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Nov 23 - Day 1 |
Nov 24 - Day 2 |
Nov 25 - Day 3 |
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Triduum of Prayer for the Feast of BLESSED JAMES ALBERIONE
On the 50th Anniversary of his dies natalis
LEGACY OF A FOUNDER
First Day - 23 November 2021
THE PROPHECY OF COMMUNICATION
Blessed James Alberione left us and the Church a legacy of incalculable value. We are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his passage into eternity, with a Triduum in which we will consider three important aspects of this legacy: 1. the apostolic heritage; 2. the spiritual patrimony; 3. the testimony of holiness. Today we consider the great apostolic heritage. This dimension was accepted in the Church with the Second Vatican Council; St. Paul VI recognized this in 1969: “Father Alberione gave the Church new means to express herself, new means to give vigor and breadth to her apostolate, new capacity and new awareness of the validity and possibilities of her mission in the modern world and with modern means.”
TRUTH
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Starting from the “greater understanding” of Jesus’ invitation “Venite ad me omnes”, on the holy night of the illumination at the end of the century, the young Alberione embarked on a journey of total commitment to give an adequate response to Jesus’ thirst for souls. The sentiments of St. Paul addressed to the Corinthians are the sentiments of Father Alberione: to do everything to everyone to save everyone. These should also be the sentiments of his sons and daughters.
From the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (9:16-23)
Brothers, if I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews. […] To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
One of the most notable characteristics of Father James Alberione was his unwavering devotion to the Pope. Since Leo XIII, all the Popes have received his sincere devotion and total obedience. In turn, they had the opportunity to appreciate and support the work of our Founder. We all remember the moving words of St. Paul VI to the Pauline Family at the audience in 1969: almost a “canonization in life” of Primo Maestro. Pope Francis too expressed recognition of Blessed Alberione's apostolic anxiety and life witness.
From the Address of the Holy Father Francis:
Blessed James Alberione saw in the proclamation of Christ and the Gospel to the popular masses the most authentic and most necessary charity that could be offered to men and women thirsting for truth and justice. He was deeply touched by the words of St. Paul: “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16) and he made it the ideal of his life and mission. Following in the footsteps of Jesus and in imitation of the Apostle of the Gentiles, he was able to see the crowds as scattered sheep and in need of sure guidelines on the journey of life. Therefore, he spent his entire life breaking the bread of the Word for them with languages appropriate to the times. Thus, you too are called to spend yourselves at the service of the people of today to whom the Spirit sends you, with creativity and dynamic fidelity to your charism, identifying the most suitable ways for Jesus to be announced. The vast horizons of evangelization and the urgent need to bear witness to the Gospel message. Do not just say it. Witness it with your own life. And this witness to all constitutes the field of your apostolate. Many are still waiting to know Jesus Christ. The fantasy of charity knows no bounds and knows how to open ever-new ways to bring the breath of the Gospel to cultures and to the most diverse social spheres (Address of the Holy Father Francis to the Pauline Family, 29 November 2014).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
Father Alberione considered himself unworthy of the abundance of gifts received from the Lord, but he was very convinced that he had received them from God to pass them on to his sons and daughters, who had to carry on the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the whole world and by all means, with the spirit of St. Paul. When he described the personality of the ideal apostle in 1960, he was unintentionally describing his own apostolic personality.
From the Writings of Blessed Alberione
The Apostle is one who carries God in his soul and radiates him around himself. The Apostle is a saint who accumulated treasures; and he communicates the surplus on others. The Apostle has a love-filled heart for God and for men; and he cannot restrain and hold back what he feels and thinks. The Apostle is a vessel of election that overflows, and souls rush to quench their thirst. The Apostle is a temple of the Holy Trinity, which is supremely operative in him. He, according to a writer, exudes God from his pores with his words, his works, his prayers, his gestures, his attitudes, in public and in private, from his whole being. Living in God and giving God! (UPS IV, 277-278).
