28
Thu, Mar

Consoling and at the same time… an everyday challenge. I refer to our program of life etched beside the Tabernacle. Jesus assures us of his perennial presence of love, of mercy, of compassion: «Fear not, I am with you». However, the Lord asks us in return the only thing: «Be sorry for sins».  A demanding program of life when one decides to translate it in everyday life.

The first part of the program is a gift, simply a gratuity… «For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast» (Eph 2:8-9). We do not deserve it, yet we have received it at an incalculable price, «with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb» (1Pt 1:19). How do we appreciate the gift and make it fruitful in our own life and in our rapport with others? This is what the last part of the program asks of us to actualize in our personal and communitarian life, as we are: a Family.

The month of January, the first month of each New Year, it is also one in which we celebrate the Conversion of our Father Saint Paul, the only liturgical celebration of the year that commemorates a conversion. It spells of a decisive moment in the life of Paul if we follow the chronology of his own itinerary, from being «the least of the apostles» to being the glorious Apostle of the Lord’s mercy. The “mould” of every Pauline, Saint Paul, therefore, becomes for us the model to follow in «putting on Christ».

We cannot give what we do not have. To be the Lord’s Apostle of mercy, Paul must first experience what, or better, who mercy is. We read three times in the Acts of the Apostles how Paul experienced the Crucified and Risen Lord. He is an unworthy recipient of mercy by his own confession: «For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God» (1Cor 15:9). Passionate about this experience, he preaches this extraordinary event, «in season and out of season», of how much mercy Christ invested in loving us, making himself as the example: «But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us» (Romans 5:8). His only boast, in fact, is the act by which Christ saved him: «But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world» (Gal 6:14). In fact, as Paul received mercy from the Lord, he now shares it with all of us through his passionate proclamation of the Good News, Christ Crucified and Risen. We can say that this is the specificity of Paul’s Gospel, the Christ who died and rose for him and, consequently, for all of humanity.

The month of January should also be decisive for us Paulines. It should be the «first day of the rest of the year», or better, «the rest of our life» until when, with our Father St Paul, we can also say: «… I live no longer I, but Christ lives in me». By then, we can also be authentic apostles of mercy, in the “mould” of our Father Saint Paul.

Pope Francis exhorts us by reminding us that the Extraordinary Year of Mercy does not end with the closing of the Holy Door but remains and continues to be open because the true door is Jesus Christ, the face of the merciful Father (cf MM, 9; Jn 10). The life of Paul continues in each of us who, as members of the Pauline Family, are «St Paul living today». The last phrase of our program of life is a permanent call to conversion. It is an invitation, that is, a prayer of the Lord for us, so that his mercy would truly be experienced, welcomed, lived and shared. That it should really be lived because mercy begets dialogue, reconciliation, fraternity, communion, collaboration, peace, of which we are in dire need today. Mercy enhances community life and that of the Family and makes fruitful the mission.

I conclude with the words of the Master, the “original” Model to follow: «So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little» (Lk 7:47). “The woman” whose many sins have been forgiven could refer providentially to our «marvellous Pauline Family», composed of many brothers and sisters of her ten Institutions.

Agenda Paolina

March 28, 2024

Nella Cena del Signore (bianco)
Es 12,1-8.11-14; Sal 115; 1Cor 11,23-26; Gv 13,1-15

March 28, 2024

* SSP: 1988 Maggiorino Vigolungo viene proclamato Venerabile.

March 28, 2024FSP: Sr. M. Augusta Biolchini (2018) - Sr. Donata Narcisi (2019) - Sr. M. Dorotea D’Oto (2023) • PD: Sr. M. Tarcisia Spadaro (2008) - Sr. M. Emanuella Santini (2011) - Sr. M. Leonarda Pompiglio (2023) • IGS: D. Giorgio Zeppini (2018) • ISF: Michele Perillo (1996).