Apostles for Today
August 2023
The young men and Mary ... She got up and ran (Lk 1:39)
In the spiritual life, we are blessed to have pivotal religious who assist us in the responsibilities that the Lord uses to shape our destiny. For me, they are Fr. Frederick Link, Sr. Carmel Therese CSAC, Fr. Joseph Lasak SAC, Fr. Peter Sticco SAC, Fr. Jacob Nampudakam SAC, and Pope Francis.
Fr. Link, a diocesan priest in the United States, received his vocation at the canonization of St. Vincent Pallotti. 54 years later, again in Rome, he asked the young woman he had baptized two decades ago if she would like to see a special Church.
In an instant, St. Vincent became the saint of my conversion, and the saint I promised my life to.
These imitators of Christ tap the essential dynamism of youth, on the exhilarating premise of complete trust in the Holy Spirit’s determinative fire and genius in young people. Their accompaniment, good humor, and encouragement, “linked with spiritual direction, is a systematic school of the interior life”. (St. John Paul II, Dilecti Amici)
Through the Society’s Immaculate Conception Province, I’ve been blessed to witness the spontaneity and passion of the Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, and Lay Youth Leaders who are involved in creating and realizing flourishing youth ministries for the Pallottine Congregations across the world. Likewise, seated in Rome for six years, I’ve been equally blessed to meet the Pallottine greats.
An African proverb says that when an old man dies, a library burns to the ground; and when an elderly woman dies, a school burns to the ground.
Fr. Wolfgang Weiss SAC pointed me to the words of Juliana of Norwich, who wrote in her Revelation of Divine Love that "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all matters of things shall be well."
Mother Lilia Capretti CSAC (+) explained that “we are in two different stages of our life; mine, the end; yours, the beginning. Both are beautiful; do not be afraid.” And the three books
Fr. Nicolàs Drieling SAC (+) sent to Rome from Turdera, on St. Vincent’s Argentinian history, reached me only after his death. They are now cherished on a shelf in the Union office.
Those that truly lead the youth are intensely grounded in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ; courageously pointing to “ideals other than those of this world, testifying to the beauty of generosity, service, purity, perseverance, forgiveness, fidelity to our personal vocation, prayer, the pursuit of justice and the common good, love for the poor, and social friendship.” (Pope Francis, Christus Vivit)
When I reflect upon these experiences, I recall the words of St. Therese of Lisieux: we do not need complicated means. The youth apostolate, then, can be meditated upon with one conversation in the Gospel.
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Mark 10:1) St. John Paul II writes to young people that “this meeting has a universal and timeless character, it holds good constantly and continually, throughout centuries and generations.”
Manifested is a profound truth of man, and an honest question that the Union - when viewed in its juridical structure and central governance as an Association of the Faithful - must ask itself.
Have we gone away sorrowful, overly fearful and tied to our structures? Have we resisted change, to the point where young people do not see the Union as relevant or critical to their lives? Are the roles we assign to the youth passive, so that we can stifle a different style, schedule, pace, and method? (Cf Pope Francis, Christus Vivit)
St. Paul VI professed that Pallotti enriched the Christian community “not for the passive and quiet acceptance of faith, but for the active and militant profession of it.”
To attract the youth, Union members must rise to the consciousness of their commitment. A consciousness that declares “we are responsible! Tremendous, dynamic, disturbing, energetic; and who understands it can no longer remain sleepless and indifferent!” (St. Pope Paul VI Homily on St. Vincent Pallotti, Frascati 1 September 1963)
These same verbs are the characteristics of the theme of this year’s World Youth Day; “Mary arose and went in haste.” (Luke 1:39) “She did not hold back or remain indifferent; and this gave enthusiasm and direction to her life.” (Pope Francis’ Message for World Youth Day, Lisbon 2023)
Like Mary, “when we are faced with urgent needs, we need to act quickly; the Holy Spirit permits no delay.” (ibid) Her focus, always directed outward, gives rise to another set of questions Pope Francis posed in his message for Lisbon; which is best contemplated in the context of the National Coordination Councils.
- What kind of haste do we have?
- How do we react to the needs around us?
- Do we think of some reason to immediately not get involved?
- Do we show interest and willingness to help? (ibid)
In every instance, and at every age, “the Blessed Mother is the inspiration of everyone.” (Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Your Life is Worth Living)
The first to notice if we have accepted this imperative of doing today and immediately for the Union will be the young people, just as little children recognize and replicate the mannerisms of their parents. It will be impossible to invest in the youth’s fearlessness wherever there is an indifference to the urgent needs of the present.
To Jesus Himself, and the greatest saints, indifference was an insufferable endurance. Christ revealed to St. Faustina that lukewarm souls cause Him the most suffering, so great that His heart “cannot bear it.” Venerable Fulton Sheen professed, “I wonder maybe if Our Lord does not suffer more from our indifference than He did from the Crucifixion.” (“Spectators of Indifference”)
St. Pope Paul VI preached that “St. Vincent Pallotti had what the saints all possess: a warning, which becomes painful and almost dramatic in them. Many Christians continue to be passive and forgetful of the great call that God - with Christianity - has given the world.” (Ibid 5)
And this young woman’s inexpressible pain is no different. Where she sees no urgency for structure or proper elections, she sees the impossibility to will the good of the Union’s future. Where she sees a central governance not at the service of the Holy See, she sees one directed to its own imminences and interests, without the spirit of openness, or radicality sine glossa. (St. Francis of Assisi - “without gloss” - living the radical Gospel as it demands) “I have many thoughts, so do you, but God has only one thought. Let us go to God.” (Ibid 10)
All of our vocations are unique and precious gifts that create the mystical body of Christ, and just one missing would render the Church incomplete; as each individual soul is worth more than all the world.
Mary’s haste teaches us that the commitment to the Union is not a badge, but rather an inseparable way of life in which the daily becomes heroic, and the heroic becomes daily. St. Zelie Martin We do not need complicated means. (The daughter of St. Zelie Martin, St. Therese of Lisieux)
Nos cum prole pia, benedicat Virgo Maria
Julianne Calzonetti,
a youth
Rome / USA (New Jersey)
