Apostles for Today - March 2024

Apostlesfor Today
March - 2024

RENEW OUR TIRED HEARTS AND TRANSFORM OUR HORIZONS!

In this March reflection of Apostles for Today, we continue to move within Chapter 24 of the Gospel according to St Luke, which, so to speak, has been accompanying us since the beginning of the year. In the light of this text, we also wish to experience the Fourth General Congress of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate, which is rapidly approaching. For a moment let us linger on the well-known story of the disciples on their way to the village of Emmaus. In its immense richness, it reveals the path to the transformation of our hearts.

The beginning of the pericope shows two resigned, tired, and certainly greatly disappointed disciples leaving Jerusalem with a sense of failure. They had hoped for something more. They had expected that Jesus' victory would bring order to their existence: “… but we were hoping” (Lk 24:21). Perhaps they had hoped they would be triumphant with Him and share His kingdom. Instead, they saw His ignominious death and now heard of His alleged resurrection, such a rather unlikely thing, if not distinctly strange. 

Yet, this encounter proved to be far more important than their fears and the road they eventually chose to take became their transformative journey from hopeless people to bearers of hope.

The disciples' transformation begins with an encounter, with being listened to and at the same time with their opening up to a different perspective, one that transforms and empowers them to look beyond their present horizon, beyond what has seemed right up to now. The encounter with Jesus, is indeed much more than an accidental stage of their journey. It is a turning point. The two disciples are called to compare their ideas about what victory humanly means for them and what it means for God. Thanks to the patience of Jesus who, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, interpreted to them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures (Lk 24:27), they learn afresh how God works, so that in the end they are able to see and receive Him as he breaks the bread.

It appears that this Gospel, especially in the perspective of recent years, takes on a new meaning. After all,“But we were hoping"(Lk 24:21) is the very cry of so many of us in every corner of the world. Everyone experiences disappointment at different stages of their life. The last few years have shown this very clearly: armed conflicts, world hunger, lack of empathy, sex scandals - including those involving the church - all accompany us. We have more and more comforts and less and less time for others. It is not uncommon that we live together in a way as if we are astray. Many of us may be asking ourselves this important question: where is He who was meant to reign? Where is the Church, His mystical body that should make Him present here on earth? These questions, though important, do not help us at all if they are poorly lived out; they deprive us of hope and lead us to a sense of bewilderment. It is not that we should not ask questions, but we must seek the answers in the right way, that is, with Him, the One who has definitively conquered death and to whom the final say belongs. Are we ready for this?

Let us look once again at the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Their transformation was not only caused by Jesus' tenderness and patience, but also by their willingness to listen to Him; a healthy curiosity was enkindled in them that eventually renewed their enthusiasm. This is our journey as Christians. We are a people constantly journeying, struggling with hardships and disappointments, but if we seek answers in the Risen One, no one can deprive us of hope. “Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey.” (Spe Salvi, 1). So says Pope Benedict in his encyclical letter on Christian hope. Do these words not contain the whole secret of continuity? 

In the perspective of Chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke, it is also worth looking at the Synod on Synodality, which is currently taking place in the Church. For us, just as for the disciples of Emmaus, this is a time of journeying together and, like them, we have two options: either to be content with our own ideas about the synod and our disillusionment with the Church - which is justified in many places - or to embark on this beautiful journey to which we are invited by Pope Francis in order to discern and listen together, so that our hope in the Risen One may even better stretch out to the ends of the earth. Are we ready to take this risk? Are we open to one another? Do we really want to live the Gospel than just keep on talking about it?

As Union of the Catholic Apostolate, we too are invited to follow the path of the disciples of Emmaus. Their feelings and doubts are also ours. In many moments of our community life, as priests, brothers, sisters, lay people, we can certainly say: “... but we were hoping” (Lk 24:21), and continue with a whole litany of how we would envisage the Union to be like. Many of us still live decanting the past and are immersed in memories that, instead of moving us forward, hinder our further development. We can indeed see our weaknesses, frustrations, and lack of working together, which should be our greatest task and pride. However, let us make ourselves willing to hand everything over to Jesus. Let us allow ourselves time to express all of this. Let us allow Him to embrace everything that humanly defies us and show us a new perspective. Let us give Him the chance to renew our weary hearts and transform our Pallottine horizons, a mixture of clarity and darkness. And even though we can easily forget it, we’ll see there is always light in everything.

