Pope Francis Tells Religious Sisters "You are mothers...because with your love, your attention to all their needs, you generate them to the Love of God..." FULL TEXT

 VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

FOR THE DAUGHTERS OF CHARITY

__________________________________

Dearest Sisters,

you are gathered in Assembly in Paris at your Mother House in Rue du Bac, to reflect, in the light of the Gospel, on your mission. The theme you have chosen is courageous, “ Ephata ”, and leads you to consider the need to “cross the threshold of the door”, not to tire of “going towards”, of “meeting”. This has been your characteristic from the very beginning. A company of women made to go and bring the love of Christ to the poor. This has led you all over the world not only to assist the poor in large institutes, hospitals, orphanages, schools, but to visit them, to go to meet them in the places where they live, to participate together with them in the paths of human growth, of promotion of life, of spiritual care.

I invite you to look at the beauty of your vocation, which is beautiful! God has entrusted the poor to you, his beloved ones: to you! You are mothers and sisters to them, not mothers-in-law !, mothers and sisters. Mothers because with your love, your attention to all their needs, you generate them to the Love of God and reopen them to the beauty of life. Sisters because you support them in their condition and accompany them to rediscover dignity in the many life paths you take with them. 

 

 In this way you become more and more Daughters of Charity which, according to the thought of your founder, St. Vincent de Paul, means being Daughters of God, the image of the greatest Love that God himself has witnessed to us.

As Daughters of Charity, in this time marked by so many contradictions and so many forms of marginalization, you have a historical role as women who live a particular form of consecration, that of accompanying so many of our brothers and sisters who are victims of violence, of discrimination, of making them grow children first victims of the abuses of adults, to guard and defend the life around you, with your smile, your care, your dedication to the service of the little ones. I invite you to work so that all are guaranteed the fundamental rights that ensure a dignified life, to contribute to safeguarding our common home, to transmit the faith and Christian values ​​to the new generations, and to educate them to care for one another. There is so much to do! God is calling you to respond with your generosity.

You are still a great spiritual force in the Church and in the world. I pray to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, the only Mother of your Company, to keep you in your vocation and to give impetus to your mission. May the Lord bless you, may Our Lady keep you. And please don't forget to pray for me. Thanks!

FULL TEXT Source: Vatican.va + Image Screenshot