Lettera Madre february 2020

My dear Sisters …

CONGREGAZIONE
SUORE DELLA PROVVIDENZA ROSMINIANE
Via Aurelia, 773
ROMA

My dear Sisters,
We have arrived at the Presentation of the Lord and, in some places the end of the Christmas season; on the same day we celebrate the World Day of Consecrated life, with a renewed invitation to deepen our faith, our relationship with God, through our daily reading of the ‘Word of God’.
Bl Antonio Rosmini unites these thoughts when he advises Don Pagani in relation to the formation of new members: “I should like them to have the highest esteem for, and be devoted to, the study of Sacred Scripture as inspired by God; above all they should reverence the Gospel; read it constantly, meditate on it…”. (AL Vol VI. Lett. 142) Again, he adds: “What we must do, then, is what is so often urged on us by Holy Scripture, in the words: look to the Lord; wait on the Lord – and this with lively and most sure faith”. (op. cit. Lett. 122)
The celebration of the Presentation of the Lord associated with the World Day of Consecrated Life offers us some stimulating considerations drawn from the Gospels. Let us examine some of them:
Simeon exclaims, “My eyes have seen your salvation” (Lk 2:30). He sees the Child and he sees salvation. He does not see the Messiah who works miracles, but a small child. He does not see something extraordinary, but Jesus with his parents. Simeon sees God’s simplicity and welcomes his presence. He is not looking for anything else, is not asking or wanting for something more; it is enough to see the Child and take him in his arms: “nunc dimittis, now let me depart”. God, as he is, is enough for him. In Him, he finds the ultimate meaning of his life. This is the vision of consecrated life, a vision that is simple and prophetic in its simplicity, where we keep the Lord before our eyes. He is our life, he is our hope, he is our future. Consecrated life consists in this prophetic vision in the Church: it is a gaze that sees God present in the world.”
The Liturgy today shows Jesus who goes out to meet his people. It is the feast day of encounter: the newness of the Child encounters the tradition of the temple; the promise finds fulfilment; young Mary and Joseph encounter the elderly Simeon and Anna. Everything, therefore, meets as Jesus arrives.
What does this mean for us? Above all, that we too are called to welcome Jesus who comes to meet us. To encounter him: the God of life is to be encountered every day of our lives; not now and then, but every day. To follow Jesus is not a decision taken once and for all, it is a daily choice. What happened in the temple happens to us: around him, everything meets, and life becomes harmonious. Today, on the feast day of encounter, we ask for the grace to rediscover the living Lord amid a believing people, and to allow the charism we have received to encounter today’s graces.
With Jesus, we find again the courage to carry on and the strength to remain firm. The encounter with the Lord is the source. It is important then to return to the source: to retrace in our mind the decisive moments of encounter with him, to renew our first love, perhaps writing down our love story with the Lord. This would be good for our consecrated life, so that it does not become a time that passes by, but rather a time of encounter. (c.f. Pope Francis, 2 Feb. 2019)
Lord,
open our hearts and minds
so that we may be
your light and witnesses
wherever we are in the world:
in our words and actions,
in our protection of the vulnerable,
and in our safeguarding the world you created.
May God bless us and continue to lead us into his light! “My eyes have seen
Your salvation…”
With love,
c.m.