Pope Francis Tells Religious "We must learn this: to show others Jesus, not ourselves, because for everyone, today and always, our hope is in the Lord, is in Him" FULL TEXT
ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE CONGREGATION OF THE SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY
AND TO THE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE SAVIOR, ON THE OCCASION OF THE GENERAL CHAPTERS
Consistory Hall - Thursday, 19 September 2024
TO THE CONGREGATION OF THE SACRED HEARTS OF JESUS AND MARY
AND TO THE SISTERS OF THE DIVINE SAVIOR, ON THE OCCASION OF THE GENERAL CHAPTERS
Consistory Hall - Thursday, 19 September 2024
Pope Francis encourages religious gathered in Rome for their General Chapters to take "decisive steps in following Christ" and look at the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model.
___________________________
[Dialogue before the speech]
Holy Father: How many novices do you have?
A nun: five.
Holy Father: Where are you from?
A nun: From different parts of the world: Congo, Asia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Colombia…
Holy Father: And you?
A religious: In the congregation we are from different countries. They come from the islands, from Tonga, then from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a few from Latin America.
Holy Father: Go ahead! You are a fine delegation!
Dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to welcome you while you are experiencing your respective General Chapters.
To you, queridos religious and religious capitulares of the Congregación de los Sagrados Corazones de Jesús y María, I welcome you, and I remember that the celebration of a general chapter does not respond to a human logic or an institutional necessity until a need of the sequela Christi. This step always involves carefully examining what the Holy Spirit is suggesting to us in order to faithfully live the identity and mission of the Congregation.
Like the disciples, they are called to give oídos to the voice of Jesus, to delve into their contemplation and to be capable of living and proclaiming the love of God embodied in Him, in a particular way through the service in favor of the most necessary and of the Eucharistic and healing prayer.
Only by following Christ with fidelity and docility, your structures, as well as the diffusion of the spiritual and historical heritage of the Congregation, will you be able to enjoy a renewed spring that will shine your charism in the current moment of the history of humanity. The charism is the style that a congregation holds, the evangelical style; because the Gospel is unacceptable, because of its possibility to everyone. That the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary impelled them to encounter ever new forms of witness before their brothers and of collaboration in the work of God.
I invite you, then, to a careful examination of the will of God - which is not easy -, to take decisive steps in the following of Christ, which does not consist only in learning a doctrine, but in adopting a way of living. I assure you of my search, my prayer that they may be able to renew themselves through a discernment inspired and supported by the values of the Gospel, that the desire to live united with Jesus and to remain faithful to the founding charism may be intensified in their hearts.
I also address my greeting to you, Sisters of the Divine Savior, who are celebrating the General Chapter with a challenging theme: "Walking together, rekindling the gift of the Spirit among us to announce the Gospel and inflame all people." Four things: walking together - not against -, rekindling the gift of the Spirit among us, announcing the Gospel and inflaming all people. It harks back to the foundation of your charism: the heartfelt prayer that Jesus addressed to the Father during the Last Supper, for the salvation of all men: "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3).
And it is precisely there, in the Cenacle, that I invite you to pause for a long time in prayer, especially in these days of the Chapter. There, in fact, the fire of the Spirit is nourished, and from there we set out again to inflame the entire world in his love, providing service to the needy and restoring hope to the disheartened (see Bull Spes non confundit, 3). This is the legacy that Blessed Francis Mary of the Cross and Blessed Mary of the Angels left you, who wanted you to be a "universal missionary congregation".
Mary, the "North Star" of the mission, teaches us this, who in the Gospel speaks little, listens much and keeps in her heart. These are valid attitudes for us too: speaking little – comparing ourselves, opening up, but not getting lost in useless chatter (chatter is a plague!) –, listening a lot – in prayer, in silence, in attention to others. Sometimes we don’t know how to listen: the other person speaks and we respond halfway through the conversation. No, listen to everything, to the end. Listen to the Lord too! Listening and keeping in our hearts, to be apostles of hope, in the world that needs it so much today. And in this regard I would like to conclude by recalling a characteristic trait of Our Lady: she never shows herself – this is interesting – but always Jesus (see Catechesis, 4 January 2023). “Do whatever He tells you”: this is Our Lady, she points to Jesus, always, never herself. “Look at me who am immaculate…”, Our Lady never says this. She always points to Jesus. We must learn this: to show others Jesus, not ourselves, because for everyone, today and always, our hope is in the Lord, is in Him (see Heb 10:23).
