Pope Francis says "To take up this challenge, do not be afraid to cultivate in you and around you the "triple love" that..." FULL TEXT to Religious
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE
AUGUSTINIANS OF THE ASSUMPTION (ASUNCTIONISTS)
Hall of the Consistory
Thursday, June 22, 2023
________________________________________
Dear brothers, good morning and welcome!
I am pleased to welcome you as you approach the end of your 34th General Chapter. I greet the new Superior General - thanking the outgoing one for his work - and I extend my best wishes to you and to the Council you have elected.
I would like to share some reflections on the theme that guides your Chapter work: "The Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk 1:15). Live and proclaim the hope of the Gospel. This is a good way to update the motto left by your founder, the Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon, in the spirit of Saint Augustine: Adveniat Regnum tuum! Indeed, one of the main missions of apostolic religious life is to manifest very concretely, in daily life, this closeness of the Kingdom, and therefore this hope for every person and for the whole world. Wherever you are, you are signs of the Kingdom by your closeness to the people to whom you are sent.
This closeness naturally passes through works, both those proper to your Congregation and those linked to the apostolic initiatives of the Church to which you contribute. But, beyond the actions, it is the very fact of bringing you close to people, starting with those who most need a supportive and fraternal presence, that shows them that the Kingdom of God is approaching that there is some horizon, that there is some hope, that life is not closed: make this felt through your evangelical testimony. Witness has this strength: to open the windows to see the hope of a Kingdom that is near.
In this regard, I am pleased to mention in particular two achievements, already consolidated and still alive, of your Congregation: the apostolate of pilgrimages, beginning with the National Pilgrimage to Lourdes, whose fervor you have spread to distant countries, up to the Latin America. I remember, as a child, that there were the Assumptionist Sisters in Buenos Aires, and from there they organized pilgrimages to Lourdes. As a child… He was like a star to be reached for… I remember this well. And then your commitment to the media, which you develop today on all continents, for a varied audience, even those far from the Church.
Let me also recall one of your apostolates historically more incisive and still present, albeit more modest: your Eastern Mission. Thank you! I encourage you to carry out this mission, in the Middle East where the condition of Christians is threatened, and in Eastern Europe, where the war in Ukraine endangers the civil and religious balance of the region. I also want to express the gratitude of the Holy See for the fidelity of your commitment to the small Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite in Bulgaria, which counts on you. Your long experience of dialogue with Orthodoxy, as well as with Islam and Judaism, is invaluable for the Church; may it make of you, today more than ever, artisans of unity and communion at the service of peace.
The objective of your General Chapter was to define the broad lines of your action for the six years to come. [to the Superior] And it's up to you to lead this. I assure you of my prayers and my trust so that you can invest the best forces in it, especially those of the countries of the South of the world which, in your Institute as in many others, are taking over the now declining resources of the North. I am told that one out of three members of your Institute is in formation. This is big! In this moment of scarcity of vocations, of zero birth rate, "occasional", so to speak, this is a grace. This remarkable proportion opens up prospects for the future, but at the same time constitutes a great challenge for the transmission of your charism. Please, that those in formation receive the charism well. I give thanks with you for this renewed vitality which the Lord grants you. And I invite you to welcome this novelty without fear, as a sign of the times, even if it can sometimes frighten us: we are all a little afraid of the novelty, but we must be courageous. Isn't the Kingdom of God in itself a radical irruption of novelty for our humanity? And this. Brave.
To take up this challenge, do not be afraid to cultivate in you and around you the "triple love" that Father d'Alzon taught you: to love Christ, to love the Virgin Mary and to love the Church. Thus you will be faithful to your charism and you will find both faithful and innovative ways to actualize it.
In all these things, these old and new ways, dear brothers, you can count on my prayers and my trust. The Church trusts you. I wish you all a happy conclusion of the Chapter and a good mission, wherever the Lord sends you. I bless all. And please don't forget to pray for me.
