Monthly MessageTurin–Valdocco-July-August 2016
Mary invites us to persevere in prayer
Through ADMA Our Lady wants to show that sheis present and that wherever she is there is joy and gratitude in the heart. Our journey of faith and prayer with Mary makes us strong and lets us taste the joy of life in the Holy Spirit.It's good to see how many members experience the presence of Our Lady in different meetings, pilgrimages, at times of prayer and in daily life. They live happy lives with songs of joy, jubilation and thanksgiving.To live every day with Mary is to experience the joy of the gospel and to enjoy life as a surprise, something amazing.This is a grace to be accepted and one that bears fruit.We are grateful for Mary's presence in our lives, in our Association, and in the life of the Church and of humanity of our time. Our Lady's presence transforms us. It enriches our lives and fills us with joy. With Our Lady we feel the presence of the Lord and live in the grace of God.
Mary is with us because we are going through a difficult stage in history. Too many people live as if God did not exist. Too many political, economic and cultural visions make plans and act without any reference to God and to His law. The Bible says: "Cursed is the man who puts his trust in man." Unfortunately we often trust in man and not in God. True happiness, however, comes from observing the commandments of God and doing his will, because without God we have neither a future nor eternal life.
Our Lady is achieving the triumph of her Immaculate Heart, as she said at Fatima, also through us who have said “yes” to holiness, “yes” to living her messages, “yes” to living the commandments of God, and “yes” to living and rejoicing in the law of God. We are poor instruments, but when the Lord takes us he transforms us.We are at peace as long as Mary is with us and guiding us. She is our hope. She is the star that leads us towards her Son Jesus.We entrust all our past to her and allow ourselves to be guided by her. We dedicate ourselves to her Immaculate Heart and try to be like her. Let us persevere as individuals, as families and as groups in the simple and powerful prayer of the Rosary, in the practice of popular piety and in active and conscious participation in the Church's liturgy. May Mary the Immaculate Help of Christians bless us with her motherly blessing of peace and love!
Lucca Tullio, President
Fr Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Spiritual Animator
With Mary and like Mary
Regenerated in His Mercy
10. CALLED TO REMAIN IN GOD'S MERCY
Through circumstances the final catechesis by Sister Linda Pocher, FMA, on the theme of Mercy was not published in June. We apologize and now gladly provide this final meditation. We renew our thanks to Sister Linda for her availability and for the rich contribution she has given us with these meditations which we ask you to value.
The heart of Jesus is the heart of mercy
According to Pope Francis, the Jubilee year not just one pastoral initiative among others, easily done and soon forgotten. Rather it is the beginning of a "new time", set to continue until the style of mercy, which is the quality mark of Christian life, has permeated the Church and the whole world.The Pope says, “How much I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God! May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst! ” (MV 5).Precisely for this reason, at the end of the formative process of this year, we want to go once again to the source from which we receive the mercy of God, which is the heart of Jesus. On the cross his heart was opened irrevocably by the spear. St John, who was present with Mary at the foot of the cross, said he saw blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus (Jn 19:34; 1 Jn 5.6 to 8). Blood and water represent the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, through which the riches of God's mercy are poured on us. Celebrating the sacraments, in fact, we receive the life of Jesus, we are truly forgiven, and we are reconciled with God and with one another.
In his encyclical on love, Benedict XVI writes that it is only by contemplating the pierced side of Christ that we can understand fully the first words of the encyclical "God is love" (1 Jn 4,8).“His death on the Cross is the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him. This is love in its most radical form.”Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He anticipated his death and resurrection by giving his disciples, in the bread and wine, his very self.In this way Jesus ensured that when we participate in the Eucharist, "we enter into the dynamic of his self-giving". In this way we become one with Him, and become able to love others as He loves, since "Union with Christ is also union with all those to whom he gives himself. I cannot possess Christ just for myself; I can belong to him only in union with all those who have become, or who will become, his own." Thanks to the Eucharist, Jesus makes it possible for us to practise the commandment of love. Now love can be "commanded"because it has first been given. (Deus Caritas Est 12-14). That is why Jesus, just before "commanding" mutual love, or the practical exercise of mercy, invites the disciples to "abide in his love" (Jn 15.9).
