Circular No. 1 - December 8, 2012
Mary, Touch of God
Dear Sisters,
Namasté! The God who is in me greets the God who is in you!
Let me start my first correspondence with you by this Indian greeting, which as you can imagine, has a special place in my heart.
We are about to celebrate our patronal feast, illuminated by many glimmers of light cast on the whole Church and on our Congregation in this time of grace. Recent events, such as the Synod of Bishops on “New Evangelization - The Year of Faith” which opened on October 11, remind us of the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Just prior to the Synod, and very important for us, was our 31st General Chapter whose document is now in your hands. All these events illuminate our history and offer to our communities and to today’s world a guiding column of fire, such as guided the people of God on the pilgrimage path, a path which can often be obscure and arid.
Today, however, I wish to contemplate with you the One whose brightness continues without interruption, to light and guide the small boat of our Congregation, towards the shores of the world and towards the shores of humanity thirsty and confused.
We are in the era of "touch". Everything is done through a simple "touch". Just a "touch" and we are connected to the world. We phone, send messages, reserve tickets for trips, buy, sell ... with just a "touch". A revolution in our way of living can turn-upside-down our way of thinking and acting.
It is a revolution, in fact, started by God, at the dawn of humanity. The touch of God upon Adam transforms him into a living being, a scene so wonderfully interpreted by Michelangelo in the fresco of Creation, which we admire in the Sistine Chapel. (Gn. 2:7)
The touch of the angel consumes the meat and unleavened cakes, and thus gives to Gideon a clear sign of the presence of God, and of the mission entrusted to him (Jgs. 6:21). For Elijah, it is the touch of the angel that invites him to get up, to eat and gain strength to walk to the Mount of God, Horeb. (I Kgs 19:5 – 7)
The touch of God purifies the lips of Isaiah, causing him to speak with such passion for mission that he says, “Here I am. Send me.” (Is. 6:6 – 8) The young and reluctant Jeremiah who does not know how to speak will be seduced by the touch of God that puts in him a devouring fire that he cannot contain, which enables him to speak, to announce, and to suffer for the Word. (Jer. 1: 9; 20,7-9)
Daniel also will experience the power of this divine touch that will cause him to tremble. But it will also remove obstacles, and in the end refresh him, as he becomes the visionary prophet among his people. (Dt. 10:9 – 19)
The Gospels record others who had the grace to experience the healing touch of Jesus: Peter’s mother-in-law, who immediately gets up and serves, the leper, the blind man, the deaf-mute, the little girl mourned for because she was dead, the children who overcome the Apostles’ objections as Jesus takes them gently into his arms and blesses them … And who knows? How many others?
It is a touch that becomes a purification, a grace, an appeal, a sending forth, a mission. And so for Mary. The touch of God made her Immaculate, redeemed in a sublime way, for the unique mission to become the Mother of the Son of God. (Lumen Gentium, 53) Mary, the most beautiful example of the touch of God, continues throughout history to announce the Gospel, and to attract all of humanity towards their ultimate purpose of existence.
Adele with her passion, and Chaminade with his burning desire as apostle of Mary, continue today to share with us this divine touch which filled them with love, and even with restlessness in their apostolic ventures.
That apostolic unrest translates into the foundation of the Marianist Family, “the Institute of Mary”, as Fr. Chaminade would say when referring to both the female and the male religious branches of the family. The religious family, in alliance with Mary, would make education in faith and Christian values the ultimate purpose of existence and activity … Education in faith firmly sealed by a vow.
Education in faith, the ultimate reason for the existence and purpose of the Institute of Mary and its end, was not able to be the objective of a vow because this is a means to an end. For that reason the Church removed it from the approved Constitutions, in 1865 for the SM and in 1888 for the FMI. With some nostalgic regret, we are aware that, as stated by the great Marianist expert Fr. Joseph Verrier, we now find ourselves holding in our hands a relic without a reliquary. It is WE who are to be this reliquary! It is not a reliquary such as a museum or display case of sacred things, but a living reliquary which continues with love and joy for the gift received: Faith! … and the desire to give, to communicate, to share it.
The Year of Faith, referred to in the first part of our Chapter document, offers us incentive to rediscover the beauty of our vocation and mission with Mary: to educate in faith, that is to convey the touch of God to those with whom we live, to those whom we meet. It is a touch which is life-giving, tender, listening, a touch that restores confidence and hope to those with anxiety. It is a touch that spreads joy into sadness, loneliness, and abandonment. It is a touch that knows how to take the hand of the weak and defenseless, a touch that heals those injured, a touch that breaks the bonds of those imprisoned in their own sufferings and disappointments.
Mary, Touch of God! Let us be touched and transformed by the Word who became flesh in her womb.
On Mission Sunday, I was at Mass, seated next to teenagers, all with various disabilities. Although we had never met before, there was a simplicity and spontaneity in these “little ones of God”. My neighbor next to me took my hand, as my neighbor in the pew in front turns to me, smiles, and asks, “Can I kiss you?”
As I whisper to her, the choir sings “Kyrie Eleison”. Shortly after, again the new friend turns and asks, “Can I kiss you now?” In the midst of the smiles of those around, we then embraced each other. This gave her immense joy and filled me with tenderness, as the singing of the celestial “Gloria” filled the Church.
And so, I thought of the sense of mission: to have in the heart a restlessness to go, to announce, to be God’s touch for others, a touch that is filled with joy and gratitude.
Mary, Touch of God!
My Very Dear Sisters, with Sr. Susanna, Sr. Ana Lucia, and Sr. Gretchen, Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception to each of you and to all the Marianist Family.
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