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE
AUGUSTINIANS OF THE ASSUMPTION (ASUNCTIONISTS)
Hall of the Consistory
Thursday, June 22, 2023
________________________________________
Dear brothers, good morning and welcome!
I am pleased to welcome you as you approach the end of your 34th General Chapter. I greet the new Superior General - thanking the outgoing one for his work - and I extend my best wishes to you and to the Council you have elected.
I would like to share some reflections on the theme that guides your Chapter work: "The Kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk 1:15). Live and proclaim the hope of the Gospel. This is a good way to update the motto left by your founder, the Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon, in the spirit of Saint Augustine: Adveniat Regnum tuum! Indeed, one of the main missions of apostolic religious life is to manifest very concretely, in daily life, this closeness of the Kingdom, and therefore this hope for every person and for the whole world. Wherever you are, you are signs of the Kingdom by your closeness to the people to whom you are sent.
This closeness naturally passes through works, both those proper to your Congregation and those linked to the apostolic initiatives of the Church to which you contribute. But, beyond the actions, it is the very fact of bringing you close to people, starting with those who most need a supportive and fraternal presence, that shows them that the Kingdom of God is approaching that there is some horizon, that there is some hope, that life is not closed: make this felt through your evangelical testimony. Witness has this strength: to open the windows to see the hope of a Kingdom that is near.
In this regard, I am pleased to mention in particular two achievements, already consolidated and still alive, of your Congregation: the apostolate of pilgrimages, beginning with the National Pilgrimage to Lourdes, whose fervor you have spread to distant countries, up to the Latin America. I remember, as a child, that there were the Assumptionist Sisters in Buenos Aires, and from there they organized pilgrimages to Lourdes. As a child… He was like a star to be reached for… I remember this well. And then your commitment to the media, which you develop today on all continents, for a varied audience, even those far from the Church.
Let me also recall one of your apostolates historically more incisive and still present, albeit more modest: your Eastern Mission. Thank you! I encourage you to carry out this mission, in the Middle East where the condition of Christians is threatened, and in Eastern Europe, where the war in Ukraine endangers the civil and religious balance of the region. I also want to express the gratitude of the Holy See for the fidelity of your commitment to the small Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite in Bulgaria, which counts on you. Your long experience of dialogue with Orthodoxy, as well as with Islam and Judaism, is invaluable for the Church; may it make of you, today more than ever, artisans of unity and communion at the service of peace.
The objective of your General Chapter was to define the broad lines of your action for the six years to come. [to the Superior] And it's up to you to lead this. I assure you of my prayers and my trust so that you can invest the best forces in it, especially those of the countries of the South of the world which, in your Institute as in many others, are taking over the now declining resources of the North. I am told that one out of three members of your Institute is in formation. This is big! In this moment of scarcity of vocations, of zero birth rate, "occasional", so to speak, this is a grace. This remarkable proportion opens up prospects for the future, but at the same time constitutes a great challenge for the transmission of your charism. Please, that those in formation receive the charism well. I give thanks with you for this renewed vitality which the Lord grants you. And I invite you to welcome this novelty without fear, as a sign of the times, even if it can sometimes frighten us: we are all a little afraid of the novelty, but we must be courageous. Isn't the Kingdom of God in itself a radical irruption of novelty for our humanity? And this. Brave.
To take up this challenge, do not be afraid to cultivate in you and around you the "triple love" that Father d'Alzon taught you: to love Christ, to love the Virgin Mary and to love the Church. Thus you will be faithful to your charism and you will find both faithful and innovative ways to actualize it.
In all these things, these old and new ways, dear brothers, you can count on my prayers and my trust. The Church trusts you. I wish you all a happy conclusion of the Chapter and a good mission, wherever the Lord sends you. I bless all. And please don't forget to pray for me.
Source: Vatican.va Bulletin with Screenshot
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