Pope Francis says "War does this: it makes children lose their smiles. Work so that they regain the ability to smile!"
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On the occasion of their General Chapter, Pope Francis urges the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Ploermel – known as the La Mennais Brothers – to be “fathers who reflect the loving and compassionate face of God”.
Consistory Hall - Monday, April 22, 2024________________________________________
Dear brothers,
I welcome you on the occasion of your General Chapter. I greet the Superior and each of you and express my closeness to all your brothers scattered throughout the world. I give thanks to the Lord for the work of his Spirit which is manifested in your charism, that is, the evangelization of children and young people through 'education.
This Chapter of yours comes in the wake of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Institute, and offers you the opportunity to return to the fundamental intuitions that guided the Venerable Jean-Marie de La Mennais and Father Gabriel Dashayes. Today their work is present in various countries around the world, because they have believed that everything is possible to those who entrust themselves totally to the Lord and place themselves at the service of the integral human development of every person. We must never forget where we come from and always preserve the memory of the reasons for our actions.
Dear brothers, you work in regions of the world where poverty, youth unemployment and social crises of all kinds are rampant. I therefore exhort you to be fathers for those to whom you are sent, fathers who reflect the loving and compassionate face of God. In an ever-changing world, you generously place yourselves at the service of young people, attentive to their aspirations and at the same time always turned to Christ, supreme rule of your life. Your vocation pushes you to go where others do not go, to the periphery, towards the people who form the category of the rejected, the wounded by life and the victims. May your presence be a source of hope for many. In your spirit of brotherhood and welcome, they recognize another face of humanity disfigured by wars, indifference and the rejection of the weakest. Those children, those young people, those people also have dreams, but today, for many reasons, they are shattered dreams. May you help them relive their dreams, believe in them and make them come true!
Children play, even under bombs, in countries at war. When we see photographs of these countries, there are children playing. But one thing that strikes me, when children from Ukraine who have moved here and live here come here to Rome, these children do not smile: they have lost their smile. War does this: it makes children lose their smiles. Work so that they regain the ability to smile!
Dear brothers, the Church is a family and all of us, in the variety of charisms and vocations, cooperate for the salvation of man. In this stupendous mystery of communion, I can count on your filial trust and your attachment to the ministry of the Successor of Peter. I encourage you to work in close collaboration with the dioceses where you are on mission and with the faithful People of God; to keep every spirit of pride, closure, division and gossip away from your life. Gossip does a lot of harm to religious communities. A good resolution for a religious man and woman would be to bite their tongue every time they feel like speaking badly about the other. It would be a good idea, wouldn't it? In fact, «being the Church means being the People of God, in accordance with the great plan of love of the Father. This implies being the leaven of God among humanity" (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 114).
At the end of your Chapter, you will renew the consecration of the Institute to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May your pedagogy always be inspired by the one who, with her total "yes", agreed that God's salvific plan for humanity should be fulfilled in his person. May she help you to cultivate the zeal to set out to serve, to cultivate humility, trust in God and the joy of being servants of his tenderness and of his mercy. Please don't lose the joy, please!
I heartily bless you and all your brothers in every part of the world, as well as the young people you accompany. Please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you!
Consistory Hall - Monday, April 22, 2024________________________________________
Dear brothers,
I welcome you on the occasion of your General Chapter. I greet the Superior and each of you and express my closeness to all your brothers scattered throughout the world. I give thanks to the Lord for the work of his Spirit which is manifested in your charism, that is, the evangelization of children and young people through 'education.
This Chapter of yours comes in the wake of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Institute, and offers you the opportunity to return to the fundamental intuitions that guided the Venerable Jean-Marie de La Mennais and Father Gabriel Dashayes. Today their work is present in various countries around the world, because they have believed that everything is possible to those who entrust themselves totally to the Lord and place themselves at the service of the integral human development of every person. We must never forget where we come from and always preserve the memory of the reasons for our actions.
Dear brothers, you work in regions of the world where poverty, youth unemployment and social crises of all kinds are rampant. I therefore exhort you to be fathers for those to whom you are sent, fathers who reflect the loving and compassionate face of God. In an ever-changing world, you generously place yourselves at the service of young people, attentive to their aspirations and at the same time always turned to Christ, supreme rule of your life. Your vocation pushes you to go where others do not go, to the periphery, towards the people who form the category of the rejected, the wounded by life and the victims. May your presence be a source of hope for many. In your spirit of brotherhood and welcome, they recognize another face of humanity disfigured by wars, indifference and the rejection of the weakest. Those children, those young people, those people also have dreams, but today, for many reasons, they are shattered dreams. May you help them relive their dreams, believe in them and make them come true!
Children play, even under bombs, in countries at war. When we see photographs of these countries, there are children playing. But one thing that strikes me, when children from Ukraine who have moved here and live here come here to Rome, these children do not smile: they have lost their smile. War does this: it makes children lose their smiles. Work so that they regain the ability to smile!
Dear brothers, the Church is a family and all of us, in the variety of charisms and vocations, cooperate for the salvation of man. In this stupendous mystery of communion, I can count on your filial trust and your attachment to the ministry of the Successor of Peter. I encourage you to work in close collaboration with the dioceses where you are on mission and with the faithful People of God; to keep every spirit of pride, closure, division and gossip away from your life. Gossip does a lot of harm to religious communities. A good resolution for a religious man and woman would be to bite their tongue every time they feel like speaking badly about the other. It would be a good idea, wouldn't it? In fact, «being the Church means being the People of God, in accordance with the great plan of love of the Father. This implies being the leaven of God among humanity" (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 114).
At the end of your Chapter, you will renew the consecration of the Institute to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May your pedagogy always be inspired by the one who, with her total "yes", agreed that God's salvific plan for humanity should be fulfilled in his person. May she help you to cultivate the zeal to set out to serve, to cultivate humility, trust in God and the joy of being servants of his tenderness and of his mercy. Please don't lose the joy, please!
I heartily bless you and all your brothers in every part of the world, as well as the young people you accompany. Please don't forget to pray for me. Thank you!
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