WAY
For Blessed James Alberione, the second part of the Eucharistic Visit consists first of all in becoming aware of the immense goodness of the Father, always faithful to love and forgiveness, in the light of the Holy Spirit who guides to the whole truth, and in the confrontation with the person of Jesus Christ, to discover what in itself coincides with the will of God and what deviates from it. “The important thing is that the chords of my heart are tuned to the melody we want to play, that is, the song: Glory to God and peace to men. Now the examination of conscience has the essential purpose of showing whether these chords sound well this aria. The chords of my heart are my internal dispositions. These, therefore, must be made to vibrate to know what sound they give: do they sing the glory of God? Or do they sing my self-love? Go to discover our ‘I’” (CISP, p. 1431).
LIFE
The apostolic spirit of Blessed James Alberione was expressed in all the manifestations of his life: he was not “doing an apostolate”, he was an “apostle”; this spirit of his appears strongly in the prayers proposed to the Pauline Family. Let us pray together what he called: “For those who thirst for souls like Jesus”.
For those who thirst for souls like Jesus (Pauline Offertory)
Lord, I offer you, in union with the priests who today celebrate the Holy Mass, Jesus-Host and myself, as a small victim:
– In reparation for the errors and scandals that are spread around the world with the means of social communication.
– To invoke your mercy on those who, deceived and seduced by these powerful means, turn away from your love as a Father.
– For the conversion of those who, in the use of these means, disregard the magisterium of Christ and of the Church, thus diverting the mind, heart and activities of men.
– So that everyone can follow only the one whom you, Father, in the immensity of your love, have sent into the world, proclaiming: “This is my beloved son, listen to him”.
– To know and make known that only Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is the perfect Master, a sure way that leads to knowledge of the Father and to participate in his life.
– So that priests, men and women religious, and laity may multiply in the Church who, consecrated to the apostolate with the means of social communication, make the message of salvation resound throughout the world.
– So that writers, technicians and propagandists may be wise, animated by an evangelical spirit, and give witness to Christian life in the context of social communication.
– That Catholic initiatives in the social communications sector may be ever more numerous and effectively promote true human and Christian values.
– So that all of us, knowing our ignorance and misery, feel the need to approach, with humility and trust, the source of life and nourish ourselves with your Word, O Father, and with the Body of Christ, invoking light, love and mercy for all men.
On the 50th Anniversary of his dies natalis
LEGACY OF A FOUNDER
First Day - 23 November 2021
THE PROPHECY OF COMMUNICATION
Blessed James Alberione left us and the Church a legacy of incalculable value. We are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his passage into eternity, with a Triduum in which we will consider three important aspects of this legacy: 1. the apostolic heritage; 2. the spiritual patrimony; 3. the testimony of holiness. Today we consider the great apostolic heritage. This dimension was accepted in the Church with the Second Vatican Council; St. Paul VI recognized this in 1969: “Father Alberione gave the Church new means to express herself, new means to give vigor and breadth to her apostolate, new capacity and new awareness of the validity and possibilities of her mission in the modern world and with modern means.”
TRUTH
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Starting from the “greater understanding” of Jesus’ invitation “Venite ad me omnes”, on the holy night of the illumination at the end of the century, the young Alberione embarked on a journey of total commitment to give an adequate response to Jesus’ thirst for souls. The sentiments of St. Paul addressed to the Corinthians are the sentiments of Father Alberione: to do everything to everyone to save everyone. These should also be the sentiments of his sons and daughters.
From the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (9:16-23)
Brothers, if I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews. […] To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
One of the most notable characteristics of Father James Alberione was his unwavering devotion to the Pope. Since Leo XIII, all the Popes have received his sincere devotion and total obedience. In turn, they had the opportunity to appreciate and support the work of our Founder. We all remember the moving words of St. Paul VI to the Pauline Family at the audience in 1969: almost a “canonization in life” of Primo Maestro. Pope Francis too expressed recognition of Blessed Alberione's apostolic anxiety and life witness.
