Apostles for today - July 2023

Apostles for today

Prayer and Reflection 

July 2023

 The elderly, living signs of God's benevolence

We are all familiar with World Youth Day, but the fact that Pope Francis is inviting us for the third time to a "World Day of Grandparents and Elders" is new to many; this year it will be celebrated on 23 July. Well, as members of the Union of Catholic Apostolate, we know that Pallotti was never tired of emphasising that "everyone is called", everyone is called, always and at all times, to be an apostle, to participate in the mission of the Church and to bring faith and love to the world - everyone, including the elderly.

In the prayer to the Queen of Apostles, Pallotti points out all the ways to respond to this vocation of ours and makes us pray: "and if all else is denied us, let us not cease to pray that soon the one flock may be united under the one Shepherd Jesus Christ!" and for all of us - young and old - what Pallotti says applies: "... therefore the life of Jesus Christ, which is his apostolate be the model for the apostolate of each one" (OOCC III, 142).

What was Pallotti's time like? Elderly care as we know it today was still unknown. Pallotti did not know his grandparents, either on his father's or mother's side. But we know how worried he was about his parents growing old and becoming ill. As a student, Pallotti was not only active in youth work, but also helped at the St. Galla Hospice, a home for the homeless. His connection with San Michele a Ripa, in Trastevere, was also multifaceted.

For almost 30 years, Bernardino Fazzini was our founder's confessor and spiritual director. For many years he was parish priest of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and from 1825 until his death (1837) he was rector and parish priest of the Apostolic Hospice of San Michele a Ripa. This huge complex of buildings on the Tiber housed an orphanage, a youth prison and also a rest home for lonely old men and women. Since Pallotti often visited Fazzini, he must have also visited and cared for young and old people there.

The theme of this year's 'World Day of the Grandparents and the Elderly' chosen by Pope Francis is: 'From generation to generation his mercy' (Lk 1:50) and mercy is probably one of the key words that characterise Pallotti's life and work. Mercy addresses the whole person, and his physical and spiritual needs. In his 'enlightenment', his experience of prayer, on 9 January 1835, he became clearly aware of his vocation to also found "an institution of universal Charity in the exercise of all the spiritual, and corporal Works of Mercy, so that in every way possible You may be known in man; for You are infinite Charity." (OOCC X,199). His proxy plan shows how Pallotti envisioned this; it was a plan for thirteen working groups for the most diverse areas of the apostolate. Today this is probably a task for the Coordination Councils at all levels. The task of the ninth Procura (procura - from the Latin pro-curare, to care) was to care for the sick.

In the first half of the 19th century there were hardly any old people's homes. Therefore, the elderly who could not be cared for at home were often found in hospitals. Pallotti emphasized that works of corporal mercy open the sick to works of spiritual mercy. The task of the Twelfth Procura was Caritas, the care of the poor and needy - and the elderly were - and still are today - often present in both groups at the same time. When Pallotti saw people in need and in difficulty, he always tried to help them. There is nothing in his instructions for the work of this office that he himself did not experience. His instructions testify to both his love and his sober knowledge of human nature. 

In many countries of the world the number of elderly people is increasing and many of them suffer from loneliness due to illness and the death of close relatives. That is why the most beautiful and precious thing we can give the elderly is our time: time to visit them, time to spend with them, time to listen to them. And sometimes it helps us to remember: I too will grow old and become old. There is no maybe! I too will grow old one day.

Last year, Pope Francis spoke about the dignity and beauty of old age in several of his Catechesis at the General Audiences. In the catechesis of 22 June 2022, he went so far as to talk about the dialogue between the risen Jesus and Peter in the last chapter of John's Gospel. The Pope emphasizes here that we all grow old, can no longer help ourselves and need help. But 'the following of Jesus always goes on', with good or bad health; 'always follow Jesus, on foot, walking, slowly, in a wheelchair, but always following him'. And we pray that the Lord, who has called us all to follow him, will help us to do so.

In the Union we have many people who, despite their advanced age, are witnesses who continue to live their apostolate to the full. We share two examples that give us tenderness, joy and hope:

My name is Sister Guglielmina, I belong to the Congregation of the Pallottine Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate. 

For over forty years I have been carrying out my apostolic mission in Riposto (Sicily). For several years I taught in the kindergarten, and at the same time I took care of the boys who were in boarding school. To this day I take care of the children in the residential community: 'Piccoli Gabbiani'. All the children I take care of are scarred by big wounds: children with parents in prison, some of them abused in the family and other situations of poverty. All of them express their need for affection in their own way, sometimes even through big tantrums

and bullying. Of course, welcoming these frailties is not easy, and it takes a lot of human and spiritual strength to be there for all of them. I thank the Lord, because despite my 77 years of age, He always gives me new energy to deal with the daily grind of dealing with: anger, aggression, opposition from the children. This truly free service has enriched me and made me a happy woman and nun. I exercise my motherhood in this way and every day I bring to the Lord, in my prayers, the pain and hopes of the little ones and their families. (Sr Guglielmina Vozzo, CSAC - Italy)

..........................

