation from our family or friends will hardly affect us. So what can we do? Is not our response to personal trials, and to the trials endured by others, to love more? A song could then accompany us when we return home and throughout the journey of our life: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Where there is love, where we live to love, there we have the certainty that God is present.

“Come, Lord, to your holy temple”

With this invocation, the Church, on the day when she recalls the Presentation of Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem, expresses the desire to be able to welcome him again at this present moment in her history. The Presentation is an evocative liturgical feast, fixed since ancient times on the 40th day after Christmas, following what Jewish law had prescribed for the birth of all first-born males (cf. Ex 13: 2). Mary and Joseph observed it faithfully, as the Gospel account tells us.

Christian traditions of the East and West have been interwoven, enriching the liturgy of this feast with a special procession in which the light of candles both large and small is a symbol of Christ, the true Light who came to illumine his people and all peoples. Today’s feast is thus connected with the Nativity and Epiphany of the Lord. However, it also serves as a bridge to Easter by recalling the prophecy of the elderly Simeon, who on that occasion foretold the dramatic destiny of the Messiah and his Mother.

The Evangelist has even recorded the details of this event:  Simeon and Anna, two elderly persons filled with faith and the Holy Spirit, received Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem. They personify the “remnant of Israel”, watchful in expectation and ready to meet the Lord, as the shepherds did on the night of his birth in Bethlehem.

We ask that we too might be presented to the Lord with our hearts free from sin, following the example of Jesus, the first-born of many brethren. You, men and women religious and consecrated lay people, are called in a particular way to share in this mystery of the Saviour. It is a mystery of sacrifice, in which glory and the cross are indissolubly joined according to the paschal character of Christian life. It is a mystery of light and suffering; a Marian mystery, in which the martyrdom of her soul is foretold to the Mother, blessed along with her Son.

We could say that today a special “offertory” is celebrated throughout the Church, one in which consecrated men and women spiritually renew the gift of themselves. By doing so, they help the Ecclesial Communities to grow in the sacrificial dimension that constitutes them inwardly, builds them up and spurs them along the world’s highways.

We have continued on our way, guided by Christ’s words to Simon:  “Duc in altum – Put out into the deep” (Lk 5: 4). The Church expects your contribution, too, dear consecrated brothers and sisters, in order to travel on this new stage of our journey according to the guidelines I gave in my Apostolic Letter Novo millennio ineunte:  to contemplate the face of Chist, to set out anew from him and to bear witness to his love. This is a contribution that you are called to make each day, above all through fidelity to your vocation as individuals who are totally consecrated to Christ.

Your first task, then, must be contemplation. Every reality of consecrated life is born and each day reborn in ceaseless contemplation of Christ’s face. The Church herself draws her energy from daily beholding the immortal beauty of the face of Christ, her Bridegroom.

If every Christian is a believer who contemplates the face of God in Jesus Christ, you are so in a special way. You must never tire, then, of pausing to meditate on Sacred Scripture and on the holy Gospels in particular, so that the features of the Incarnate Word are impressed upon you.

Setting out anew from Christ, the centre of every personal and community project:  this is your task! Meet him, dear friends, and contemplate him in a most special way in the Eucharist, celebrated and adored each day as the source and summit of life and apostolic action.

And walk with Christ:  this is the way of Gospel perfection, the holiness to which every baptized person is called. Holiness is precisely one of the essential points – indeed, the first – in the programme I outlined for the beginning of the new millennium (cf. Novo millennio ineunte, nn. 30-31).

We have just heard the elderly Simeon’s words:  Christ “is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against … that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Lk 2: 34). Like him, and to the extent that they are conformed to him, consecrated persons also become a “sign of contradiction“; that is, they become for others a salutary encouragement to take a position regarding Jesus, who – thanks to the engaging mediation of the “witness” – does not remain just a historical figure or abstract ideal, but presents himself as a living person to follow without compromise. Does this not seem to you an indispensabe service that the Church expects of you in this era, marked by profound social and cultural changes? Only if you persevere in faithfully following Christ will you be credible witnesses to his love.

“A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk 2: 32). The consecrated life is called to reflect Christ’s light in an exceptional way. As I look at you, dear brothers and sisters, I think of the hosts of men and women of every nation, language and culture who are consecrated to Christ by vows of poverty, virginity and obedience. This thought fills me with consolation, for you are like a “leaven” of hope for humanity. You are “salt” and “light” for the men and women of today, who through your witness can glimpse the kingdom of God and the way of the Gospel “Beatitudes”.

Like Simeon and Anna, take Jesus from the arms of his most holy Mother and, filled with joy for the gift of your vocation, bring him to everyone. Christ is salvation and hope for every person! Proclaim him by your life dedicated entirely to the kingdom of God and the world’s salvation. Proclaim him with that uncompromising fidelity which, even recently, has led some of your brothers and sisters in various parts of the world to martyrdom.

Be light and comfort to everyone you meet. Like lighted candles, burn with the love of Christ. Spend yourselves for him, spreading the Gospel of his love everywhere. Through your witness the eyes of many men and women of our time will also be able to see the salvation prepared by God “in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel”.

an excerpt from Pope John Paul II’s homily February 2, 2001

On the first of every month, Our Lord gives Anne a new message about His call to service.

February 1, 2010

Jesus

My dear apostles, I am directing you. I am giving you guidance. I am prompting you, again and again. Do you hear Me? Are you learning to separate My voice from the voices of the world? Do you hear Me when I urge you to greater and greater abandonment? You are suffering, I know. I am listening to your prayers and I am with you in your pain. Please do not think that you are experiencing suffering simply because you are serving Me. Look at those who do not serve Me or even those who do not know Me. Are their lives free from suffering? I am helping you to reject the temptation to believe that if you were not walking this path with Me you would be freed from suffering. It is not true. It would be true to say that if you were not united to Me, you would be suffering without the benefit of My companionship. Such lonely suffering. Such hopeless pain. Instead, I offer you the widest variety of consolations. I offer you understanding of the relationship between sacrifice and holiness. I offer you soothing graces to assist you in preparing your soul for heaven and bringing others comfort and grace. Dearest apostles, you are surrounded by heaven. You are surrounded by grace which supports you, even when you feel you are unsupported. If you feel you cannot stand, allow yourself to fall back and rest in My arms. I will care for you and give you all that you need to continue. Your life is changing, it is true. This should not alarm you. You should expect your life to change as I draw you more and more fully into the plan that I have for your time of service to heaven. It is always the way that I bring you forward, never backward. There is always movement and change. If you were to reject service to Me, your life would still change. Change comes in life whether you are serving heaven or not serving heaven. You may wonder why I am telling you these things. I am helping you to resist the temptation to attach your commitment to Me to suffering. If you are suffering, it is because suffering is part of My plan for you. Each life will include suffering. Beloved apostles, you are trying so hard to serve heaven. Please believe that heaven is serving you, too. You are protected and loved. You need only remain on the course I have laid out for you and all will be well.

For the evangelization of business.

General Intention
For all scholars and intellectuals, that by means of sincere search for the truth they may arrive at an understanding of the one true God.

Mission Intention
That the Church, aware of its own missionary identity, may strive to follow Christ faithfully and to proclaim His Gospel to all peoples.