From the Address of the Holy Father Francis:
Blessed James Alberione saw in the proclamation of Christ and the Gospel to the popular masses the most authentic and most necessary charity that could be offered to men and women thirsting for truth and justice. He was deeply touched by the words of St. Paul: “Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16) and he made it the ideal of his life and mission. Following in the footsteps of Jesus and in imitation of the Apostle of the Gentiles, he was able to see the crowds as scattered sheep and in need of sure guidelines on the journey of life. Therefore, he spent his entire life breaking the bread of the Word for them with languages appropriate to the times. Thus, you too are called to spend yourselves at the service of the people of today to whom the Spirit sends you, with creativity and dynamic fidelity to your charism, identifying the most suitable ways for Jesus to be announced. The vast horizons of evangelization and the urgent need to bear witness to the Gospel message. Do not just say it. Witness it with your own life. And this witness to all constitutes the field of your apostolate. Many are still waiting to know Jesus Christ. The fantasy of charity knows no bounds and knows how to open ever-new ways to bring the breath of the Gospel to cultures and to the most diverse social spheres (Address of the Holy Father Francis to the Pauline Family, 29 November 2014).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
Father Alberione considered himself unworthy of the abundance of gifts received from the Lord, but he was very convinced that he had received them from God to pass them on to his sons and daughters, who had to carry on the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the whole world and by all means, with the spirit of St. Paul. When he described the personality of the ideal apostle in 1960, he was unintentionally describing his own apostolic personality.
From the Writings of Blessed Alberione
The Apostle is one who carries God in his soul and radiates him around himself. The Apostle is a saint who accumulated treasures; and he communicates the surplus on others. The Apostle has a love-filled heart for God and for men; and he cannot restrain and hold back what he feels and thinks. The Apostle is a vessel of election that overflows, and souls rush to quench their thirst. The Apostle is a temple of the Holy Trinity, which is supremely operative in him. He, according to a writer, exudes God from his pores with his words, his works, his prayers, his gestures, his attitudes, in public and in private, from his whole being. Living in God and giving God! (UPS IV, 277-278).
WAY
For Blessed James Alberione, the second part of the Eucharistic Visit consists first of all in becoming aware of the immense goodness of the Father, always faithful to love and forgiveness, in the light of the Holy Spirit who guides to the whole truth, and in the confrontation with the person of Jesus Christ, to discover what in itself coincides with the will of God and what deviates from it. “The important thing is that the chords of my heart are tuned to the melody we want to play, that is, the song: Glory to God and peace to men. Now the examination of conscience has the essential purpose of showing whether these chords sound well this aria. The chords of my heart are my internal dispositions. These, therefore, must be made to vibrate to know what sound they give: do they sing the glory of God? Or do they sing my self-love? Go to discover our ‘I’” (CISP, p. 1431).
LIFE
The apostolic spirit of Blessed James Alberione was expressed in all the manifestations of his life: he was not “doing an apostolate”, he was an “apostle”; this spirit of his appears strongly in the prayers proposed to the Pauline Family. Let us pray together what he called: “For those who thirst for souls like Jesus”.
For those who thirst for souls like Jesus (Pauline Offertory)
Lord, I offer you, in union with the priests who today celebrate the Holy Mass, Jesus-Host and myself, as a small victim:
– In reparation for the errors and scandals that are spread around the world with the means of social communication.
– To invoke your mercy on those who, deceived and seduced by these powerful means, turn away from your love as a Father.
– For the conversion of those who, in the use of these means, disregard the magisterium of Christ and of the Church, thus diverting the mind, heart and activities of men.
– So that everyone can follow only the one whom you, Father, in the immensity of your love, have sent into the world, proclaiming: “This is my beloved son, listen to him”.
– To know and make known that only Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is the perfect Master, a sure way that leads to knowledge of the Father and to participate in his life.
– So that priests, men and women religious, and laity may multiply in the Church who, consecrated to the apostolate with the means of social communication, make the message of salvation resound throughout the world.
– So that writers, technicians and propagandists may be wise, animated by an evangelical spirit, and give witness to Christian life in the context of social communication.
– That Catholic initiatives in the social communications sector may be ever more numerous and effectively promote true human and Christian values.
– So that all of us, knowing our ignorance and misery, feel the need to approach, with humility and trust, the source of life and nourish ourselves with your Word, O Father, and with the Body of Christ, invoking light, love and mercy for all men.