In this spirit we want to live the forthcoming IV General Congress of the UAC, which will be held in Rome from 25 to 31 July, and whose motto is: With Christ our hope, let us set out together with renewed joy and confidence. Throughout the five days we will spend together, we wish to reflect once again on this Gospel pericope - the theme of this text - and experience the transformation of the heart that, after the encounter with the Risen One, switches from resignation to hope. May the words of our Founder guide us as we prepare to live this time together:

I implore you, therefore, to consider, in the light of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ Crucified, the works of the Pious Union and to have this conviction that they can be realised because they are useful and necessary for the extension of the glory of God and the sanctification of souls, as well as for coming to the aid of our brothers and sisters in need, even though some, taking the works of the Pious Union as its goal, think that they are very difficult to realise. Remember, however, that according to the nature of Pious Union, these works are only means to an end (St. Vincent Pallotti).

See you in Rome!

Michał Grzeca

 Apostles for today

February 2024

Risen Christ walks with us to make us live in the joy of hope

Number 654 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church shows us that there is a double aspect in the Paschal mystery: through his death he frees us from sin, through his Resurrection he opens for us access to a new life.

This is first of all the justification which restores us to the grace of God (cf. Rom 4, 25) “so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too may live in new life” (Rom 6, 4). In approaching our theme for this month there is a whole project of the resurrected Christ on each and every one of us. As he walked with the disciples of Emmaus, he also walks with us today to make us live in the joy of hope.

Let us pause in our thoughts for a moment and remember the experience of the Paschal Vigil. We all have this experience of the celebration of the Easter Eve which begins in darkness but only the Paschal candle guides the procession. The priest sings: Light of Christ and we all respond: We give thanks to God. After this song and this response, you will no longer see sad faces but all the faithful and the celebrants radiate with joy because the risen Christ, light of the world is in the midst of his children. 

The paschal candle always gives us hope that we are children of light and we no longer walk in darkness. Another experience that we would like to contemplate is that in the Gospel of Saint Luke 24: 18-35 where we see the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They were in despair because they believed that Jesus in whom they had placed all their hope had died and that everything was over. But when they realized that on their march towards Emmaus they were accompanied by the risen Christ, their eyes were opened, a new light shone in their hearts and on their faces. A new hope has sprung up and a new page has opened to see their lives and that of their brothers and sisters differently. With renewed zeal, they hastened back to Jerusalem to testify of what they had seen. As Christ gave his life for humanity, Saint Vincent Pallotti also in experiencing the risen Lord, he desired to be food to satisfy the hungry, clothing to clothe the naked, drink to refresh the thirsty, medicine to strengthen the stomach of those who are weak, care to relieve the suffering of the sick, the crippled, the mute and the deaf,

light to enlighten those who are physically and spiritually blind, life to raise the dead by the grace of God. (OOCC X,115).”

As daughters and sons of Saint Vincent Pallotti, we have the great responsibility of perpetuating the ideal of the Founder. This is possible if we walk together in unity and fraternity. Walking alone we go fast and we get lost, but walking together we are strong and we can go far. Let us remember that our Holy Founder Vincent Pallotti bequeathed us his charism. At a time when the Church had to face crises relating to faith and found itself faced with the multiplication of its tasks for the mission, Pallotti realized the urgency of reviving faith and rekindling charity among Catholics and to unite all in Christ. The way he found to achieve this is the collaboration of all members of the Church, both the clergy and the laity, and to unite their efforts in order to promote more effectively the apostolic mission of the Church. (Preamble b.). Experts in Pallottine spirituality speak to us of collaboration as a gift above all gifts. If collaboration is lacking then let us know that the Union is in danger of ruin.

As an Auxiliary Body of the Church (General Statutes no. 58), the Union of the Catholic Apostolate needs to take a step forward in carrying out its mission in the Church. It is necessary to discover new initiatives that engage even the youngest in order to bring new oxygen to the entire Union. Routine is no longer useful. Being a tireless apostle, Pallotti never stopped inventing new methods to be the evangelical trumpet in the Church and in the world. He knew how to open up to the poor and the confined, to the sick and the marginalized, he took care of soldiers, workers, students and prisoners, he was a tireless confessor, he gave conferences to nuns and preached popular missions in parishes, he organized training for young people, adults and the clergy, he opened and supported orphanages, he spread the Good Press, he encouraged foreign missions, he inaugurated the Octave of the Epiphany.

