At 12:20pm today (6:20am EST), the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience the members of the Alumni of Heaven Association who are marking the 50th anniversary of their foundation and the 10th anniversary of the death of their founder, the Jesuit priest, Father Giuseppe Arione.
Since 1968, the Alumni of Heaven Association has proclaimed the gospel through music and song: surpassing every border and spreading a message of peace and fraternity.
Dear friends of the Alumni of Heaven community!
I am happy to receive you on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of your Association and on the 10th anniversary of the death of your founder, the Jesuit Father Giuseppe Arione. To you all, I extend a warm welcome! Your associative reality, divided into two groups, Revival and Amen, is inserted in the ancient and prestigious Social Institute of Turin, whose educational purpose is enriched by the spiritual experience of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. With the help of your Assistant, Father Piero Granzino, you commit yourselves to bearing witness to the Gospel with music and singing in order to reach the hearts of everyone, even those who are far from the Church or from the experience of faith.
Your mission is carried out in the wake of the charism and testimony of Father Arione who, following the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council for a Church in dialogue with the contemporary world, in 1968 opposed the prevailing attitude of protest with an attitude of acceptance. He dedicated himself to a form of apostolate that used music and song as languages capable of transmitting in a universal way the beauty and strength of Christian love. He went to the crossroads of the streets, even in places previously unexplored by the Church, in order to meet the boys, girls and young people where they gathered and organized themselves. To all of them, without distinction, he addressed himself with empathy and benevolence, proposing a journey of faith and fraternity. His aim was to evangelize with song, proposing a faith that proclaims and sings the love of God, generating friendship and fraternal sharing.
I encourage you to continue the charism of this generous Jesuit, renewing this work in various forms but preserving its prophetic inspiration, which is still valid and current. To do this, you must take care of your inner life, without letting it steal from the worldly noise, but rather by cultivating it through personal and community prayer, listening to the Word of God, assiduously participating in the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist. In this way, your voices and melodies will not only be pleasing to good musical taste, but they will also be enriched by your testimony of Christian life, favouring the desire for communion with God within those who listen to you. In this way, you will become ever more enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel.
Your mission is rooted in the tradition of the Scriptures, especially the Psalms, which invite you to celebrate the Lord with the harp, to sing to Him and to praise Him on strings and flutes (cf Psalm 33:150). Singing well requires commitment and good will, but it is a gratifying effort, because it elevates the soul making it more sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, especially when your chants are accompanied by liturgical celebrations, allowing the faithful a greater rapprochement and a deeper intimacy with God. In this way, you help them to express joy, trust, repentance, love ... Singing is a language that leads to the communion of hearts; I thank you in particular because, surpassing every frontier, you spread a message of peace and fraternity.
In the choir, we experience the joy and charm of polyphony. I urge you to be polyphonic even in everyday life, both among you and with others. First of all, keep in mind that, more than for the beauty of your songs, they will recognize you as disciples and witnesses of Christ if you love one another as He has loved us. Therefore you are called to be of one heart and one soul. And towards others, remembering the pastoral care of your Founder on behalf of the poor and the needy, you can continue to welcome these people into your communities and families, listening to them, singing with them the Gospel of the little ones. This is your way of being a missionary Church, capable of infecting and attracting those who are waiting, perhaps without knowing it, for an encounter with Jesus.
I know that you often meditate on the words of Father Arione: Walk to look for others, stop to find yourself. The smiles on your faces, the freshness in your voices and the harmony of your songs dispose you to prayer and raise up in those who listen to you the true joy of life and hope in the future. With these wishes, I would like to renew the appreciation that the Church has for your apostolate and, while I entrust you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Cecilia, I warmly bless all of you and your loved ones. And please, remember to pray for me.
Thank you!
(Original text in Italian)
Since 1968, the Alumni of Heaven Association has proclaimed the gospel through music and song: surpassing every border and spreading a message of peace and fraternity.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to members of the
Alumni of Heaven Association
I am happy to receive you on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of your Association and on the 10th anniversary of the death of your founder, the Jesuit Father Giuseppe Arione. To you all, I extend a warm welcome! Your associative reality, divided into two groups, Revival and Amen, is inserted in the ancient and prestigious Social Institute of Turin, whose educational purpose is enriched by the spiritual experience of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. With the help of your Assistant, Father Piero Granzino, you commit yourselves to bearing witness to the Gospel with music and singing in order to reach the hearts of everyone, even those who are far from the Church or from the experience of faith.
Your mission is carried out in the wake of the charism and testimony of Father Arione who, following the guidelines of the Second Vatican Council for a Church in dialogue with the contemporary world, in 1968 opposed the prevailing attitude of protest with an attitude of acceptance. He dedicated himself to a form of apostolate that used music and song as languages capable of transmitting in a universal way the beauty and strength of Christian love. He went to the crossroads of the streets, even in places previously unexplored by the Church, in order to meet the boys, girls and young people where they gathered and organized themselves. To all of them, without distinction, he addressed himself with empathy and benevolence, proposing a journey of faith and fraternity. His aim was to evangelize with song, proposing a faith that proclaims and sings the love of God, generating friendship and fraternal sharing.
I encourage you to continue the charism of this generous Jesuit, renewing this work in various forms but preserving its prophetic inspiration, which is still valid and current. To do this, you must take care of your inner life, without letting it steal from the worldly noise, but rather by cultivating it through personal and community prayer, listening to the Word of God, assiduously participating in the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist. In this way, your voices and melodies will not only be pleasing to good musical taste, but they will also be enriched by your testimony of Christian life, favouring the desire for communion with God within those who listen to you. In this way, you will become ever more enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel.
Your mission is rooted in the tradition of the Scriptures, especially the Psalms, which invite you to celebrate the Lord with the harp, to sing to Him and to praise Him on strings and flutes (cf Psalm 33:150). Singing well requires commitment and good will, but it is a gratifying effort, because it elevates the soul making it more sensitive to the voice of the Spirit, especially when your chants are accompanied by liturgical celebrations, allowing the faithful a greater rapprochement and a deeper intimacy with God. In this way, you help them to express joy, trust, repentance, love ... Singing is a language that leads to the communion of hearts; I thank you in particular because, surpassing every frontier, you spread a message of peace and fraternity.
In the choir, we experience the joy and charm of polyphony. I urge you to be polyphonic even in everyday life, both among you and with others. First of all, keep in mind that, more than for the beauty of your songs, they will recognize you as disciples and witnesses of Christ if you love one another as He has loved us. Therefore you are called to be of one heart and one soul. And towards others, remembering the pastoral care of your Founder on behalf of the poor and the needy, you can continue to welcome these people into your communities and families, listening to them, singing with them the Gospel of the little ones. This is your way of being a missionary Church, capable of infecting and attracting those who are waiting, perhaps without knowing it, for an encounter with Jesus.
I know that you often meditate on the words of Father Arione: Walk to look for others, stop to find yourself. The smiles on your faces, the freshness in your voices and the harmony of your songs dispose you to prayer and raise up in those who listen to you the true joy of life and hope in the future. With these wishes, I would like to renew the appreciation that the Church has for your apostolate and, while I entrust you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and of Saint Cecilia, I warmly bless all of you and your loved ones. And please, remember to pray for me.
Thank you!
(Original text in Italian)
No comments:
Post a Comment