Second Day - 24 November 2021
THE SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNICATION
It is the dimension that gives flavor to our life. We are shaped by the work of the Spirit, he who makes us pass from individuals to people capable of communion. Communicating is not a simple activity but it is our way of living because we are interwoven with relationships with God, neighbor and ourselves... Today we pray that the Pauline Family, through the intercession of Blessed James Alberione, witness to the Church and to the world the centrality of living in Jesus Way, Truth and Life.
TRUTH
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Modern society needs strong motivations to wake up from apathy and indifference. We know that the answer to all human questions is the person of Jesus Christ: even if ignored, the world needs Him. Blessed James Alberione felt this challenge of humanity intensely and, like St. Paul, dedicated his entire life to giving adequate answers.
From the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (3:8-12)
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light [for all] what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness of speech and confidence of access through faith in him.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
It is a source of joy for us to note that so many intuitions of our Founder have somehow entered the sphere of the universal Church. And one of these is certainly the absolute centrality of Christ, accordingly considered as the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the origin, the content, the strength of evangelization. Blessed James Alberione sums it up well: the meaning of our life is “to live and give Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life.”
From the Address of St. John Paul II to the Young:
The Way: "…I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: “the Way, the Truth and the Life. . . ." May Christ’s joy and peace be with you always. ". . . In union with the entire Church, may you commit yourselves generously to follow Jesus Christ, who alone is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life' . . . . With deep affinity and affection, I repeat a question already asked some time ago at Lisbon: are you aware of being 'Christ's natural allies' in evangelization? . . . With the very words of Christ, I ask you: “What do you seek”? (Jn 1:38). Do you seek God?
The Truth: "'What is truth?' He was asked by Pilate. Pilate’s tragedy was that although truth was there before him, personified by Jesus Christ, he failed to recognize it. . . .The eyes of faith see in Jesus Christ man as he could be and as God wishes him to be. At the same time, Jesus reveals to us the love of the Father. . . . However, the Truth is Jesus Christ. Love the truth! Live the truth! Bring the truth to the world! Be witnesses to the truth! Jesus is the truth that saves; He is the Truth to which the Spirit of Truth shall lead us (cf. Jn 16: 13).
The Life: ". . . The Christian faith places a deep link between love and life. In John’s Gospel, we read: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (Jn 3:16). God's love brings us to life, and this love and life are realized in Jesus Christ. He is the Incarnate Love of the Father; in Him “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Tit 3:4). . . . The meaning of life He will say to you [is]: keep loving. Only the person who forgets self in order to give himself to others fulfils his own life and expresses to the greatest extent the value of his earthly existence. It is the evangelic paradox of the life which is redeemed by being lost (cf. Jn 12:25), a paradox which finds its full explanation in the mystery of Christ who died and rose for us. . . . Let us commit ourselves to following Christ, the Way, Truth and Life. Thus, we will be zealous bearers of the message of the new evangelization and generous builders of the civilization of love (Address of John Paul II to the Young in Santiago de Compostela, 19 August 1989).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
The Founder of the Pauline Family was always well aware that all efforts in favor of evangelization would be useless if they were not rooted in a solid spirituality. The happy discovery of Jesus Master Way, Truth and Life was for him the total and definitive answer to this need. And so he wanted to pass it on to his sons and daughters so that, living it in the first person, they could pass it on to the Church and to the world.
From the Writings of Blessed James Alberione
The Pauline Family strives to fully live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, in the spirit of Saint Paul, under the gaze of the Queen of Apostles. A secret of success is to model oneself on God by living in Christ. Thus the notion of living and working in the Church and for the Church; of being wild olives grafted onto the living olive, the Eucharistic Lord; of reflecting on and nourishing oneself with every word of the Gospel, in accord with the spirit of Saint Paul – [is] always to be crystal-clear (AD, 93,95).
WAY
The biblical image of reference for evaluating the union of the person with the Master, in order to guarantee its fruits, is that of the vine and the branches. Father Alberione said to the Daughters of St. Paul: “The sap that makes the vine grow, that swells it, is the same sap that goes into the branches and makes the branches bear the leaves and then give the grapes, the fruit. The same with Jesus: His grace which is the lifeblood must pass from Jesus to us who live by Jesus” (FSP 56, p. 199). Let us allow ourselves to be enlightened by the light of Jesus Master to discover what we must change so that the lymph of grace, of the life of Jesus, flows freely in us, so that it can reach everyone.