I am Dayse, Brazilian, widowed, with a family of four children, five grandchildren, two sons-in-law and two daughters-in-law. We should live the stages of life intensely, with much love, experiencing and living God's Love. I am 73 years old and try to live this stage by serving God and my family. I am active in my parish, serving in visiting the sick, in formation, in leading retreats and in the UAC. In the family I am the pillar because I try to lead and be present in everyone's life. I am now experiencing one of the most rewarding phases of life, that of being a grandmother. As the matriarch of my family, I try to be the living memory of the family history and thus transmit the values of the Gospel, so that they can feel and experience the value of family. I try to live and thus teach through the testimony of life, acceptance, understanding, sharing and brotherly love. We must not get stuck in the past and think that we can no longer contribute to building a just and fraternal world. As long as there is life and health, let us reconcile our apostolic work with our family.  

PRAISE TO GOD FOR HIS INFINITE MERCY.

(Dayse da Conceição Barros da Conceição - Lay Pallottine Brazil)

Limburg, July 2023

P. Wolfgang Weiss SAC

Apostles for today - June 2023

 

Apostles for today

Prayer and Reflection 

June 2023

The Eucharist in the life of St. Vincent

Dear members of the Union of Catholic Apostolate,

In the month of June we continue our journey of reflection and formation. I would like to share with you, through three points; the path lived by Pallotti regarding his Eucharistic experience. At the end of these three points, I leave a question so that it can help us in our personal reflection on our charism, the charism of the Union, and also to make us reflect on our way of celebrating and living the Eucharist today, with the Church.

It all begins in the family.

We know that Pallotti would say, "The Lord gave me holy parents”1 ; the Eucharist was at the center of his family's faith life.

After the death of his mother, Fr. Vincent retired to the Monastery of Camaldoli (Frascati) and there wrote a long letter2 addressed to his spiritual director. In this text, Fr. Vincent "reported that his father heard at least one Mass every morning".3 The Eucharist was the comfort in his father's illness. Every morning priest Vincent brought him Holy Communion. Even on the day of his father's death he had received the Eucharist from Fr. Vincent.

The Priest Pallotti was also close to his brothers. We know that from his visit to his brother John (1805-1869) who was ill and he "...after the administration of the Most Holy Viaticum (...) had an instantaneous recovery”.4

Pallotti was admitted to First Communion in 1805 at the age of 10.5 In the school of the Clerics Regular of the Pious Schools, the students were also taught and encouraged "devotion to the Eucharist"6 and as a young man he was allowed to receive the Eucharist frequently. Our founder would remain in the family until 1837. In his house he had a small chapel to celebrate Mass. His parents, to facilitate the exercise of his ministry, made available to him the third floor at 130 Via del Pellegrino.

Let us ask ourselves: What place is given to the Eucharist in our families?

The Path to Priesthood

In his early writings we find his confident prayer in which he asks, "...I pray to my Jesus that from that Altar of the liveliest, and most wonderful love, where the Sacrament, day and night, dwells for the benefit of souls, he may deign to convert to himself with the odor of his ointments, to enlighten, sanctify, perfect, regulate, tranquilize, and console all these souls."7

Jesus in the Eucharist is for Pallotti the "most beloved Spouse of my Soul." And he proposed himself "in hearing some Bell ring" to raise his mind to God to glorify, praise and bless Him. In his Spiritual Protests and Devotional Exercises he writes: "I intend that all my actions, and of all creatures be immersed in the Most Precious Blood of J.C. and united to his merits, and the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass."8 With all creatures he wanted to be "perpetually occupied in the highest adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in all places where He is found".9

 And he intended that "the Most Holy Trinity and Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in everything be in my heart and soul”.10

His sense of unworthiness does not turn him away from the Eucharist. He writes "In the days preceding, accompanying, and following Communion I want to procure to excite myself to an interior consolation, and cheerfulness, because my soul is in Feast, and if it shall happen to me to receive Communion every day I will procure from time to time with the grace of God to excite myself to this interior cheerfulness."11 That is why Jesus in the Eucharist is "the more than beloved Spouse of my poor soul".12

We can end with Pallotti's prayer that says, "Jesus in the Sacrament, more than beloved Spouse of my Soul, I beseech You by the merits of Mary Immaculate, my more than loving Mother, and Sorrowful, and by the merits of the Angels, the Saints, and all the Righteous, vibrate from that Sacred Altar of Love most burning darts of charity into all Hearts, that all, all, may love You”.13

Let us ask ourselves: Personally, how do we approach the Eucharist? What are the feelings and thoughts that help me live a Eucharistic spirituality? The Eucharist in the life of the deacon and priest Pallotti We come to the third point: in the years "around the time of diaconal and priestly ordination”. 14 Pallotti, a young deacon, enrolled in the Confraternities "of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Lorenzo in Damaso"15 and "to the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ”.16

This is between the years 1817-1818. The sacred ministry is close to entering his life; there will always remain in him the desire to educate God's people to celebrate Holy Mass well and to turn away from blasphemy. For this he thought of the Reparatory Lauds that later became customary in the Church after the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament.17