He goes this invitation to you today: "Remain in my love!”Jesus says to you.“You have been regenerated by my mercy, you have been healed, freed, forgiven ... do not distance yourself ever from me! My Spirit will always be with you and your life will be rich in fruits of joy and love. You will be increasingly able to ask forgiveness, to give thanks and to love. Through you my mercy will reach those who are still far from me. If you let me love you every day, in every circumstance sad or happy in your life, there will be more love in the world and the world will become more human and more just. Do not stay away from me! As the Father has loved me, I also love you, stay in this love. "
I ask myself: Do I participate in the Eucharist? What do I do to stay in the love of Jesus?
The priest is the love of the heart of Jesus
The saintly Curé of Ars was humble and aware of the seriousness of the mission that had been entrusted to him by God. He said, "if we were to remove the sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die through sin, who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest ... After God, the priest is everything! ... He himself will fully understand that only in heaven." Don Bosco also was convinced that "the priest does not go to heaven alone, nor does he go to hell alone. If he does good he will go to heaven with the souls he saved by his good example. If he does evil and if he gives scandal, he will go to perdition with the souls damned by his scandal."Driven by this conviction, in the course of his life he devoted great effort to helping seminarians and priests to live their vocation fully.
In this Holy Year, Pope Francis is asking a lot of priests. He wants them to be truly shepherds, like Jesus the Good Shepherd, to be present in the flock with the style of Jesus. He wantsthem to have great interior righteousness in search of the Father's will and the good of others; not to be afraid to mingle with sinners, to touch the sick, to take upon themselves the sufferings and miseries of the poor. He wants them to be both frank and gentle in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel; to show discernment and attention to the situation of each one so that people are not burdened with an impossible load they cannot carry. For priests to be holy is first of all the wish of Jesus who has promised to be present in a special way through the person of the priest, especially when he celebrates the sacraments, but also when he listens, comforts, and advises.The more the priest is ready to die for his flock, as Jesus did, the more Jesus can make his ministry fruitful.
The priest, however, remains a man, and a sinner. One that, like all other men, needs to be continuously forgiven, consoled and confirmed in the faith. The priest is one to whom Jesus today repeats what he said to Peter at the Last Supper," behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren." (Lk 22.31 to 32).In fact the priest also must confess often, must pray every day, and allow himself to be taught every day by the Word and the Spirit. He must take steps to make room for the Father's will and be always ready to perform the works of mercy which the Lord sends his way. In short, the ministry he has received is a "treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God" and not to men (2 Cor 4,7).Only if he remains in the Father, the Son and the Spirit, can the priest help others to enter into that love.
The fact that Jesus has reserved the priestly ministry to only some among Christians, should not make others indifferent or passive. In the body of Christ which is the Church, every member is responsible for the health of others, everyone is called to rejoice with those who rejoice, and to suffer with those who mourn, and to bear "the burdens of one another" ( Gal 6,2).We are all responsible for the holiness of priests and we can support them, very concretely, through a few simple steps: First, we can pray each day for priestly vocations and for the sanctification of priests.Secondly, we must try always to speak well of priests and, when this is not really possible, Don Bosco suggests that it is better to remain silent (in the case of very serious crimes, it is right to speak, but only with the competent authority.How can spreading news of the sins of others, help the Church?)Finally, it is good to treat the priests as we would treat Jesus, to ask for their help and offer them our cooperation as we would do with Jesus. We should be careful to avoid "using" the priest for our own purposes. These small precautions, if practised with love, are veritable works of mercy.
I ask myself: what do I think of priests and how do I speak about them? How do I behave towards them?
If you are my devoted sons and daughters, I will bea loving mother for you.