LIFE
Blessed James Alberione always repeated that, if we want the mission to produce fruits of salvation, we are called to become Christ in all the dimensions of our being. “Let us go and drink Life – the Founder said –, to eat Jesus! Let us then start again bringing Christ everywhere before us; letting Him live and work alone, remaining, in the work, hidden in Him and lost in Him, since it is no longer I who live, it is Christ who lives in me” (AS, p. 62). Let us join in the words of Father Alberione to address Jesus Master:
To Jesus Master
Master, your life traces the way for me; your doctrine confirms and lights my steps;
Your grace sustains and supports me on the way to heaven.
You are the perfect Master: You set the example, teach and comfort the disciple to follow you.
O Master, You have words of eternal life: replace with yourself my mind, my thoughts,
O You who enlighten every man and are the truth: I do not want to reason other than as You teach.
Your life is the way, unique, true, infallible security...
Let every moment set foot in your footsteps of poverty, chastity, obedience.
May my heart be replaced by yours.
To my love for God, for my neighbor, for myself, let it be substituted by yours.
To my human sinful life, let it be replaced by your divine,
purest, supernatural life. “I am the life.”
THE SPIRITUALITY OF COMMUNICATION
It is the dimension that gives flavor to our life. We are shaped by the work of the Spirit, he who makes us pass from individuals to people capable of communion. Communicating is not a simple activity but it is our way of living because we are interwoven with relationships with God, neighbor and ourselves... Today we pray that the Pauline Family, through the intercession of Blessed James Alberione, witness to the Church and to the world the centrality of living in Jesus Way, Truth and Life.
TRUTH
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Modern society needs strong motivations to wake up from apathy and indifference. We know that the answer to all human questions is the person of Jesus Christ: even if ignored, the world needs Him. Blessed James Alberione felt this challenge of humanity intensely and, like St. Paul, dedicated his entire life to giving adequate answers.
From the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians (3:8-12)
To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light [for all] what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens. This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness of speech and confidence of access through faith in him.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
It is a source of joy for us to note that so many intuitions of our Founder have somehow entered the sphere of the universal Church. And one of these is certainly the absolute centrality of Christ, accordingly considered as the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the origin, the content, the strength of evangelization. Blessed James Alberione sums it up well: the meaning of our life is “to live and give Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life.”
From the Address of St. John Paul II to the Young:
The Way: "…I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: “the Way, the Truth and the Life. . . ." May Christ’s joy and peace be with you always. ". . . In union with the entire Church, may you commit yourselves generously to follow Jesus Christ, who alone is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life' . . . . With deep affinity and affection, I repeat a question already asked some time ago at Lisbon: are you aware of being 'Christ's natural allies' in evangelization? . . . With the very words of Christ, I ask you: “What do you seek”? (Jn 1:38). Do you seek God?
The Truth: "'What is truth?' He was asked by Pilate. Pilate’s tragedy was that although truth was there before him, personified by Jesus Christ, he failed to recognize it. . . .The eyes of faith see in Jesus Christ man as he could be and as God wishes him to be. At the same time, Jesus reveals to us the love of the Father. . . . However, the Truth is Jesus Christ. Love the truth! Live the truth! Bring the truth to the world! Be witnesses to the truth! Jesus is the truth that saves; He is the Truth to which the Spirit of Truth shall lead us (cf. Jn 16: 13).
The Life: ". . . The Christian faith places a deep link between love and life. In John’s Gospel, we read: 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (Jn 3:16). God's love brings us to life, and this love and life are realized in Jesus Christ. He is the Incarnate Love of the Father; in Him “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared” (Tit 3:4). . . . The meaning of life He will say to you [is]: keep loving. Only the person who forgets self in order to give himself to others fulfils his own life and expresses to the greatest extent the value of his earthly existence. It is the evangelic paradox of the life which is redeemed by being lost (cf. Jn 12:25), a paradox which finds its full explanation in the mystery of Christ who died and rose for us. . . . Let us commit ourselves to following Christ, the Way, Truth and Life. Thus, we will be zealous bearers of the message of the new evangelization and generous builders of the civilization of love (Address of John Paul II to the Young in Santiago de Compostela, 19 August 1989).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
The Founder of the Pauline Family was always well aware that all efforts in favor of evangelization would be useless if they were not rooted in a solid spirituality. The happy discovery of Jesus Master Way, Truth and Life was for him the total and definitive answer to this need. And so he wanted to pass it on to his sons and daughters so that, living it in the first person, they could pass it on to the Church and to the world.
