At 11:30am today (5:30am EDT) in the Clementine Hall at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience those who are participating in the XI General Chapter of the Pius Institute of the Society of the Daughters of Saint Paul which is taking place at Ariccia from 5 September to 5 October 2019. The theme of this meeting is Arise and set out on your journey (Dt 10:11), trusting in the Promise.
Dear Sisters,
I welcome you who, coming from the five continents, are participating in the 11th General Chapter of the Daughters of Saint Paul. And I thank the Superior General for her kind words.
The theme you have chosen for your reflection is Arise and set out on your journey (Dt 10,11), trusting in the Promise. This is a strongly biblical theme, in which the experience of Moses is recalled, the experience of Abraham, of Elijah, of many, and more generally the experience of the people of God. The history of salvation, both of the single person and of the collective people, is rooted in their willingness to leave, to set out, not on their own initiative, but as a response to the call and their ability to entrust themselves to the promise. It is the experience of Grace - Saint Paul would say - that was given to us in Jesus Christ. You did not choose me, but I chose you (Jn 15:16). And this applies not only to the call, but also to our present and to our future: Without me you can do nothing, says the Lord (Jn 15: 5).
Dear Sisters, in these delicate and hard times, as Pope Saint John Paul II said (Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, 13), faith is more necessary than ever. Many say that consecrated life is going through a winter. It may be so, because vocations are scarce, the average age progresses and fidelity to the commitments made at profession is not always what it should be. In this situation, the great challenge is to endure the winter, to flourish and to bear fruit. The coldness of society, sometimes even within the Church and of consecrated life itself, leads us to go to the roots, to find life in the roots. Winter, even in the Church and in consecrated life, is not a sterile time of death, but a propitious time that allows us to return to what is essential. For you, this entails rediscovering the elements of the Pauline prophecy and rediscovering apostolic and missionary itinerancy, which cannot be lacking in a Daughter of Saint Paul, so as to be able to inhabit the peripheries of thought and existential peripheries.
Born for the Word, to proclaim to everyone the luminous path of life which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you carry missionary audacity in your DNA. Never let this audacity fail, in the awareness that the protagonist of the mission is the Holy Spirit. This is clear! I hope that the Chapter you are experiencing is a propitious moment to ask yourselves: how can we express the Pauline prophecy in response to the calls that come to us in our time?
It is about setting out on the roads of the world, with a contemplative gaze and full of empathy for the men and women of our time, hungry for the Good News of the Gospel. Feeling part of an outward focused Institute, on a mission, putting all your forces at the service of evangelization. Let yourselves be challenged by the reality in which we live, let yourselves be disturbed by reality. Constantly seeking ways of proximity, maintaining in the heart the capacity to feel compassion for the many needs that surround us. I would like to emphasize this word, compassion. It is such an evangelical word, that the Gospel often says of Jesus: He had compassion. When he saw the crowd, when he saw the son of the widow of Nain, when he saw so many situations ...: He had compassion. This is the compassion of God. Being missionaries with the witness of life centred in Christ, this is evidenced in particular for you through editorial, digital and multimedia production, and by promoting critical training in the use of media and biblical animation.
All this is impossible without faith: the faith of Abraham who believed, firm in hope against all hope (Rom 4:18); the faith of Mary, who even without understanding the mystery that surrounded her, believed and consented: Let it be for me according to your word (Lk 1:38); the faith of Peter, who said: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life (Jn 6:68).
In times of tiredness and frustration, God commands Elijah: Get up and eat (1 Kings 19:5). (He turns to the Superior) Mother General, let them eat well! Don't let yourself be blocked by fatigue or resignation. Resignation is a worm that enters the soul, embitters the heart. When we think of consecrated men and women who have their faces downcast ... Eh, things are like that, unfortunately!. The recourse to unfortunately, with that attitude ... Do not fall into the spirit of resignation. Never! The road you have traveled is long and fruitful. And the road that remains to be traveled is long (cf 1 Kings 19:7). Nourish yourselves with the bread of the Word, go ahead, in the midst of the lights and shadows of the cultural context in which we live - risk, risk! -, be faithful to your own perspective, that is not primarily a moral judgment, but the search for opportunities to sow the Word, with the fantasy of communication. Interpreting the thirst and hunger of our contemporaries: thirst for God, hunger for the Gospel. And all this with a discernment and an empathy that begin with trust in God, the God of history. In this context, I encourage you to revive the gift of faith by always letting yourselves be enlightened by the Word. It is the centre of your personal and community life, in the liturgy and in lectio divina. This is the Word that keeps the apostolic spirit in your Institute. The gifts you have brought me express this charism of yours. Thank you very much!
Stand up and walk. This verb to stand up corresponds to the Greek term anastasis, resurrection: Arise, rise again! It is a Paschal verb. It is also a conjugal verb, as it appears in the Song of Songs (cf.Song 2:10,13). Getting up and setting out, like Mary Magdalene at the dawn of the day of resurrection (cf Jn 20: 1-2); like Peter and the other disciple who ran to the tomb (cf Jn 20: 3-4); and first of all like Mary on her visit to Elizabeth (cf Lk 1:39ff). Get on the road, with the audacity that comes from the Spirit and the creativity that has characterized your Founder. Going out, leaving in a hurry, like the Virgin Mary and Saint Paul, so you too are called to communicate the Good News, with your life and apostolic works, to the men and women of today. There is no time to lose. Woe to me if I did not evangelize (1 Cor 9:16).
