CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
ROMA
My dear Sisters,
As we come to the Epiphany, the Liturgy invites us to enter into the experience of the ‘Magi’ who, overcoming great difficulty, set out to search for the new-born Child Jesus; finally, “when they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.” (Mt 2, 10-12)
The journey of these wise men is a metaphor for the spiritual journey which all of us are called to make. In the words of Bishop Barron: “Like the Magi, we must be attentive; we must be willing to act; we must expect opposition; we must give our best to Christ, and finally, we must be willing to change, “to go back by a different route.”
We too have the privilege to explore the wonder of the Epiphany – the manifestation of Son of God, Word made Flesh, and the peace which He came to bring to all on earth.
In his message for 52nd World Day of PEACE on 1 January 2019, Pope Francis writes: “Bringing peace is central to the mission of Christ’s disciples. That peace is offered to all those men and women who long for peace amid the tragedies and violence that mark human history. … (and) every family, community, country and continent, in all their diversity and history.”
In exploring the wonder of this Epiphany, like the Magi, we go forth with more than we brought to HIM: “The Lord turns his face towards you and gives you peace.” (Num 6.26) and “from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (Jn 1,16).
Can we, as ‘wise women’, accept again, in this New Year, the invitation from Bl Antonio Rosmini?
“Gaze on him with steady eye … to accept the gift of that peace he offers to all who love him”, and then can we share something of what we have received, however small or big.
“Nothing is more important than this – in a human life which is full of eternity – than to share what one has harvested but not sown; to entrust the Word to the four winds of our clumsy words; to open our hands as we open our hearts; to spread the abundance of blessings that have been earned; to bring out of ourselves the tiny seed of goodness that has been discovered hidden in its own anguish, not to keep it for ourselves, however fragile it is … since in the Kingdom of the breath of life, nothing can grow without first being abandoned. (Lytta Basset)
Mindful of the goodness of God, let us take time to think about all the ways we have been blessed: blessed by God and blessed by others. As we come to the end of our official ‘Year of Trust’, we give thanks to God for ALL we have received from Him and from other people.
Let us make this time, as we move towards the General Chapter, a time of HOPE: in this way we can live, as ‘weavers of hope’, and then we too become an Epiphany of peace, of joy and of God’s providential care.
We thank God for the Sisters in Tanzania, Muheza, who take a new step in following Jesus: the 3 Novices, Idda Sabas Matemu, Renatha Stanislaus Singano and Adelmarsi Wilbald Assenga make their First Profession and 22 Junior Sisters renew Vows on 5 January; another 4 will enter the Novitiate on 6 January 2019, preceded by a three-day retreat: Lucy J. Tesha, Mary Paul, Regina Jelemiasi and Yohana E. Assenga. We welcome them with joy and accompany them on their Rosminian journey.
Happy Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord!
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