From this period is his writing Method of some Pious Works, where he thought about the spiritual concerns different for men and women and decided that at the end of the practices, "the Holy Blessing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament will be given”.18

On May 16, 1818, he was ordained a priest and received "the faculty to celebrate Holy Mass in all churches in and around the city of Rome, as well as in the churches of the monasteries and private buildings”.19 This very great gift helped him deepen his unworthiness in the undeserved dignity of having been undeservedly elevated "to the most sublime degree of Priesthood"20 and he added that "it has deigned to raise me to the lofty Order of Priesthood...”.21 Before God he will always be "indignus sum sacrificium perpetuum Deo offerre". 22 And seventeen years later, in 1835, he will be able to say "Ah my God I already since 1818 made a Priest”.23

On May 17 he celebrated his first Mass in the Church of Jesus in Frascati. For the first time the voice of Vincent (alter Christus)said "Hoc est enim Corpus meum" and added "Hic est enim Calix Sánguinis mei, novi et aetérni testaménti: mysterium fídei: qui pro vobis et pro multis effundétur in remissiónem peccatórum." 

Let us ask ourselves: As a UAC member, does Pallotti inspire a particular way of celebrating Holy Mass?

Dear members of the UAC, I wanted to share these three points of St. Vincent's life and his close relationship with the Eucharist: they are just three points of a whole life penetrated by the Eucharist; indeed, he was so 'Eucharistic.' We could have seen even more, but I think these three selected points and even the questions can help us in this unending and endless journey to the infinity of God. 

P. Fabián Silveira, SAC 

___________________________________________

1  Luigi VACCARI, Compendio della vita del Venerabile Servo di Dio Vincenzo Pallotti, Roma, [s.e.], 1888, 11.

2 OOCC XIII, 915-950.

3 TODISCO (a cura di), San Vincenzo Pallotti profeta della spiritualità di comunione, 34.

4 ISTITUTO SAN VINCENZO PALLOTTI, Cronologia della vita di San Vincenzo Pallotti, Società dell’Apostolato Cattolico, Roma, 2018, 47.

5 Cfr. TODISCO (a cura di), San Vincenzo Pallotti profeta della spiritualità di comunione, 48.

6 Idem, 53.

7 OOCC X, 23, 102-103.

8 OOCC X, 76.

9 OOCC X, 77.

10 OOCC X, 88-89.

11 OOCC X, 110.

12 OOCC X, 111.

13 OOCC X, 102-103.

14 OOCC X, 145.

15 OOCC X, 499.

16 OOCC X, 500.

17 Idem, 427, 437-438 «Dio sia benedetto, benedetto il sia il Suo santo nome».

18 OOCC V, 443.

19 ISTITUTO SAN VINCENZO PALLOTTI, Cronologia della vita di San Vincenzo Pallotti, 31.

20 OOCC X, 148.

21 OOCC X, 324.

22 OOCC X, 160.

23 OOCC X, 264.

Apostles for Today April -2023

 

Apostles for Today

Prayer and Reflection

April 2023

Fix your eyes on the Light

 Fix your eyes on the light that comes from the resurrection of Christ For the Union monthly message "Apostles Today" I was asked to focus on the light that comes from the Resurrection of Christ. I thank you for the trust and I would like to share with you my thoughts on this topic.

Lumen Christi - the light of the Resurrection. What can we imagine by this, and is there something like this also for me, in my little life?

"Lumen Christi" we call out in the Easter Vigil. Light of the Risen Lord. A light that is not turned on and illuminates the room, but one that shines in us, especially in dark hours, and that becomes visible to others in our deeds. Thus, it is independent of lamps, lighters, and candles. It is not a light that you can forget at home and then not have when you urgently need it. Rather, this light is always with you once you have it. 

Light must hit something, otherwise it can neither shine nor work. The light of Christ illuminates us human beings, and we need it. We may thereby assume this unfinishedness of us humans as part of the divine plan of creation. When God created the world, he obviously had something completely different in mind than a finished, perfect museum piece. It did not concern him an earth without natural disasters and human total failure. He was hardly concerned with a faultlessly functioning "crown of creation". No, the earth consists of divine variety and intentional diversity. With humans as actors in it, who are to make this complex planet "subject" to themselves. 

This is less a free ride or an invitation to arbitrariness, but rather a task and responsibility. However, God places both possibilities of interpretation without restriction in the freedom of decision of man. I sometimes like to read this directive formulated in Genesis (Genesis 1,26-31) this way: "I hereby lend you perhaps my best work, to which I am very attached. I really had a lot of work with your planet and the design of all millions of living beings. Above all, I have been occupied with you humans. I have put great hope in you, and you have become terribly complicated about it, of course, but I wanted to have you just like that: In their decision free living beings - just also, what concerns the distinction of right and wrong. And because only you can do that, I love you more than anything else in the world. Infinitely much more, than you can already understand now! Honestly: if I had really wanted you differently, I would have had to make you only differently. Now listen, make the best of it. I wish that you use your huge chance for a fulfilled life in love and responsibility, by switching on your heart and your mind (what else would you have both for?). Because there is also something which I do not want at all: to I get sometime back from you a dying scrap heap called earth. Which has fallen victim to the obstinacy and the greed of people who always care more about themselves than about others! But I have infinite confidence in you. Maybe I will contact you occasionally, but you know how to find me. Let us stay in contact!".