Beyond everything, his concern is to be a man concerned with the infinite Glory of God and the salvation of men. Like the disciples of Emmaus, we must set out again to leave our routines and our comfortable zones and embrace new horizons. Today, there is so much to do around us, there is poverty of all categories: spiritual, material; isolated, people who lost their loved ones, lack of peace, refugees, the homeless, orphans, street children, widows and widowers, elderly people who live alone, people who live with incurable illnesses, drug addicts, people living with inner wounds, couples torn apart by all kinds of problems etc. All these needs around us need answers. The others are waiting for us.

We cannot wait to do great works but rather we can start with small concrete gestures to give our brothers and Sisters the hope of living. There is more joy in giving than in receiving. The following witness helps us see how the risen Christ walks with us when we decide to engage in his mission. Walking requires us to leave one place to go to another. This requires a firm decision and constant will. Every decision in life involves an Easter mystery. I die within myself so that Christ will resurrect me and give me new life in Him.

For us Missionary Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottines), walking with the risen Christ also means being available and accepting the mission entrusted to us. This availability allows us to live the Easter experience. Trusting in the one who calls us and sends us and reading the signs of the times, the Pallottine Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Kibeho Province (Rwanda), by the invitation of the Local Ordinary, they left their country to open a new mission in Brittany (Bretagne) in France in the Diocese of Vannes in the Parish of Saint Peter of Quistinic. They are aware that in the past it was the Missionaries of Europe who were going to evangelize as missionaries. Today, reading the signs of the times, the time has come for African missionaries and those from elsewhere to leave to share what they have received in response to Christ's invitation: “Go to all the world and proclaim the good news” (Mark 16, 15). In Brittany, the Sisters carry out their apostolate with children by giving them catechism and preparing them for the sacraments. They supervise those who feel the call to be altar boys and girls, they visit the elderly and give time to

listen to them, they bring Holy Communion to the sick and doffer accampaniement for those who desire it, they participate in funerals and take care of pastoral care in the parishes, they are part of the Parish choir and they lead Masses during the week... By citing these few apostolates it is to show how much others are waiting for us. It is not by their strength that the sisters fulfil their mission but thanks to the one who calls them and sends them. The sisters are grateful and they rejoice that the first missionaries prepared them well, instilling the missionary spirit in them.

Many elderly people live alone, they need someone to share at least a word with. How important it is to be with those who have lost their loved ones! The presence is very comforting. Sometimes we think that this or that person is used to living alone but deep down we all need each other. How encouraging it is to listen to Christians say that you Pallottine Sisters have brought oxygen to our Parishes. You are lightning rods. All this for the infinite glory of God.

I who write these pages have just spent more than three months in this mission and I give thanks to the Lord who wanted this mission here in Brittany. The others are waiting for us. By praying this prayer of our Pallottine community prayers, let us allow our heart be impregnated with it and let it to engage us again.

Pray:

Guide. Lord, the others are waiting for us:

Assembly. They expect something from us; they wait for our word;

they count on our patience

Guide. Many expect a letter from us, a visit; perhaps they are waiting for us

to give them our time, to look at them with compassion!

Assembly. The world needs us so much, those we meet expect us to call them by their own names.

Guide. Many people look for an open door in us; they need a place and a time to talk with us,  they want to share their burdens with us

Assembly. Now we bring to you, Lord, all those who have come into us:
 accept them and us also with our failings.

Guide. Give us the courage to hold the door of our heart open,
so that all those who seek us can only meet you.

Amen 

Sr Liberata Niyongira SAC

_____________________________________________

Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti, 204 00186 Roma, ITALIA

Tel: (+39) 06.6876827 E-mail: uacgensec@gmail.com

 www.vincenzopallotti.org

Apostles for Today January 2024

 Apostles for Today

January 2024

Prayer and Reflection

“Renewing Our Weary Hearts and Transforming Our Horizons”

Why did the Gospel of Emmaus inspire the Pallottine horizon?