Dear sisters, dear brothers, I thank you for your visit and I invoke the light and strength of the Holy Spirit for your work these days and for the future journey of your communities. I bless you from my heart. And please pray for me. But pray for me, not against me! Thank you.
___________________________
[Dialogue before the speech]
Holy Father: How many novices do you have?
A nun: five.
Holy Father: Where are you from?
A nun: From different parts of the world: Congo, Asia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Colombia…
Holy Father: And you?
A religious: In the congregation we are from different countries. They come from the islands, from Tonga, then from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a few from Latin America.
Holy Father: Go ahead! You are a fine delegation!
Dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to welcome you while you are experiencing your respective General Chapters.
To you, queridos religious and religious capitulares of the Congregación de los Sagrados Corazones de Jesús y María, I welcome you, and I remember that the celebration of a general chapter does not respond to a human logic or an institutional necessity until a need of the sequela Christi. This step always involves carefully examining what the Holy Spirit is suggesting to us in order to faithfully live the identity and mission of the Congregation.
Like the disciples, they are called to give oídos to the voice of Jesus, to delve into their contemplation and to be capable of living and proclaiming the love of God embodied in Him, in a particular way through the service in favor of the most necessary and of the Eucharistic and healing prayer.
Only by following Christ with fidelity and docility, your structures, as well as the diffusion of the spiritual and historical heritage of the Congregation, will you be able to enjoy a renewed spring that will shine your charism in the current moment of the history of humanity. The charism is the style that a congregation holds, the evangelical style; because the Gospel is unacceptable, because of its possibility to everyone. That the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary impelled them to encounter ever new forms of witness before their brothers and of collaboration in the work of God.
I invite you, then, to a careful examination of the will of God - which is not easy -, to take decisive steps in the following of Christ, which does not consist only in learning a doctrine, but in adopting a way of living. I assure you of my search, my prayer that they may be able to renew themselves through a discernment inspired and supported by the values of the Gospel, that the desire to live united with Jesus and to remain faithful to the founding charism may be intensified in their hearts.
I also address my greeting to you, Sisters of the Divine Savior, who are celebrating the General Chapter with a challenging theme: "Walking together, rekindling the gift of the Spirit among us to announce the Gospel and inflame all people." Four things: walking together - not against -, rekindling the gift of the Spirit among us, announcing the Gospel and inflaming all people. It harks back to the foundation of your charism: the heartfelt prayer that Jesus addressed to the Father during the Last Supper, for the salvation of all men: "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3).
And it is precisely there, in the Cenacle, that I invite you to pause for a long time in prayer, especially in these days of the Chapter. There, in fact, the fire of the Spirit is nourished, and from there we set out again to inflame the entire world in his love, providing service to the needy and restoring hope to the disheartened (see Bull Spes non confundit, 3). This is the legacy that Blessed Francis Mary of the Cross and Blessed Mary of the Angels left you, who wanted you to be a "universal missionary congregation".
Mary, the "North Star" of the mission, teaches us this, who in the Gospel speaks little, listens much and keeps in her heart. These are valid attitudes for us too: speaking little – comparing ourselves, opening up, but not getting lost in useless chatter (chatter is a plague!) –, listening a lot – in prayer, in silence, in attention to others. Sometimes we don’t know how to listen: the other person speaks and we respond halfway through the conversation. No, listen to everything, to the end. Listen to the Lord too! Listening and keeping in our hearts, to be apostles of hope, in the world that needs it so much today. And in this regard I would like to conclude by recalling a characteristic trait of Our Lady: she never shows herself – this is interesting – but always Jesus (see Catechesis, 4 January 2023). “Do whatever He tells you”: this is Our Lady, she points to Jesus, always, never herself. “Look at me who am immaculate…”, Our Lady never says this. She always points to Jesus. We must learn this: to show others Jesus, not ourselves, because for everyone, today and always, our hope is in the Lord, is in Him (see Heb 10:23).
Dear sisters, dear brothers, I thank you for your visit and I invoke the light and strength of the Holy Spirit for your work these days and for the future journey of your communities. I bless you from my heart. And please pray for me. But pray for me, not against me! Thank you.
Source: Vatican.va
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