But does the light of Christ show up in his first apostles as we know them from the New Testament? Were they a good mirror for the light that Jesus brought into the world not by means of prophets, but personally and as a human being? After all, these apostles sat "directly at the source", were allowed to get to know Jesus personally more exclusively than anyone else and even lived with him for a few years. They were eyewitnesses - in the immediate vicinity of the source of light. Could anything go wrong at all? At first glance, yes. Unlike Zacchaeus (Luke 19,1-10), for example, who met Jesus for only a few hours and then immediately turned his whole questionable life around, the apostles show very different sides of their personalities. 

Let us look at Peter. The rock on which Jesus wants to build his church- and makes him understand this quite clearly. When Peter wanted to walk on the water and when he looked at his feet instead of the Lord, he began to sink. But when Jesus is arrested after Judas' betrayal, the same highly determined apostle Peter cuts off Malchus' ear (John 18,10-11). He shows his willingness to defend Jesus and his loyalty in public, which was certainly not without danger for him. But soon after, this combative Peter is gone again when he despairs and three times denies even knowing Jesus. How does this fit together? And Thomas also leaves a strange impression. He belonged, as it were, to the inner circle of the disciples, had followed Jesus for a long time (John 15,15), but to the message of the resurrection of Jesus, who after all was his friend, he responded with doubt, demanded tangible proof (John 20,19-29). And the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: they were deeply disappointed and could not believe the "rumours" that He was alive; for what we do not understand cannot be true (Luke 24,32). Well, and then there is Judas, epitome of the traitor, for 2000 years without any forgiveness of mankind for his deed. 

Personally, I have sympathy for the minor slip-ups and some understanding for the major human failure of the first apostles. After all, in the face of their own inadequacy, it is also a relief to see how even Jesus' closest friends fail because of themselves, and how they always come to their senses afterwards and grow - with God's assurance of His forgiveness and help. Judas Iscariot, too, and above all, quickly felt the enormity of his deed, which disfigured him as a human being and completely alienated him from himself. The fact that in his despair he no longer wanted to know about his blood money and could not go on living also tests our own morality: 

who are we to judge his deeds? None of us can know how we ourselves would act in a comparable situation; what ways out we would see that another, tormented person no longer recognizes. It is even more so with Peter's famous denial and all the doubts of the disciples: for one thing, one must have the same experience and then do it better in order to feel superior to others. The first apostles tell us on this way that also we do not have to be perfect, God knows (!).

It is immensely comforting and perhaps the most valuable thing about our faith that God never loses sight of us or gives up on us with all our doubts, faults and even the very big sins. Never, never does the measure of His goodness seem to be finally full. For the light of the Resurrection always shines on us, and what we do not see and understand while we are alive hopefully becomes clear to us at the latest when we go home. In the Union, as baptized people, we consciously recognize the vocation to the apostolate; and you too, like many others in the world, are reading an issue of "Apostles Today." You are meant to be "apostles." Looking at these first apostles, we may consider how far we want to follow them and the saints and martyrs. Often, of course, we first look at our own doubts and imperfections in this question. But we should never overlook the good developments for which we may even have had enough faith and strength so far. We should be ever grateful for all what we, with God’s help, have achieved and done well, and where the light has already reached us. I was very lucky to be able to visit the Vinzent Pallotti College in Rheinbach, Germany, at the age of ten and to get to know very closely many Pallottine Fathers and Brothers over there. Probably none of them was a saint, but we experienced our teachers and prefects as very close and authentic. And yes, they were apostles. Not infrequently one could see and feel how they dedicated themselves to the weakest, to those who needed the most help. There was a lot of Pallotti in these men who could not have been more different, and yet they made common cause.

In fact, it does not have to be the very difficult testimonies to come to terms with oneself. Not everyone can be like Franz Reinisch, a Pallottine Father, who refused to take the oath of allegiance to Hitler and knew that he would be sentenced to death for it. Or a Vincent Pallotti who did as St. Martin did and shared his clothes with a needy person in the great cold - which brought him closer to his own death. Fortunately, most of us these days never get into situations where it is a matter of bare survival right away - just because we want to live our faith. Therefore, please be thankful that we can give so much to others without having to give up or put ourselves in danger. That we may pass on the light, for example, by contacting a lonely, disappointed, or needy person, so that, like an Easter candle, light may begin to glow in that person. The more we pass on this light, the more we ourselves become a light for the people around us, and can infect them with it.

I wish you all the personal blessing of such Easter experiences - for every day of the year.

Stefan H. Heuel UAC

Apostles for today March - 2023

 

Apostles for Today

Prayer and Reflection

March 2023

The mission of women in the Church and society

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Pallottine Family!