 
    As it has been already informed, the IV General Congress of the Union of Catholic Apostolate is scheduled to take place from 25th to 31st July 2024 at the International College of Saint Lorenzo da Brindisi, Rome. In this well-furnished and historical house of the Capuchin Friars Minor, we plan to host the General Congress with the participation of up to a maximum of 200 members and collaborators from about 24 National Coordination Councils of the Union. As the General Statutes (Art.100) states, the General Congress will provide us with an opportunity to share ideas and experiences from diverse cultural and ecclesial backgrounds, in view of a more effective realization of the universal apostolate in the spirit of our Founder.
    The theme of the Congress will be: “With Christ, our hope, let us set out together with renewed joy and hope." "Of this you are witnesses” (Lk 24:48). The theme was chosen after a long period of discernment, in the spirit of Synodality, especially by the Commission for the Congress. Ever since the UAC General Assembly of 25th to 29th March 2022 and the General Coordination Council Meeting of 16th to 19th June 2022, the Word of God guiding the life of the Union was the Emmaus experience of the two disciples of Jesus, as described in the Gospel of Luke (cf. 24:13-35). 

    The life of the Union can be compared very much to the journey of the two disciples, right from the day of divine inspiration of Pallotti on 9th January 1835 until today. The 28th October 2003 was another decisive moment in its journey when the Universal Church re-affirmed once again the validity, relevance and beauty of Pallotti’s charism and approved its General Statutes as an international public association of the faithful of Pontifical Right, with its own juridical identity and person. We celebrated solemnly the 20th anniversary of this historical event on 28th October 2023.

    The Emmaus experience was also the key Scriptural text chosen by Pope Francis for his Message for the World Mission Sunday on 22 October 2023. The Holy Father wrote: “I have chosen a theme inspired by the story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke (cf. 24:13-35): “Hearts on fire, feet on the move”. Those two disciples were confused and dismayed, but their encounter with Christ in the Word and in the Breaking of the Bread sparked in them the enthusiastic desire to set out again towards Jerusalem and proclaim that the Lord had truly risen. In the Gospel account, we perceive this change in the disciples through a few revealing images: their hearts burned within them as they heard the Scriptures explained by Jesus, their eyes were opened as they recognized him and, ultimately, their feet set out on the way. By meditating on these three images, which reflect the journey of all missionary disciples, we can renew our zeal for evangelization in today’s world”.

    These words of Pope Francis sum up in many ways our aspirations for the General Congress of the Union. Our understanding of the Congress must not be limited only to the event in Rome. The journey of renewal of the life of the Union, before and after this event in Rome,is even more important. Otherwise, it will only serve to give an opportunity to the few participants to visit Rome and the Spiritual Center of the Union – which is certainly something good but not enough. We need to keep in mind also the enormous financial investment involved. 

    As UAC President, I cherish the following dreams for the Congress as well as for the entire Union. Firstly, our delusions and joys within the Union can be understood only when we journey with the Risen Lord and allow him to Break the Word and the Bread with us. Our primary responsibility is to proclaim the Risen Lord to the entire world and walk with the Church. Secondly, I wish and pray that our “hearts are set on fire” for St. Vincent Pallotti and his great charism. We need to do everything possible to rediscover the richness of our charism. Thirdly, our “feet on move” means engaging in concrete missionary activities in favor of God’s people, with particular attention to the poor and needy around the world. The Union cannot remain self-absorbed and self-serving; it needs to move out, especially to the peripheries of human existence and faith, and become an effective “evangelical trumpet”, inviting all to the apostolate of Jesus Christ. We need to listen to the “cries of the poor” and engage in the mission of compassion. That will give us the sense of purpose and inner joy.

    The radical living of the Gospel, thereby making it the fundamental rule of our life and apostolate, our commitment to the people of God, specially to the poor, and our ability to work and walk together as missionary-disciples of Jesus, always inspired and guided by the spirit and teachings of our Founder, are some of the elements that can set our hearts on fire and let our feet move forward.

    The General Congress will be one of the important moments of our journey together. However, if we truly intend to set out with renewed hope and joy in the company of the risen Lord, we need to go through a process of spiritual conversion. It is with such an intention that the monthly theme of “Apostles for Today” is chosen for this year. During the entire year 2024, we shall continue to meditate and pray over the many aspects of the main theme of the General Congress. I invite all the members and collaborators of the Pallottine Family to join in this spiritual journey together, under the maternal gaze of Mary, Mother of God and Queen of the Apostles, inspired by our Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti, and in the company of our Blessed Martyrs and Blessed Elizabeth Sanna.

    May the New Year 2024 set our hearts on fire for the Gospel and for God’s people, always inspired by the profound spirituality and prophetic charism of St. Vincent Pallotti.

P. Jacob Nampudakam SAC
UAC President
Rome, 1 January 2