Pope Francis to the Missionaries of Sacred Heart:
“Return to your first and only love”
Pope Francis with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. |
(Vatican Radio) “Show by your lives and by your works
the passionate and tender love of God for the little ones, the underprivileged,
the vulnerable and those whom our world has discarded.” This was Pope
Francis’ exhortation to the General Chapter delegates of
the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on
Saturday here in the Vatican.
In his remarks to the participants of the three week General
Chapter who are exploring the theme, “you have kept the good wine until
now,” Pope Francis encouraged to return to their first and only love. The Holy
Father went on to say, “Keep your gaze fixed on Jesus Christ and learn
from him how to love with a truly human heart, to care for the lost
and hurting members of his flock, to work for justice and show solidarity with
the weak and the poor.”
The Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) is
an international community of religious priests and brothers who work to share
the message of God’s love in the ever-changing social climate of our world. The
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart minister in more than 50 countries worldwide,
with over 1,700 MSCs carrying on the legacy of their founder, Fr Jules
Chevalier.
The full text of Pope Francis’ address to the General
Chapter members is here below:
Dear Brothers,
I
offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of your General Chapter, and I thank
the Superior General for his kind words. You have met to reflect on the
life of your Congregation, and to pray and to discern together the paths that
the Lord is pointing out to you. In this way you will be able to give
renewed fruitfulness and effective expression to the charism that the Holy
Spirit bestowed on the Church through your founder, Father Jean Jules
Chevalier.
The
motto you chose to guide the entire Institute in preparing for this Chapter is
particularly significant: “You have kept the good wine until now” (Jn 2:10).
You have looked back with gratitude on the cherished legacy of projects and
apostolic works that your charism has brought forth in the Institute’s life in
these past one hundred and fifty years, thanks to the fidelity of your
confreres who preceded you. At the same time, you are fully aware of its
continuing potential to benefit the Church and the world. By listening to
what the Spirit says to the Church today, and by your openness to the questions
and concerns of our fellow men and women, you will be able to discover in your
authentic charism the wellspring of renewed strength, courageous decisions and
creative expressions of the mission you have received. The changed
situation of our world with respect to the past, and the new challenges it
presents to the Church’s mission of evangelization, demand and give rise to new
ways of offering the “good wine” of the Gospel to many people as a source of
joy and hope.
The
original inspiration of your founder was that of spreading devotion to the
Sacred Heart of Jesus. Today you strive to foster this devotion and to
make it bear fruit through a variety of works and activities that witness
to the tender and merciful love of Jesus for all, especially those
in greatest need. For this reason, I encourage you, as I do so often with
consecrated persons – “to return to your first and only love”. Keep your
gaze fixed on Jesus Christ and learn from him how to love with a truly human
heart, to care for the lost and hurting members of his flock, to work for
justice and show solidarity with the weak and the poor. Learn from him to
give hope and dignity to the destitute, and to go forth to all those places
where people are in need of acceptance and assistance. This is the first
Gospel that the Church entrusts to you by sending you out as missionaries to
the world: to show by your lives and by your works the passionate and tender
love of God for the little ones, the underprivileged, the vulnerable and those
whom our world has discarded.
Although your Institute, like many others, has seen a decrease in numbers in
these past decades, the growth of vocations in South America, Oceania and Asia
has proved comforting and offers hope for the present and the future. So
too the Christian formation of young people, yet another expression of your
charism, will be ensured and increased by the works of the Institute. How
urgent it is today to educate and assist new generations to appropriate
authentic human values and to cultivate an evangelical vision of life and
history! Many people consider this a true “educational emergency”;
surely, it is one of the frontiers of the Church’s mission of evangelization,
towards which the entire Christian community is invited to set out. In
continuity with the achievements and undertakings of those who have gone before
you, I encourage you to undertake new initiatives also in this specific area of
your apostolate.
The
Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart continues to count among
its many members a good number of religious brothers. In a Congregation
religious brothers are a grace from the Lord. I ask you not to yield to
the temptation of clericalism that, as I have often remarked, alienates people,
especially the young, from the Church. May your common life be marked by
true fraternity, which welcomes diversity and values the gifts of all. Do
not hesitate to continue and expand your communion with the laypersons who
participate in your apostolate. Let them share in your ideals and
projects, and in the rich spirituality arising from your Institute’s
charism. With them, and with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart, you will form an ever greater and stronger “charismatic family”, one
that will better demonstrate the vitality and relevance of your founder’s
charism.
May
the Virgin Mary, whom you invoke under the title of Our Lady of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus, keep you ever close to her Son, ready to do whatever he tells
you, and may she protect you with her maternal intercession. I accompany
you, and all your communities with my blessing, and I ask you, please, not to
forget to pray for me. Thank you.
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