Write something pertaining to women; that was the assignment ... One cannot just talk about the great personalities among women in all eras and pretend that there is no problem. It would be shortsighted and above all dishonest. As a theologian who has spent her life in various church roles, I see and experience incessantly that the church, like all the great religious traditions of this world, is male-dominated. Religions are predominantly men's business. Men assume the sovereignty of interpretation over contents and norms. 

This is not only a mirror, a consequence of social situations, but also a motor and supposed justification for marginalization and discrimination in society. The reality of women is bleak - not only in Afghanistan - sometimes pitch black, sometimes in nuanced shades of grey, always dark in any case. Women are still often treated as second or third class human beings. Roman Catholic canon law is no exception, as lawyers can confirm. The fight against female mutilation and child marriages remains subdued, and the Codex Iuris Canonici still sets the marriageable age for girls at 14, which is far too young. The Black Book on the Status of Women presents repeatedly the most striking injustices worldwide. They are globally widespread, even if they are expressed differently in different cultures. 

And quite honestly: When you read "Apostles today", do you not think only of the twelve men under this heading and thus narrow the term "Apostles" to the circle of twelve. Yet, women are presented to us in the Gospels as the first witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, as the first messengers. In the meantime, Pope Francis has also recognized Mary Magdalene as an apostle and raised her feast day in the liturgical calendar to the status of a feast of the apostles. - What do you know about the prophetesses in the Hebrew Bible? Or are you as familiar with Junia, Thekla, Hanna, Phoebe, Susanne, Johanna as you are with Peter or Paul? 

Nowadays, when "religious leaders" meet at large inter-religious conferences with inflationary frequency, they almost go into overdrive in declaring their intention to work for human rights and peace. They are almost exclusively men belonging to religious communities who are often very hesitant to demand or implement human rights in their own country and in their own ranks, sometimes quite the opposite. The issue of gender justice is particularly affected by this. Incidentally, the Vatican as a state has not adopted the Declaration of Human Rights.

What does "justice" between women and men actually mean? They are different, after all. Can they then have the same dignity and rights? The Christian answer is a clear "yes". The reason is the presence of God within every human being. Here there is no difference. Whether old, young, woman, man or diverse, healthy or sick, all are equal in God and before God. The contingent diversity does not detract from the equality.

Walking the path of following Jesus then means becoming all things to all people, as Paul puts it. Moreover, God is also present in criminals and sinners, and their dignity and rights must always be respected. - This fundamental equality does not mean ignoring diversity. All human beings have feminine and masculine sides within them, some more, others less. 

There are no two identical women and no two identical men, not even in identical twins. This dissimilarity with all similarity is called analogy: the more similarity, the greater the dissimilarity. There is great freedom and strong dynamism in this realization. The persons in God are also similar and yet also dissimilar.

Likeness and dissimilarity belong together. Vincent Pallotti, who was a great mystic of the Trinity, was very aware of this.

One of his great themes was the "collaboration" of all people. He wanted to include everyone, whether baptized or not, women or men, religious or clergy - simply everyone. He recognized this cooperation, for which he strove, as a "gift" from God. He calls it "the most divine of all gifts". In it, this simultaneity of similarity and dissimilarity is realized. Pallotti sees human beings as capable of such collaboration, which reflects the togetherness of the three divine persons and draws its strength and dynamism from this. This collaboration is less a human achievement and more a gift from God. With this confidence we may dare and build this gift - women and men, in the Church and elsewhere....

If out of our commitment, our dedication then becomes the gift of our life, our life becomes and is allowed to become a gift for others, then the life "in persona Christi", to which we are all called, women and men, is realized in reality. Such liberation and freedom is reflected in the following Psalm, which I place at the end of my reflection:

Psalm 124:

If the LORD had not been on our side -
let Israel now declare -
if the LORD had not been on our side
when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us,
then they would have swallowed us alive,
then the floods would have engulfed us,
then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,
then the raging waters
would have swept us away.

Blessed be the LORD, 
who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler;
the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

I would like to invite you to a dialogue, a digital exchange. Whatever themes you would like to share, please write to the Center for Spirituality - Pallotti Institute in Vallendar/Germany. 

My Email address is
Proksch(at)pollittiner.org –
Take my best wishes for a blessed Easter season

Brigitte M. A. Proksch (Vallendar/Germany and Vienna/Austria

Apostles for Today February 2023

 Apostles for Today

February 2023

 Monthly Reflection

The Gift of Consecrated Life

On the occasion of World Day of Consecrated Life, I would like to reflect with you about
“the gift of Consecrated Life”. 