Dear Sisters, may you always be assisted through the intercession of the Apostle of the Gentiles. May you also be accompanied by my blessing, which I cordially impart to you and to all your communities around the world: 55 countries, did you say? (The Superior replies: 52 Countries) 52 countries! Worldwide! And a greeting to all the sisters. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Texto en español
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
offered to the Daughters of Saint Paul
Dear Sisters,
I welcome you who, coming from the five continents, are participating in the 11th General Chapter of the Daughters of Saint Paul. And I thank the Superior General for her kind words.
The theme you have chosen for your reflection is Arise and set out on your journey (Dt 10,11), trusting in the Promise. This is a strongly biblical theme, in which the experience of Moses is recalled, the experience of Abraham, of Elijah, of many, and more generally the experience of the people of God. The history of salvation, both of the single person and of the collective people, is rooted in their willingness to leave, to set out, not on their own initiative, but as a response to the call and their ability to entrust themselves to the promise. It is the experience of Grace - Saint Paul would say - that was given to us in Jesus Christ. You did not choose me, but I chose you (Jn 15:16). And this applies not only to the call, but also to our present and to our future: Without me you can do nothing, says the Lord (Jn 15: 5).
Dear Sisters, in these delicate and hard times, as Pope Saint John Paul II said (Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata, 13), faith is more necessary than ever. Many say that consecrated life is going through a winter. It may be so, because vocations are scarce, the average age progresses and fidelity to the commitments made at profession is not always what it should be. In this situation, the great challenge is to endure the winter, to flourish and to bear fruit. The coldness of society, sometimes even within the Church and of consecrated life itself, leads us to go to the roots, to find life in the roots. Winter, even in the Church and in consecrated life, is not a sterile time of death, but a propitious time that allows us to return to what is essential. For you, this entails rediscovering the elements of the Pauline prophecy and rediscovering apostolic and missionary itinerancy, which cannot be lacking in a Daughter of Saint Paul, so as to be able to inhabit the peripheries of thought and existential peripheries.
Born for the Word, to proclaim to everyone the luminous path of life which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you carry missionary audacity in your DNA. Never let this audacity fail, in the awareness that the protagonist of the mission is the Holy Spirit. This is clear! I hope that the Chapter you are experiencing is a propitious moment to ask yourselves: how can we express the Pauline prophecy in response to the calls that come to us in our time?
It is about setting out on the roads of the world, with a contemplative gaze and full of empathy for the men and women of our time, hungry for the Good News of the Gospel. Feeling part of an outward focused Institute, on a mission, putting all your forces at the service of evangelization. Let yourselves be challenged by the reality in which we live, let yourselves be disturbed by reality. Constantly seeking ways of proximity, maintaining in the heart the capacity to feel compassion for the many needs that surround us. I would like to emphasize this word, compassion. It is such an evangelical word, that the Gospel often says of Jesus: He had compassion. When he saw the crowd, when he saw the son of the widow of Nain, when he saw so many situations ...: He had compassion. This is the compassion of God. Being missionaries with the witness of life centred in Christ, this is evidenced in particular for you through editorial, digital and multimedia production, and by promoting critical training in the use of media and biblical animation.
All this is impossible without faith: the faith of Abraham who believed, firm in hope against all hope (Rom 4:18); the faith of Mary, who even without understanding the mystery that surrounded her, believed and consented: Let it be for me according to your word (Lk 1:38); the faith of Peter, who said: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life (Jn 6:68).
In times of tiredness and frustration, God commands Elijah: Get up and eat (1 Kings 19:5). (He turns to the Superior) Mother General, let them eat well! Don't let yourself be blocked by fatigue or resignation. Resignation is a worm that enters the soul, embitters the heart. When we think of consecrated men and women who have their faces downcast ... Eh, things are like that, unfortunately!. The recourse to unfortunately, with that attitude ... Do not fall into the spirit of resignation. Never! The road you have traveled is long and fruitful. And the road that remains to be traveled is long (cf 1 Kings 19:7). Nourish yourselves with the bread of the Word, go ahead, in the midst of the lights and shadows of the cultural context in which we live - risk, risk! -, be faithful to your own perspective, that is not primarily a moral judgment, but the search for opportunities to sow the Word, with the fantasy of communication. Interpreting the thirst and hunger of our contemporaries: thirst for God, hunger for the Gospel. And all this with a discernment and an empathy that begin with trust in God, the God of history. In this context, I encourage you to revive the gift of faith by always letting yourselves be enlightened by the Word. It is the centre of your personal and community life, in the liturgy and in lectio divina. This is the Word that keeps the apostolic spirit in your Institute. The gifts you have brought me express this charism of yours. Thank you very much!
Stand up and walk. This verb to stand up corresponds to the Greek term anastasis, resurrection: Arise, rise again! It is a Paschal verb. It is also a conjugal verb, as it appears in the Song of Songs (cf.Song 2:10,13). Getting up and setting out, like Mary Magdalene at the dawn of the day of resurrection (cf Jn 20: 1-2); like Peter and the other disciple who ran to the tomb (cf Jn 20: 3-4); and first of all like Mary on her visit to Elizabeth (cf Lk 1:39ff). Get on the road, with the audacity that comes from the Spirit and the creativity that has characterized your Founder. Going out, leaving in a hurry, like the Virgin Mary and Saint Paul, so you too are called to communicate the Good News, with your life and apostolic works, to the men and women of today. There is no time to lose. Woe to me if I did not evangelize (1 Cor 9:16).
Dear Sisters, may you always be assisted through the intercession of the Apostle of the Gentiles. May you also be accompanied by my blessing, which I cordially impart to you and to all your communities around the world: 55 countries, did you say? (The Superior replies: 52 Countries) 52 countries! Worldwide! And a greeting to all the sisters. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Testo originale nella lingua italiana
Texto en español
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