“To
everybody: strain forward in joy!...”
fr. Guido Gandolfo, ssp
After reaching the end of this splendid online journey – “a
month with our Founder” –, a question spontaneously arises: what
fruit do we want to derive from it? In other words: how can we give
continuity to the enlightenments that this rich Family experience
has given us?
One more time Fr. Alberione himself comes to our help. In fact, we
can get some indications from the meditation that he gave in the
Sanctuary of the Queen of Apostles on the morning of 29 June 1957,
on the 50th anniversary of his ordination.
In that circumstance the Founder manifested first of all the
sentiments that filled his heart and that he wanted to be shared by
all who were present; secondly, he addressed to all the
Congregations words of great meaning that even today we cannot read
without being touched.
What is his trust for the journey
that lies ahead of us? We get it from the very lips of our Founder.
1.
First of all, a very heartfelt praise to the Lord. Fr.
Alberione feels that everything has been God’s gift: the
continuous inspirations from Above, the approvals on the part of the
Church, the recognitions of the Papal Dicasteries, etc. For the
Founder, the merit belongs to his sons and daughters: “You have
worked well, corresponded to your vocation”. And while he praises
the Lord and desires that such attitude be constant in the Pauline
Family, he warns that it is not an easy thing: “Praising is one
of the difficult duties; few people really know how to praise in a
Christian and religious way...” However, he has no doubts: “Each
of you, tell Jesus with simplicity and deep gratitude: ‘by
the grace of God, I am what I am..’”.
At a distance of fifty years, well
aware of God’s amazing benevolence toward us, our praise becomes
truly unceasing...
2.
An exact orientation: “Every day following the steps of
the Apostle”. Fr. Alberione reminds that God’s benevolence “has
placed us on a path and an apostolate that is different from what
until now has been normally followed”. A recurring conviction of
the Founder was that saint Paul “made himself” the Pauline Family;
and already some years ago he had interpreted the recommendation of
the Apostle in this manner: “He says to the Paulines: Know, love,
follow the Divine Master Jesus... This invitation is general, for
all his believers and devotees. For us there is something more since
we are his children. Children receive their life from their father;
therefore live in him, of him, for him, in order to live Jesus
Christ... Jesus Christ is the perfect original; Paul was made a
form for us and also for us he made himself so; whereupon in him we
are forged in order to reproduce Jesus Christ...” (San Paolo,
October 1954).
From here, the clear commitment: “Let the Pauline Family, composed
of many members, be Paul living in a social body. Know and meditate
Saint Paul in your life, works, letters; so as to think, reason,
talk, operate according to him; and to invoke his fatherly help”.
3. A
pressing invitation: “To live more perfectly our life that
God has willed”. Fr. Alberione reminds about the “fundamental
question” that he asked together with his closest collaborators: “Do
these Families, in their constitutions, spirit, apostolate, and
organizations have a spirituality and an apostolate that enables
them to give some saints to heaven and apostles to the Church?”.
This is the single concern of Fr. Alberione: that all his children,
sons and daughters, be saints and apostles. Better yet:
saints-apostles capable of giving Christ Jesus to the men of today
with the means of today!
It’s a trust that asks for commitment, no doubt. But infusing us
full confidence is the powerful intercession of our blessed Founder,
as he himself has promised: “In this way I intend to belong to this
wonderful Pauline Family: as a servant, now and in heaven, where I
shall take care of those who employ the most efficacious modern
means for good: in sanctity, in Christ [and] in the Church”
(AD 3). | 