 

Consecrated life is a gift to the Church, it is born of the Church, it grows in the Church, and it is entirely directed to the Church. The call to consecrated life is a gift to the human person to become a fellow traveler. It is a partnership of alliance made between God and the person in the virtue of love. The person who has responded to God’s grace of a vocation to the priesthood and religious life is to yield the best of themselves with all creativity. Pope Francis calls Consecrated Life a pilgrimage of faith lived with joy and watchfulness. It requires tremendous courage for renunciation: to renounce the vanities of this world. Time and again we have so many men and women who have joyfully come forward to embrace the gift of Consecrated life. It is admiring to listen to their mesmerizing experience of giving up their positions, power and glory for a higher calling to Consecrated Life. It is the personal touch of God (charisma) which can’t define or describe in words but to feel themselves alone. While speaking to a newly ordained priest from Kerala, India, the impression that remained with me is “God is so attractive” because such a charming personality has climbed the altar of God to offer the sacrifice and become the sacrifice of God, which is impossible in this modern era. A small introduction about this priest, ‘at the age of 24 having completed his post-graduation in commerce he had responded to God’s call. At that time his status in society was ‘a top singer who won many awards from the reality show, sang in many albums, and had developed a carrier in the film industry recording more than 50 songs. Well integrated and appreciated and got the title ‘God of Music (Gana Gandarvan)’. The beauty of this call is, ‘the choice is made by God, and which is made possible to man irrespective of his state of being’.

 

Dimensions of Consecrated Life in line with the Church and St Vincent Pallotti Late Pope Benedict XVI’s in his address to the religious on the World Day of Consecrated Life in the year 2008 said that “consecrated life calls us to refer constantly to the Gospel, to remain very much alive and fertile, bearing fruit for the salvation of souls. Further, he brought out different expressions of consecrated life from various founders of institutes, and then in his statement, he quoted from St. Vincent Pallotti in the following words: “Since the life of Jesus Christ is the fundamental rule of our small congregation...we must aim at what is most perfect always and in everything”. It was well quoted by His Holiness and it is also affirming that our Pallottine way of life is Christ-centered.

 

Christocentric Dimension: Consecrated life is a call to share this love of Christ by accepting the invitation to be in union with Him and to follow Him by living the evangelical councils for the Kingdom of God. There is a missionary aspect in following Jesus who was sent by God, to evangelize manifesting the infinite love of God. The Holy Spirit prompts us to imitate Christ the missionary, therefore the consecration of Jesus is the model for every consecrated person and love is the hallmark of every man and woman who has responded to his call, like St. Paul “the love of Christ impels us on” (2 Cor 5:14); “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” (I Cor 9:16). It is through an authentic witnessing of Christ that one arrives at the new evangelization.

 

Prophetic Dimension: A prophet is the announcer of the Kingdom of God. Consecrated men and women by choosing to live the evangelical counsels give personal testimony to the Kingdom of God by the power of God’s grace. The prophetic dimension includes risking one’s life in proclaiming and living the evangelical counsels and in bearing witness with boldness. The consecrated persons profess the evangelical councils and live according to the Charism which is bestowed by God as a gift to their founders or foundresses. There has been a continuous reawakening in the past decades; it is also very much confirming Pope Francis’s declaration of 2014-2015 as the year of consecrated life, for reawakening in them the joy of evangelization and for challenging them to be a prophet to the nations.

 

Ecclesial Dimension: Consecrated life is a vital part of the Church and it is lived in the world. It is apt to say that consecrated life is at the heart of the Church because it is an “intimate part of her, her holiness and her mission”. Vatican II highlighted the concept of communion in and out of the Church in all walks of life. Both contemplative and apostolic style of life intends to work for the welfare of the Church and its people. It emphasizes the aspect of ‘Koinonia’, that is the life of communion which is the first message of consecrated life.

 

Apostolic Dimension: The apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, following the footsteps of the Vatican Council emphasizes the vocation of all the baptized faithful. The call is a concern not only of pastors, clergy, and men and women religious. The call is addressed to everyone: lay people as well are personally called by the Lord, from whom they receive a mission on behalf of the Church and the world. According to Pallotti, every baptized person is an apostle. Therefore, let every catholic who lives in the Church of Jesus Christ be consoled; because whether Priest or lay person, whether with his talents, potentials, relationships, profession, words, possessions and material goods, and if with nothing else at least with his prayers and if he does all he can so that the faith of Jesus Christ is spread in the whole world, he will acquire the merit of the Apostolate, and much, much more accordingly as he commits himself to this goal. Pope John Paul II when he visited the church of San Salvatore at Onda in Rome on the 22nd of June, 1986, in his homily said: “Continue to increase your commitment so that which Vincent Pallotti prophetically announced, and which the Second Vatican Council authoritatively confirmed, may become a happy reality and that all Christians become authentic apostles of Christ in the Church and the world!”

 

As I conclude this reflection on Consecrated Life I would like to emphasize the words of Pallotti. Pallotti stressed the word ‘apostle’ because all Christians have been called to be apostles. The nature of the church is missionary; therefore, everyone has been called to the mission of the church to evangelize the gospel. The Church's mission of salvation in the world is realized not only by the ministers in virtue of the Sacrament of Orders but also by all the lay faithful; indeed, because of their Baptismal state and their specific vocation, in the measure proper to each person, the lay faithful participate in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Christ.

 

Everyone can render their service to society and their fellow traveler in all possible ways in their state of life, be it priests or lay persons; rich or poor; educated or illiterate; an elite group of people or common; persons belonging to any profession under any status or any vocation and any race or nation. They can be effective in their field by doing well what they have been called to fulfill. Even if a person has no job, no talents, no health, no efficiency, or is aged or sick he can still perform an apostolate through their prayers. The Pastors, therefore, ought to acknowledge and foster the ministries, offices and roles of the lay faithful that find their foundation in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, indeed, for a good many of them, in the Sacrament of Matrimony.

 

St. Vincent Pallotti had envisioned beautifully this universal call to the mission of the Church. The spirit of Pallotti echoes again and again when Pope Francis announced the theme of the 16th Synod of Bishops: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”. ‘Synod on Synodality’ is walking together and listening to one another but above all to the Holy Spirit.

Sr. Elizabeth Beena, CSAC

Apostles for Today - January 2023

Apostles for Today - January 2023

Prayer and Reflection 

Announcers of the Word like St. Vincent Pallotti

This year, 2023, the celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God coincides with January 22. For us, it is a day of great feast, the feast of the Founder's birth into heaven, St. Vincent Pallotti. The Church draws The theme of this Day from the First Letter of John: "We proclaim to you what we have seen" (1 John 1:3); hence the title of the day itself: "Announcers of the Word!" And so, thanking the UAC General Secretariat for the invitation to write and following its outline for this month of January, I will try in this contribution to make the words of St. Vincent Pallotti and the Word of God, which is Jesus, speak to each other, to put them in dialogue with each other. It does not seem difficult to make this connection, because, fortunately, we have an infinite heritage of the Founder's words: the Complete Works, the Letters, the testimonies of those who knew him. So I said to myself, "I'll take a little bit from here and a little bit from there, and that's it: Jesus and St. Vincent said the same words."

But then, once again, I realized that just as with the Gospel, it is not enough just to read it or say it to call ourselves Christians, disciples of Jesus - Mary, Joseph, the apostles and all (men and women) who followed Christ understood it well -; in the same way, the words that St. Vincent wrote, said are - also for me, for us today - a mirror of what the lived Gospel matured in him and made him discover that the life of God, of the Trinity, is possible to welcome it in everyday life and in communion with every brother, sister.

"Remember that you are in the presence of God and say in faith - The Father who created me stands here - the Son, who redeemed me stands here - the Holy Spirit, who sanctified me stands here. I stand in the company of the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity - Oh what a company!" (OOCC XI, 236).

Yes precisely this always strikes and shocks me about the Founder: his relationship with Christ was vital and he lived it not as ethical or functional behavior but as active adherence, as participation in living Christ in all and with all.

"God is charity by essence; he is always solicitous for the benefit of every person, and he was solicitous even to the point of sending his Only Begotten Son to redeem humanity by his death on the cross. Since therefore all persons, as creatures, are living images of divine charity, so all must in their possibilities love God by loving their neighbor." (OOCC IV, 308)

And even more it strikes and shocks me that this life of his was not his alone, but he shared and broke it with everyone. As if to say that the life of Jesus in me does not separate me from others, but is to be lived with others, because Jesus is all in all.

"God, with infinite Love, and with His infinite Mercy created us in His image and likeness to come to be like Him in glory for all eternity. Out of the same infinite loving Mercy He called disobedient Adam, and as in love with man so ungrateful, and miserable, He promised him the Redeemer, and for Redeemer His own unique divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ true God, and true Man in soul, body, and divinity is ours, and the whole life of Jesus Christ, his infinite merits, his most perfect virtues are all ours" (God, Infinite Love, Med. XXII)

Many are the words of St. Vincent that touch us deeply and even if we repeat them many times, even when we happen to use them abstractly, we realize that they are our compass for loving God and loving our brothers and sisters.

"The pious Union has no new object, but the eternal Law of Charity" (OOCC IV, 317).

I believe that the greatest gift we can give the Founder on the occasion of January 22 is that we also commit ourselves, with God's grace, to re-practice among ourselves and with everyone the life of Jesus Christ as our fundamental rule. Thus, daily Practical Memory will gain more and more flavor as an experience to be lived.

Of course, sometimes it seems to me that it would be easier for me to think of Pallottine spirituality as a form of devotion, certainly there is that aspect as well; but in my dealings with members all over the world, I realize that it is a concrete way of ongoing conversion to the Good News of Jesus.

"Before beginning daily works, we must consider what the thoughts of the most holy mind of our Lord Jesus Christ would be in that case ... in a word, in everything we must imagine that we see our Lord Jesus Christ ... our model" (OOCC III, 36).

Might this not also be the deeper meaning of this other famous word of the Founder: reviving faith and rekindling charity?
I would like to conclude this contribution with the first prayer of the faithful during the Mass of the Epiphany of the Lord, and I think it is of value for the whole work of St. Vincent Pallotti, the Union of the Catholic Apostolate:
For the Church and her unity: may she walk in peace to manifest to the world the plan of communion that God wants for all peoples. Amen

Happy Feast and in communion with all,

Donatella Acerbi

Apostles for Today December 2022

 Apostles For Today

December 2022

Synodality in the Vision of St. Vincent Pallotti

   -In the Vademecum (1.3) sent out by the Synod of Bishops, we read “...synodality is not so much an event or a slogan as a style and a way of being by which the Church lives out her mission in the world. The mission of the Church requires the entire People of God to be on a journey together, with each member playing his or her crucial role, united with one another. A Synodal Church walks
forward in communion to pursue a common mission through the participation of each and every one of her members.”

   St. Vincent’s vision has invited us to be a Synodal Church. Through his life and work, we recognize all the elements mentioned above and realize that this has been our calling as members of the Union
of Catholic Apostolate. This is what we are called to live and have been living to a greater degree since our erection as an International Public Association of the Faithful on October 28, 2008. Many of us are acquainted with the picture of St. Vincent holding the crucifix and pointing to Christ on the cross. This is the basis for his vision. He was totally aware of the infinite and incomprehensible love God has for us all, whose Word became flesh and died on the cross to redeem
us. St. Vincent’s desire/vision was that everyone would come to know this great love and respond in kind to Him.

   Every journey must have a goal or destination to which it moves. We do not wander aimlessly, not knowing where we are going or why. The goal for our journey in the Union, and in the Church, is – to live in all eternity with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is what we have been created for and Jesus showed us how we are to accomplish this – “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10, 27) As Jesus, and St. Vincent, we are to put God at the center of our lives because He is the goal we strive for, our destination. 

    For St. Vincent, this starts and builds with prayer. He spent many hours in prayer, listening to the Lord, to aid him in his vocation and in the work he was to accomplish. “The humble, continuous and trustful practice of prayer (vocal and mental) is the greatest infallible means to obtain graces and divine blessings for our greater sanctification, for the greater progress of the glorification of God
and the greater sanctification of our neighbour. All, therefore, should be diligent in prayer.” (OOCC II,63)

   It is our obligation but also our privilege to be people of prayer in the UAC by means of our Prayer Book “UAC - Community Prayers”, the recitation of the rosary, lectio divina and other forms of meditation with scripture, all prayed individually or with others. St. Vincent also encourages us to
pray frequently during the day, using short ejaculations that will help us to keep God in mind and present for us. Prayer and the Eucharist are means for us to build community and become a family. In this family, we all have equal rights and responsibilities, though differing roles. This family offers us continued education in the faith, support in our joint efforts for the mission, encouragement when times are difficult and a place where we are welcomed. As St. Paul says, “The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor. 5, 14) “These words are meant to say that the motto of the Union is Love of Christ impelling and that the soul of the Union of Catholic
Apostolate is and should be “Love”. Love should be practiced in such a manner as to fulfill the precept of the Lord Jesus and to fulfill his commandment, “love one another, as I have loved you.” (OOCC I,8)

   We are to act, not just to bask in the love God showers on us through prayer. We are to act together, because “Reason and experience prove that individual efforts for good are ordinarily small, inconsistent and short-lived and that a man’s most generous efforts cannot achieve any great success even in the moral or religious order unless they are united together and directed to a common goal.”
(OOCC IV,122).

   St. Vincent may have been the one to provide incentive and leadership for his Union, but he did not undertake everything alone. He included and invited the laity, priests, brothers and sisters to make things happen – collecting monies for the missions, running the house for orphan girls, visiting those in prison and in hospitals, caring for the sick and the poor, helping during the epidemic, teaching the youth. He knew that he could not do all this alone and achieve much success. Part of the charism he left for us is also to show our love for neighbour through charitable works of mercy. “Jesus came to serve and not to be served: so who can refuse to live with this spirit of mutual service?” (OOCC VIII,405) “In the Christian and religious life there is more to do than to say. So, few words and many works, and good works done well.” (UAC – Community Prayers, p. 265, #23)

   All the faithful, by right of their baptism, are called to be part of the Apostolate of the Church, reviving faith and rekindling charity, using all the gifts God has bestowed on each one for the greater glory of God and for our salvation and that of our neighbour. In the UAC, members working together, priests, brothers, sisters and the laity, walking in unity, help bring the mission of the Church to life. “Everyone, then, who, according to his state in life and his talents, trusts in the divine grace and tries to do as much as he can for the Propagation of Faith, can merit the name ‘Apostle’, and what he does for that purpose can be characterized as his ‘Apostolate’.” (OOCC III,142) “’Catholic Apostolate’ or ‘Universal Apostolate’ means that it is Universal to every class or persons and also means to do everything possible for the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls.” (OOCC III,143)

   Returning to the definition of synodality given above, we can see that St. Vincent was a man with a vision that was ahead of his time. The UAC members, united by the charism of St. Vincent Pallotti, form one body of people who pray, plan and work together for the greater glory of God. They are formed in the charism so that they may go out into the world of their daily lives to bring Christ to others through their example, dedication, commitment and conviction that reviving faith and rekindling charity will bring others to belief and life in Christ, which is also the mission given us by the Church.

Maria Domke