"If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you." (Jn 15.7). With this solemn promise, Jesus seals his covenant of love with us. And if we look at the lives of the saints, who remained in Him and put his words into practice, we see that Jesus always keeps this promise. In the famous dream of the two columns, Our Lady turns to Don Bosco and the young people with a similar saying:"If you are my devoted children, I will be a loving mother for you.” Mary reiterates also that each gift of love is rightly repaid only with love, or with full trust, obedience, and the unconditional gift of self. The more we enter into this way of thinking, the more we are transformed into a source through which the mercy of God can pass and permeate relations and the situations in which we find ourselves (John 4:14; 7:38).
Blessed Eusebia Palomino FMA is a shining example of this truth. She was born and raised in a poor family. Her parents recognized in everything the tender touch of the love of God and they cultivated in her the desire to give herself totally to Him, with nothing held back and no half measures.After her religious profession in 1924, she was sent to Valverde del Camino in Spain, where she worked in the kitchen, the garden and the laundry, and did a little work in the oratory. Sister Eusebia was not particularly good-looking or cultured, but everyone who met her found in her a very deep knowledge of the things of God and a remarkable spiritual discernment. The girls never grew tired of listening to her. She spoke to them of Jesus Crucified, the Blessed Virgin, the missions and Paradise. Priests and seminarians from neighbouring towns came to seek her advice.
Furthermore, one after the other, surprising episodes – big and small – began to occur. The things Sister Eusebia asked for in prayer were granted. "Once, with precise details and information,she was able to bring peace and calm to a mother whose son was in the war in Morocco.On anotheroccasion she made water flow from a dry well. Another day, "she did not allow" it to rain on a poor house under construction, so that the owner would not be hurt. Another time, she found eggs in the henhousewhen the other Sisters, a moment before, had found none. "
These and other extraordinary events, however, did not take away from her simplicity. Sister Eusebia imitated the littleness Mary sang about in the Magnificat.Antonia Colombo wrote: "She lived this way naturally. She was like a brush that you hold in your hands because she was totally available.
She was far from any complex of inferiority or timidity."Among the sisters and among the people she was always ready to promote communion. She did not speak except to praise and to thank, even though this meant sacrifice and self-denial on account of her temperament because by nature she was demanding and uncompromising. She found strength in the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary, and never tired of propagating devotion. She wrote hundreds of letters and took every opportunity, in and out of season, to promote among priests and people the practice of "consecration" to the Virgin Mary. She entrusted her whole life into the hands of Mary. In her eyes this was the best way to live the commitments of Baptism, and to stay really in the love of Jesus.
Living and spreading true devotion to Mary Help of Christians is a fundamental task of ADMA. I ask myself: to what extent does this concern pervade and guide my daily choices and my lifestyle?
FAMILY CHRONICLE
Zitacuaro (MEXICO) - NEW ADMA GROUP
A small ADMA group has started in Collegio Lumena in the city of Zitácuaro, Michoacán The directress Sister Gabriela Murgia and Sister Ana María Martínez, local animator of ADMA, enthusiastically revived this devotion among pupils in the primary and secondary schools (Sister Leticia Navarrete Macías, ADMA Provincial Animator - México Sur).
BENIN - NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE - "ADMA: LOVE MARIA"
On 7 and 8 May 2016 the ADMA of Benin led by Frs Jean Lemondo and Raphaël Coulibaly went on pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Allada. The 97 pilgrims came from Parakou, Zogbo, Menotin, St Michel Ouando, Magone Centre in Tokpota and the St Francis Xavier Centre. After the pilgrims were welcomed, the secretaryof each delegation presented a report on activities carried out. Overall there is a multitude of tasks with great initiatives to revive devotion to Mary Help of Christians. The evening ended with acandle-lit procession with the statue of Mary Help of Christians and a meditation on the Joyful Mysteries. To finish this first day, we had a penitential celebration followed by Eucharistic Adoration with the possibility of going to confession until midnight..
The next day we found ourselves at the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Mercy. After the explanation of the rite we made the transition through this Holy Door as requested by Pope Francis.
After Mass, we met to hear the theme of the Strenna of the Rector Major for 2016: "With Jesus, we journey together in an adventure of the Spirit," presented by Fr Raffaele. This was followed by an exchange around the following questions: