My dear Sisters …
CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
Roma
Rome, 29 September 2014
My dear Sisters,
During these weeks there are many events taking place in which the Church invites us to participate. Pope Francis held a special audience on Saturday 20 September for bishops taking part in a training seminar related preaching the Good News. He said there is need for “a conversion that concerns every Christian and every parish, but is one that that shepherds are called to live and to witness first.” He underlines “the church needs shepherds of souls, bishops who are servants, and, “who know how to kneel down in front of others to wash their feet, always having under their eyes the example of the Good Shepherd, “Pastors close to the people, meek, patient and merciful fathers and brothers, who love poverty, be it as freedom for the Lord or as simplicity and austerity of life.” He also spoke at the International Meeting: “The Pastoral Project of ‘Evangelii gaudium’”, organised by the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation” 18-20 September 2014 (see: Discourse of Pope Francis)
In St Peter’s Square, 28 September,Pope Francis celebrated the Feast of Grandparents, along with 30 thousand elderly people from all over the world, with the title “The blessing of a long life”. “It is inhuman to abuse Elders just as it is inhuman to abuse children” strong words from the Pope, part of his firm belief that they should not be shut away in retirement homes but should be actively cherished for their wisdom. This Day coincided with the Day of Prayer for the Synod on the Family. He stresses that “families are the foundation of the work of evangelization, with their educational mission and with the active participation in the life of the parish community”. He encourages us “to promote the pastoral care of families so that families, accompanied and formed in the faith, might always give their best contribution to the life of the Church and of society”. (20 Sept 2014)From 5-19 October 2014 there is an Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops with the theme: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization”. The Holy See reserves such Extraordinary Synods to discuss urgent topics in the life of the Church – the third Extraordinary Synod ever to be called since the Synod of Bishops was created in 1965.
Pope Francis emphasized recently during the marriage celebration of twenty couples in St Peter’s: “Today’s first reading speaks to us of the people’s journey through the desert. We can imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and women of all ages, accompanied by many children and those elderly who struggled to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she makes her way across the desert of the contemporary world, the People of God composed, for the most part, of families….”. This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the paths of life with all their day to day experiences.“It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the bricks for the building up of society.” (Homily for 14 September, 2014.)
The Beatification of Pope Paul VI takes place on19 October 2014 during the closing Mass of the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family. Pope Paul VI’s connection with the theme of Family including the encyclical for which he is most known, “Humanae Vitae” (1968) affirms the Church’s teaching on the beauty and purpose of marriage, married love and procreation.
On the same daywe celebrate the 88th World Mission Sunday. The conviction that we are loved permeates our lives, empowering us to ‘go forth’ wherever God calls. During this Year of Vocation the following sentiments from the Message speak clearly: “Disciples of Jesus are those who allow themselves to be seized ever more by the love of Jesus and marked by the fire of passion for the Kingdom of God and the proclamation of the joy of the Gospel. All the Lord’s disciples are called to nurture the joy of evangelization…Dear brothers and sisters, on this World Mission Day my thoughts turn to all the local Churches. Let us not be robbed of the joy of evangelization! I invite you to immerse yourself in the joy of the Gospel and nurture a love that can light up your vocation and your mission. I urge each of you to recall, as if you were making an interior pilgrimage, that “first love” with which the Lord Jesus Christ warmed your heart, not for the sake of nostalgia but in order to persevere in joy. The Lord’s disciples persevere in joy when they sense his presence, do his will and share with others their faith, hope and evangelical charity.
It is also significant that On 23 September, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for consecrated men and women issued a second Letter “Scrutate“, (Search),for personal and community reflection for the journey towards 2015; this follows the earlier Letter “Rejoice” issued in February. The title is explained in the opening of the Letter: “Search the horizons of our lives and our time in vigilant wakefulness. Peer into the night to recognize the fire that illuminates and guides, scanning the sky to recognize the signs harbingers of blessings for our dryness. Be vigilant, watch, and pray, stand firm in the faith”.
Other events taking place are also part of our concern. While we make it a priority in continuing to pray for people caught up in war-torn countries and for peace and non-violence in our world we also are aware of other pressing issues facing our God-given planet. The recent UN Climate Summit 2014,in New York – where World leaders gathered for ‘crucial’ UN major international talks in order to reach a global agreement on climate change, heightens our awareness of world concerns.
UN Secretary-General invited world leaders, from government, finance, business, and civil society to the Summit on 23 September to inspire ‘climate action’. These leaders were asked to bring bold statements and actions which would reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience, and mobilize political will for a meaningful legal agreement in 2015. Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity and it is not a far-off problem. It is happening now and is having very real consequences on people’s lives.
The Pope tackles sustainability. [Sustainable development is a form of economic development compatible with environmental protection and resources for future generations]
“the Vatican has articulated some of its strongest environmental statements to date, calling for all of us to take personal responsibility and redirect our relationship with nature to ensure the future habitability and sustainability of this planet because it is our moral responsibility to bequeath a habitable planet to future generations”.(Marcia McNutt Editor-in-Chief Science journals 19 September 2014)
What else can we do?
“Other community means to help in maintaining and improving our God-given earth are highly recommended.” (Dir no 4)
We can commit to:
– developing our awareness of the care of creation
– reducing our carbon footprint in our communities and ministries
in trying to promote a simple, sustainable lifestyle
[‘carbon footprint’ is a measure to find out how much your daily activities contribute to emissions of carbon dioxide in a year and therefore increase the climate change]
– recycling where possible (see: ‘how to reduce your carbon footprint’)
– praying and standing in solidarity and acting justly with marginalized people whose lives
are already affected by the destruction of the Earth
– deepening our spirituality of peace.
The Lord God
placed human beings
in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and take care of it. (Gen 2,15)
The first message of Pope Francis during the Mass at the beginning of his Petrine Ministry (19 March 2013), sums up much of what we have been thinking about. He says “we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!” He continues: “Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened.”
He calls on “all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment… to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!” This “means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about … It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!”
In the words of Pope Francis for World Mission Day:
Let us pray through the intercession of Mary,
the model of humble and joyful evangelization,
that the Church may become a welcoming home,
a mother for all peoples and the source of rebirth for our world.
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