From the Writings of Blessed James Alberione
The Pauline Family strives to fully live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, in the spirit of Saint Paul, under the gaze of the Queen of Apostles. A secret of success is to model oneself on God by living in Christ. Thus the notion of living and working in the Church and for the Church; of being wild olives grafted onto the living olive, the Eucharistic Lord; of reflecting on and nourishing oneself with every word of the Gospel, in accord with the spirit of Saint Paul – [is] always to be crystal-clear (AD, 93,95).
WAY
The biblical image of reference for evaluating the union of the person with the Master, in order to guarantee its fruits, is that of the vine and the branches. Father Alberione said to the Daughters of St. Paul: “The sap that makes the vine grow, that swells it, is the same sap that goes into the branches and makes the branches bear the leaves and then give the grapes, the fruit. The same with Jesus: His grace which is the lifeblood must pass from Jesus to us who live by Jesus” (FSP 56, p. 199). Let us allow ourselves to be enlightened by the light of Jesus Master to discover what we must change so that the lymph of grace, of the life of Jesus, flows freely in us, so that it can reach everyone.
LIFE
Blessed James Alberione always repeated that, if we want the mission to produce fruits of salvation, we are called to become Christ in all the dimensions of our being. “Let us go and drink Life – the Founder said –, to eat Jesus! Let us then start again bringing Christ everywhere before us; letting Him live and work alone, remaining, in the work, hidden in Him and lost in Him, since it is no longer I who live, it is Christ who lives in me” (AS, p. 62). Let us join in the words of Father Alberione to address Jesus Master:
To Jesus Master
Master, your life traces the way for me; your doctrine confirms and lights my steps;
Your grace sustains and supports me on the way to heaven.
You are the perfect Master: You set the example, teach and comfort the disciple to follow you.
O Master, You have words of eternal life: replace with yourself my mind, my thoughts,
O You who enlighten every man and are the truth: I do not want to reason other than as You teach.
Your life is the way, unique, true, infallible security...
Let every moment set foot in your footsteps of poverty, chastity, obedience.
May my heart be replaced by yours.
To my love for God, for my neighbor, for myself, let it be substituted by yours.
To my human sinful life, let it be replaced by your divine,
purest, supernatural life. “I am the life.”
Third Day - 25 November 2021
THE WITNESSING OF APOSTOLIC HOLINESS
This is perhaps the least known dimension of Blessed James Alberione because it is the synthesis of all the others, including the apostolate. The whole life of the Founder and of the Pauline Family has been a constant search for holiness, and holiness was the first proposal he made to all those who approached him to follow him. He preached a great deal about holiness, and was for many a teacher and guide towards this ideal, affirming that holiness is “fullness of faith, exuberance of hope, ardor of charity... giving God everything, in order to get everything in return! Our life always running on high voltage!” (UPS I, 43). And a little further on: “To give everything to God: this is holiness” (UPS I, 84). And he gave it all! For this we can say that holiness is the best inheritance that he left to his family and to the Church.
Truth
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Saint Paul thanks God for the grace that has been given to the Corinthians in Christ Jesus and asks that he confirm them in holiness “to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can consider these words as addressed to us by St. Paul and also by our Founder, a true wish for each of us, because we are among those who felt what he felt at the beginning of his inspiration. To fully welcome the grace of the Lord Jesus and try to give it to others: this is holiness.
From the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (1:4-9)
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ). God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
Holiness cannot be separated from mission. The holiness of Blessed James Alberione is apostolic holiness, and thus he always presents it to his sons and daughters. It is a holiness that is realized in the mission, indeed – says Pope Francis – “every saint is a mission” which can be understood and lived only in Christ.
From the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate:
A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for “this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3). Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel. That mission has its fullest meaning in Christ, and can only be understood through him. At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of his life. It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord’s death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him. But it can also entail reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus’ earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his self-sacrificing love (Gaudete et exsultate, nos. 19-20).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
“To accomplish your important task, you must first of all cultivate a constant and profound bond with Christ; only deep communion with him will enable you to bring the announcement of salvation to today’s man!”, Benedict XVI said to the leaders of the Catholic weeklies, on 26 November 2010. Father Alberione had a very clear awareness that only those who are holy, whoever lives the constant and profound bond with Christ, can proclaim the Gospel and help others to live this same experience of holiness. His apostolic conscience led him to an intense search for personal sanctification.
From the Writings of Blessed James Alberione
In order to save souls Jesus Christ came down from heaven and as a good shepherd went to look for the lost sheep. This world, besought by his passions, has crooked ways: how many sins and how much disorder! Too much is thought of the earth and little of heaven. “Remember, O man, that you are a child of God.” Men who do not even care for their souls; cold men also with regard to their own soul, how will they be able to transform themselves into apostles? First condition for being apostles: to take care of one’s soul, to understand what it means to be saved; to understand what it means to be sanctified is to have our hearts straining every day towards our sanctification, and to use for our sanctification all the means provided by Providence. (RSP, pp. 148-149). He who sanctifies himself will sanctify himself (RSP, p. 150).
WAY
For each of us, Blessed James Alberione is a father and model in everything and, in the first place, he is the teacher of holiness. With regard to the examination of conscience, he tells us that it is “the best way to establish ourselves in humility, the negative foundation of all holiness. Furthermore, it is a necessary means to lead us to faith, the positive foundation of progress in Christian, religious and apostolic life.” And he adds: “The knowledge of ourselves is precious, indeed necessary: it eliminates a dangerous optimism and at the same time eliminates easy discouragement.” On the one hand, “sincerely acknowledging the gifts of God in order to praise the Lord; and use them on the way to sanctification”; on the other, “sincerely recognizing the miseries, shortcomings, guilt, by amendment” (cf. CISP, p. 1432).
LIFE
Pauline holiness is the harmonious synthesis of all the dimensions of the person: the mind, the will and the heart, in the concrete reality of life, which is fundamentally expressed in piety, study, apostolate and poverty. Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life, is the foundation, the guarantee and the energy that sustains this profound unity, which actually constitutes Pauline holiness.
Invocations to Jesus Master
Jesus Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.
Jesus, teacher in the Church, draw everyone to your school.
Jesus Master, free me from error, from vain thoughts and from eternal darkness.
O Jesus, way between the Father and us, I offer everything and I await everything from you.
O Jesus, way of holiness, make me your faithful imitator.
O Jesus way, make me perfect like the Father who is in heaven.
O Jesus life, live in me, so that I may live in you.
O Jesus life, do not allow me to separate myself from you.
O Jesus life, let me live in eternity the joy of your love.
O Jesus truth, may I be the light of the world.
O Jesus way, may I be an example and model for souls.
O Jesus life, may my presence everywhere bring grace and consolation.
Center of Pauline Spirituality – SSP General House • 2021
THE WITNESSING OF APOSTOLIC HOLINESS
This is perhaps the least known dimension of Blessed James Alberione because it is the synthesis of all the others, including the apostolate. The whole life of the Founder and of the Pauline Family has been a constant search for holiness, and holiness was the first proposal he made to all those who approached him to follow him. He preached a great deal about holiness, and was for many a teacher and guide towards this ideal, affirming that holiness is “fullness of faith, exuberance of hope, ardor of charity... giving God everything, in order to get everything in return! Our life always running on high voltage!” (UPS I, 43). And a little further on: “To give everything to God: this is holiness” (UPS I, 84). And he gave it all! For this we can say that holiness is the best inheritance that he left to his family and to the Church.
Truth
■ Listening to the Word of the Apostle Paul
Saint Paul thanks God for the grace that has been given to the Corinthians in Christ Jesus and asks that he confirm them in holiness “to the end, blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We can consider these words as addressed to us by St. Paul and also by our Founder, a true wish for each of us, because we are among those who felt what he felt at the beginning of his inspiration. To fully welcome the grace of the Lord Jesus and try to give it to others: this is holiness.
