At 12:10pm today (6:10am EDT), in the Consistory Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience those who are participating in the XVII General Chapter of the Oblates of Saint Joseph which is taking place in Rome, at the General Curia, from 3 to 31 August 2018 and focused on the theme: Et vocat ad se eos ... ut esent cum illo et ut mitteret eos praedicare (And he called them to himself ... so that they might stay with him, and so that he might send them out to preach).
Dear brothers, good morning!
I like Saint Joseph, he has so much power! For more than forty years, I have recited a prayer that I found in an old French missal that says the following about Saint Joseph ... dont la puissance sait rendre possibles les choses impossibles (... whose power can make impossible things possible). The power of Saint Joseph. Never, he never said no. We should be encouraged by his example. I am happy to meet with you on the occasion of your General Chapter and I cordially welcome you. I offer a special thought to Father Jan Pelczarski, who has only recently been elected as Superior General, and I offer him and his Counsellors my best wishes for the new mission. At the same time, I express my gratitude to Father Michele Piscopo for his generous service in guiding your Congregation. Thank you. Congratulations! I extend my sentiments of affection to the entire religious family which you, Chapter Fathers, are representing here, and I encourage all of you to persevere in your respective apostolic endeavours.
A General Chapter is a moment of grace in the life of an Institute of Consecrated Life, certainly for her members and for the entire community, but also, in addition to all these, for many ecclesial, parochial, familial, and lay groups in various connected ways. The mission entrusted to you by your founder, Saint Joseph Marello, shows your particular charism to reproduce in life and in your apostolate the ideal of service as Saint Joseph of Nazareth lived it, beginning with the imitation of his discreet, humble and industrious lifestyle. He lived his vocation as custodian of Mary and of Jesus with fidelity and simplicity. He was close to his bride in joyful and difficult moments, and with her he established a wonderful familiarity with Jesus, who he held continually before his gaze.
Enriched by the industrious simplicity of Saint Joseph, you are called to be witnesses in the world of a particular message, of consoling good news: that God uses everyone, with a preference for the small and those who are humanly unsuited, to plant and to grow his Kingdom. The prospect of serving Jesus in the Church and in our brothers and sisters, with particular attention to the young and the humble, can always influence your life and your joy. In this the words of your holy Founder inspire you: words which are always very timely: "Poor Josephites of the Hospice-Chronic, young priests, you are nothing and you do not have anyone who claims positions for the future, and yet in the meantime the Lord also uses you for the good of souls. You should also say: servi inutiles sumus (we are useless servants), but pull ahead in doing the part that the divine will assigns to you, by means of those who represent it; and let it be that men videant opera vestra bona et glorificent Patrem vestrum here in coelis est (seeing your good works, will give glory to your Father who is in heaven) (Epistolario, Letter 241).
Therefore, I encourage you to continue to live and work in the Church and in the world with the simple and essential virtues of the Bridegroom of the Virgin Mary: humility, which attracts the benevolence of the Father; intimacy with the Lord, who sanctifies all Christian activity; silence and concealment, united with zeal and industriousness in favour of the Lord's will, in the spirit of that happy synthesis left to you by Marello as a motto and program: Be convinced withinin the house and apostles outside the home. This teaching, always alive in your spirit, commits all of you, dear brothers, to preserving a climate of recollection and prayer in your religious houses, fostered by silence and opportune community meetings. The family spirit affirms the union of the communities and of the whole Congregation.
Saint Joseph Marello exhorted his spiritual children to put ahead of everything else, love and obedience to the teachings and directives of the Supreme Pontiff. These were times of rationalism that were impatient for every spiritual dogma; ours are times of rampant relativism that undermines the building of faith and strips the very idea of Christian fidelity. Therefore, the mandate of your Founder is to be witnesses of love and fidelity to Christ and to his Church where ever you are. To people in every part of the world and to young people in particular, to whom your apostolate is addressed, you teach, with your life and with your words, that the example of Joseph of Nazareth, fully consecrated to the service of Jesus, is still the easiest, safest and most fascinating way to live life and the Christian vocation in a full and joyful way.
Faced with a superficial culture that exalts the possession of material goods and that promises happiness through dangerous shortcuts, you do not fail to motivate young people to temper the spirit and to form a mature personality, capable of strength but also of tenderness. And the greatest joy is to talk to young people about Jesus Christ, reading the Gospel with them, comparing it with life ... This is the best way to build a solid future.
May the intercession of the two Josephs, the Patron of the universal Church and your own Founder, make the work of your Chapter fruitful. May their prayer also support the mission of the Marcellian family: Oblate Fathers and Brothers, Oblate Sisters, associates and lay people who share your spirituality. With all my heart, I bless all of you, and I ask you please to pray for me.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with the Oblates of Saint Joseph
Dear brothers, good morning!
I like Saint Joseph, he has so much power! For more than forty years, I have recited a prayer that I found in an old French missal that says the following about Saint Joseph ... dont la puissance sait rendre possibles les choses impossibles (... whose power can make impossible things possible). The power of Saint Joseph. Never, he never said no. We should be encouraged by his example. I am happy to meet with you on the occasion of your General Chapter and I cordially welcome you. I offer a special thought to Father Jan Pelczarski, who has only recently been elected as Superior General, and I offer him and his Counsellors my best wishes for the new mission. At the same time, I express my gratitude to Father Michele Piscopo for his generous service in guiding your Congregation. Thank you. Congratulations! I extend my sentiments of affection to the entire religious family which you, Chapter Fathers, are representing here, and I encourage all of you to persevere in your respective apostolic endeavours.
A General Chapter is a moment of grace in the life of an Institute of Consecrated Life, certainly for her members and for the entire community, but also, in addition to all these, for many ecclesial, parochial, familial, and lay groups in various connected ways. The mission entrusted to you by your founder, Saint Joseph Marello, shows your particular charism to reproduce in life and in your apostolate the ideal of service as Saint Joseph of Nazareth lived it, beginning with the imitation of his discreet, humble and industrious lifestyle. He lived his vocation as custodian of Mary and of Jesus with fidelity and simplicity. He was close to his bride in joyful and difficult moments, and with her he established a wonderful familiarity with Jesus, who he held continually before his gaze.
Enriched by the industrious simplicity of Saint Joseph, you are called to be witnesses in the world of a particular message, of consoling good news: that God uses everyone, with a preference for the small and those who are humanly unsuited, to plant and to grow his Kingdom. The prospect of serving Jesus in the Church and in our brothers and sisters, with particular attention to the young and the humble, can always influence your life and your joy. In this the words of your holy Founder inspire you: words which are always very timely: "Poor Josephites of the Hospice-Chronic, young priests, you are nothing and you do not have anyone who claims positions for the future, and yet in the meantime the Lord also uses you for the good of souls. You should also say: servi inutiles sumus (we are useless servants), but pull ahead in doing the part that the divine will assigns to you, by means of those who represent it; and let it be that men videant opera vestra bona et glorificent Patrem vestrum here in coelis est (seeing your good works, will give glory to your Father who is in heaven) (Epistolario, Letter 241).
Therefore, I encourage you to continue to live and work in the Church and in the world with the simple and essential virtues of the Bridegroom of the Virgin Mary: humility, which attracts the benevolence of the Father; intimacy with the Lord, who sanctifies all Christian activity; silence and concealment, united with zeal and industriousness in favour of the Lord's will, in the spirit of that happy synthesis left to you by Marello as a motto and program: Be convinced withinin the house and apostles outside the home. This teaching, always alive in your spirit, commits all of you, dear brothers, to preserving a climate of recollection and prayer in your religious houses, fostered by silence and opportune community meetings. The family spirit affirms the union of the communities and of the whole Congregation.
Saint Joseph Marello exhorted his spiritual children to put ahead of everything else, love and obedience to the teachings and directives of the Supreme Pontiff. These were times of rationalism that were impatient for every spiritual dogma; ours are times of rampant relativism that undermines the building of faith and strips the very idea of Christian fidelity. Therefore, the mandate of your Founder is to be witnesses of love and fidelity to Christ and to his Church where ever you are. To people in every part of the world and to young people in particular, to whom your apostolate is addressed, you teach, with your life and with your words, that the example of Joseph of Nazareth, fully consecrated to the service of Jesus, is still the easiest, safest and most fascinating way to live life and the Christian vocation in a full and joyful way.
Faced with a superficial culture that exalts the possession of material goods and that promises happiness through dangerous shortcuts, you do not fail to motivate young people to temper the spirit and to form a mature personality, capable of strength but also of tenderness. And the greatest joy is to talk to young people about Jesus Christ, reading the Gospel with them, comparing it with life ... This is the best way to build a solid future.
May the intercession of the two Josephs, the Patron of the universal Church and your own Founder, make the work of your Chapter fruitful. May their prayer also support the mission of the Marcellian family: Oblate Fathers and Brothers, Oblate Sisters, associates and lay people who share your spirituality. With all my heart, I bless all of you, and I ask you please to pray for me.
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