Apostles for Today
December 2021
Fratelli Tutti in the footsteps of
St. Vincent Pallotti
We have arrived at the end of this annual cycle of Apostles for Today dedicated to reflection on the third Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis “Fratelli Tutti”, on fraternity and social friendship.
I thank all in the Pallottine world who have written monthly reflections on each chapter of the encyclical. I felt very enriched by these articles which presented reflections born of the living, concrete experience of each person’s place. Every reflection also spoke strongly to me because each one described not only a particular place or form of life, but had something of a universal flavor.
It is the flavor of the Gospel, as the Pope says at the beginning of the encyclical, and as such can embrace all places and all forms of life in our Pallottine world, of the whole Church, of all humanity, of all creatures:
“Wherever I find myself, I intend to imagine myself and I will try often to renew this desire to remain with all creatures in the cenacle in Jerusalem … along with Mary Most Holy” (cf. OOCC X, 86).
In giving my contribution to add to the others, I would immediately like to note that, in the title of the Encyclical, the word TUTTI (ALL) involves us directly by embracing the deepest meaning of every Pallottine vocation. EVERYONE (TUTTI) and the other correlative word - EVERYTHING (TUTTO) - mark every part and the entirety of the encyclical. The Pope affirms that, in order to be fully human, fraternity - and consequently also social friendship - must place these two vital characteristics at the foundation of relationships: being for all and embracing everything. "True charity is always capable of incorporating all" (cf. FT 165).
Immediately comes to mind how for St. Vincent Pallotti the same words - all - everyone, everything - were the paradigm of his life in his relationship with God and with neighbor:
“My God, my all”, “all God”;
“God in everything and in all”;
“all are called to the apostolate";
"since therefore all, as creatures, are a living image of divine love, so all must love God and their neighbor according to their possibilities” (OOCC IV, 308);
“we always treat everyone with charity, look at everyone with charity, think of everyone with charity, and speak of everyone with charity” (OOCC III, 338).
I think that we are very fortunate to perceive the enduring timeliness and truth of these words of the Founder
today more than ever and that, by the grace of God, we too can put them into practice immediately with everyone and in all we are and do.
The Pope describes life, notwithstanding all of its confrontations, as ‘the art of encounter. I have frequently called for the growth of a culture of encounter capable of transcending our differences and divisions. This means working to create a many-faceted polyhedron whose different sides form a variegated unity, in which “the whole is greater than the part”’ (FT, 215).
I think that we are very fortunate to perceive the enduring timeliness and truth of these words of the Founder today more than ever and that, by the grace of God, we too can put them into practice immediately with everyone and in all we are and do.
The Pope describes life, notwithstanding all of its confrontations, as ‘the art of encounter. I have frequently called for the growth of a culture of encounter capable of transcending our differences and divisions. This means working to create a many-faceted polyhedron whose different sides form a variegated unity, in which “the whole is greater than the part”’ (FT, 215).
And this is also true for us, in all contexts of the UAC. In this regard, the central part of a letter which Saint Vincent wrote to Don Giovanni Allemand very often comes to mind, which makes clear to me that I do not need to wait for the other (especially those closest to me in daily life) to come to meet me, but I must be the first to take the initiative to go to meet them, where they are and as they are.
In the letter, St. Vincent says in a very practical and concrete way what holiness is and what its path is: “Become holy: but holy in that way which God wants us to become holy. Holiness consists in doing the will of God. Therefore we will become holy by speaking indifferently with everyone, entering into discussion with each one: we will become holy in literary discourses, in scientific academies, in academic chairs, in circles of scholars no less than in the midst of the crowd, and of sinners: in a word, we will become holy by making ourselves everything to all people in order to gain all for Jesus Christ” (cf. Letters, Vol. 2, n. 308, pp. 23ss.).
Finally, the letter concludes with a very powerful phrase: "I greet everyone in Jesus Christ and I declare myself for all". For me, these words are an attraction to follow the Founder with his very own practical measure of declaring himself for all. Even today, every person's call is for others, to be for everyone.
“Declaring oneself of all”, I believe, is our form of life in harmony with Fratelli Tutti: but what does this mean concretely for us, the Union of the Catholic Apostolate?
In my opinion, it is not connected only to doing, to carrying out activities or works that do not exclude but unite people of different ages and different states of life. Of course, all of this is commendable. But it is not enough. If this were the case, it goes without saying that once a specific activity or work has been completed, the need and even the desire to declare ourselves brothers and sisters of all would disappear.
From what I have seen and continue to see in the experience of many parts of the Pallottine world, it seems to me that I can say that fraternity has its deep roots in communion, in mutual belonging, in equal dignity, in equality. And the source is the communion of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is a reflection and imitation of the art of loving in the way in which God, the Most Holy Trinity, loves, and generates familial and fraternal communion (cf. OOCC XI, 259).
Concluding this contribution, I would like to highlight that even the journey of synodality which has just begun does not leave us spectators, but motivates us to discover and develop our declaration that we are for all insofar as we are all sisters and brothers. So let us not miss the opportunity to refine our culture of encounter, especially through listening and dialogue.
With Pope Francis, let us put these words into practice: ‘God willing, after all this, we will think no longer in terms of “them” and “those”, but only “us”’ (FT 35).
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Questions for personal and community reflection: The Union of the Catholic Apostolate is so called because the Founder wanted to emphasize unity. Yet, we are different: faithful who are religious, consecrated, lay, ordained; communities, congregations, individuals. Can we still say that we are one? How?
- Our mission, through our works and our presences, responds to what the Spirit asked of the Founder; is it adequate to pursue its aims in today's society and Church? Is there something we need to change? Do we have the same passion for our neighbors, are we close to them to the point of sharing their joys and their sorrows, so as to truly understand their needs?
- Often this Encyclical affirms that walking together as brothers does not waste time. Instead it takes up time, it needs time. That of arguing and that of reconciliation. Walking together “wastes” time. It is the opposite of abstract human relations of etiquette, but it calls us back to the encounter. How do we walk together? With what resistances? With what steps forward?
- Donatella Acerbi