From the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (1:4-9)
I give thanks to my God always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you firm to the end, irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus (Christ). God is faithful, and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
■■ Listening to the Word of the Pope
Holiness cannot be separated from mission. The holiness of Blessed James Alberione is apostolic holiness, and thus he always presents it to his sons and daughters. It is a holiness that is realized in the mission, indeed – says Pope Francis – “every saint is a mission” which can be understood and lived only in Christ.
From the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate:
A Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness, for “this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess 4:3). Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel. That mission has its fullest meaning in Christ, and can only be understood through him. At its core, holiness is experiencing, in union with Christ, the mysteries of his life. It consists in uniting ourselves to the Lord’s death and resurrection in a unique and personal way, constantly dying and rising anew with him. But it can also entail reproducing in our own lives various aspects of Jesus’ earthly life: his hidden life, his life in community, his closeness to the outcast, his poverty and other ways in which he showed his self-sacrificing love (Gaudete et exsultate, nos. 19-20).
■■■ Listening to the Word of the Founder
“To accomplish your important task, you must first of all cultivate a constant and profound bond with Christ; only deep communion with him will enable you to bring the announcement of salvation to today’s man!”, Benedict XVI said to the leaders of the Catholic weeklies, on 26 November 2010. Father Alberione had a very clear awareness that only those who are holy, whoever lives the constant and profound bond with Christ, can proclaim the Gospel and help others to live this same experience of holiness. His apostolic conscience led him to an intense search for personal sanctification.
From the Writings of Blessed James Alberione
In order to save souls Jesus Christ came down from heaven and as a good shepherd went to look for the lost sheep. This world, besought by his passions, has crooked ways: how many sins and how much disorder! Too much is thought of the earth and little of heaven. “Remember, O man, that you are a child of God.” Men who do not even care for their souls; cold men also with regard to their own soul, how will they be able to transform themselves into apostles? First condition for being apostles: to take care of one’s soul, to understand what it means to be saved; to understand what it means to be sanctified is to have our hearts straining every day towards our sanctification, and to use for our sanctification all the means provided by Providence. (RSP, pp. 148-149). He who sanctifies himself will sanctify himself (RSP, p. 150).
WAY
For each of us, Blessed James Alberione is a father and model in everything and, in the first place, he is the teacher of holiness. With regard to the examination of conscience, he tells us that it is “the best way to establish ourselves in humility, the negative foundation of all holiness. Furthermore, it is a necessary means to lead us to faith, the positive foundation of progress in Christian, religious and apostolic life.” And he adds: “The knowledge of ourselves is precious, indeed necessary: it eliminates a dangerous optimism and at the same time eliminates easy discouragement.” On the one hand, “sincerely acknowledging the gifts of God in order to praise the Lord; and use them on the way to sanctification”; on the other, “sincerely recognizing the miseries, shortcomings, guilt, by amendment” (cf. CISP, p. 1432).
LIFE
Pauline holiness is the harmonious synthesis of all the dimensions of the person: the mind, the will and the heart, in the concrete reality of life, which is fundamentally expressed in piety, study, apostolate and poverty. Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life, is the foundation, the guarantee and the energy that sustains this profound unity, which actually constitutes Pauline holiness.
Invocations to Jesus Master
Jesus Master, sanctify my mind and increase my faith.
Jesus, teacher in the Church, draw everyone to your school.
Jesus Master, free me from error, from vain thoughts and from eternal darkness.
O Jesus, way between the Father and us, I offer everything and I await everything from you.
O Jesus, way of holiness, make me your faithful imitator.
O Jesus way, make me perfect like the Father who is in heaven.
O Jesus life, live in me, so that I may live in you.
O Jesus life, do not allow me to separate myself from you.
O Jesus life, let me live in eternity the joy of your love.
O Jesus truth, may I be the light of the world.
O Jesus way, may I be an example and model for souls.
O Jesus life, may my presence everywhere bring grace and consolation.
Center of Pauline Spirituality – SSP General House • 2021