TO ALL THOSE WHO KNOW THAT CHILDREN BRING US CLOSE to the KINGDOM of GOD “To Educate, Proclaim, and to Transform”
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CASA GENERALIZIA DEI PADRI SCOLOPI Prot. S.168.2016 TO ALL THOSE WHO KNOW THAT CHILDREN BRING US CLOSE TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD “To educate, proclaim, and to transform” “We set up and establish in the Roman House of these Schools a single Congregation of the Pious Schools, directed and governed by a single Prefect called hereinafter Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools... To our beloved son Joseph Calasanz, current Prefect of the schools, we charge and commend, according to our pleasure, the prefecture, care, government and administration of the Pious Schools –those of Rome, those founded at less than twenty miles of this city, and those that will be founded in the future- and of his Congregation". (Paul V, brief "Ad ea quae per", given on March 6, 1617 in Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome). “Since, in the Church of God, all religious Institutes, guided by the Holy Spirit, pursue as their ultimate goal the perfection of charity through their specific apostolate, likewise, this is what our Congregation is determined to accomplish through our specific apostolate, which was approved by the Holy Father and Vicar of Christ on Earth, Paul V, of happy memory,”. (Constitutions of the Pauline Congregation, n. 1). The Pious Schools, work of God and the result of the daring and ever-enduring patience of Saint Joseph Calasanz 1, are the Evangelical response of a man of faith to the reality of the poor child. Also, they are the response of so many people that throughout history have contributed to build the dream of Calasanz. And they are called - today and tomorrow- to continue being Gospel for those who dream of a different world, a world in which brotherhood is a shared task and a gift for everyone; in short, a world that is capable of hosting the Kingdom of God that already is among us2. In the year 1617 -four centuries ago-, the Church erected the Pious Schools as a Religious Congregation and entrusted to Joseph of Calasanz its care and direction. What had begun in a small church of Roman Trastevere, had been consolidated as an institution carrier of life, evangelical mission, dedication to education and love for the poor. 1 Constitutions of the Pious Schools n. 1. 2 Lk 17, 21 1 CASA GENERALIZIA DEI PADRI SCOLOPI In this way an extraordinary chapter of the history of the Christian community and human society began, and a new road in the fight of men and women for a world in which justice and peace are possible was open: education for all, integral and based on the keys of the Gospel. Calasanz’ conviction that “the good or bad life of the man throughout the rest of his future depends on children’ good education"3 inspires and supports all efforts of mankind for a quality education for all, public and popular. That’s why we, sons and daughters of Calasanz, are preparing to celebrate, in an attitude of profound thanksgiving, a CALASANCTIAN JUBILEE YEAR in all places in which we operate and in all contexts in which - with or without our physical presence - people feel blessed by the love of God in Calasanz. On behalf of children and young people, especially the poorest; on behalf of all those who feel transformed by the Lord through the example of Calasanz, and on behalf of the whole of the Pious Schools, the General Congregation of the Order, with the approval of his Holiness Pope Francis, calls the CALASANCTIAN JUBILEE YEAR and invite all those who wish to live it to do so from the same options that held Calasanz’ life : his passionate love for the Lord Jesus and his Mother Mary; his unconditional surrender to the Mission of evangelizing by educating; his commitment to make possible the Pious Schools as a space of communion and mission, and his deep trust in the child and in the young, carriers of life and fullness. 1. A Jubilee year is essentially an opportunity of Grace and encounter with God, deep within each of us. We cannot plan what is essential in the Jubilee Year, because it is free and new; it does not depend on our calendar or on our decisions, but on God's unfathomable love. For this reason, our first invitation is this: "God's voice is the voice of the Spirit, which comes and goes, touches the heart and passes away; we do not know from where it comes or when it will blow; that’s why it matters much to be always vigilant, so that it will not come suddenly and pass without result"4. We wish you a year full of faith, of search, of questions, of discernment, of vocational response; a year in which all of us can present ourselves to the Lord, open to his Word, because we want to start afresh from Christ, and not from ourselves; starting from his questions, his invitations, and from there walk as Piarists.5” 2. In this Jubilee Year we celebrate jointly Calasanz and his work. We are in a year in which we reach the 400 years of the erection of the Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools, and also the 250 years of the canonization of Calasanz. For this reason we can and we must celebrate Our Holy Father and the Work to which he gave his life and of which we are now heirs and carriers, for the good of children and young people. We know that a charism is an experience of the Spirit transmitted to his own disciples to be by them lived, guarded, deepened and developed constantly in tune with the Body of Christ in perennial growth6. So we invite you all to live, guard, deepen and develop your Calasanctian 3 St. Joseph CALASANZ, Memorandum to Card. Tonti. 4 St. Joseph CALASANZ, L. 131. 5 47th General Chapter of the Order of the Pious Schools, “Disciples and Witnesses” n. 3. 6 Mutuae Relationes n. 11. 2 CASA GENERALIZIA DEI PADRI SCOLOPI and Piarist experience. This will be, undoubtedly, the best way of celebrating this Jubilee Year. 3. For us, Calasanz is Gospel. The Gospel acquires new tones - vocational - through Calasanz. I wish we would be able to live it always in this way. When we Piarists go to a place, we don't carry the Gospel as if we were its owners, because the Gospel is already there, delivered by God. On the contrary, when we go to a place to carry out our mission, we receive, welcome and announce the Gospel; and through our charism, full with the seeds of the Kingdom, that place changes. That is why we have chosen as jubilee theme three absolutely related verbs: TO EDUCATE, PROCLAIM, AND TO TRANSFORM. Live them with passion, make them real with generosity, and take them as horizon of life and mission! 4. Our grateful look is addressed in the first place to all the Piarist religious who live our vocation in so many different places. In particular, thanks to all the elderly Piarists, who have worn their life as Calasanz for children and youth. Thank you all for your life, example and generosity! Thank you for trying to be signs – humble signs - of God's love for the little ones. We wish that this Jubilee Year strengthen our wish of fidelity and vocational authenticity, and help us to understand that there is only a way to live the Piarist vocation: in fullness, never in a half way. "Called through Baptism to the summit of perfect charity, we leave everything for Christ and follow Him in a community of consecrated life as the only thing necessary"7. Courage, brothers! God blesses us with many young people seeking to give their life. Let us be for them sings of encouragement and hope. 5. Equally, we address all the people who are part of the Fraternity of the Pious Schools, present already in many places and deeply responsible with us of the Piarist life and mission. You are carriers of Calasanz’ charism. By your promise, you decide to "follow Jesus and live the vocation according to the spirit of Calasanz"8. We wish everyone that this Jubilee Year may be for you an occasion to renew your faith and your desire to live it with intensity. This is our prayer for you. 6. To all teachers men and women who make possible the Piarist Mission in our schools, colleges, parishes, homes, boarding schools, educational centers and on all platforms where we forward our mission, THANKS! As educators, you are called to offer to those children and youth the best of yourselves, so that they may grow from the best that they have. This is to educate. We wish that this year will help you in your life, and that God's blessings bring consolation and joy to everyone and to your families. Also, our gratitude to all those who make possible the Piarist mission from a service that sometimes is less visible, but which is essential: administration, secretariat, cleaning, attending the school dining room, sacristy, transportation, maintenance, headquarters, etc. To all of you, thank you very much!! 7. We think of all the people who come on contact with Calasanz in so many different ways: the families who entrust the education of their children to our institutions; the Christian communities to which we serve in parishes; religious congregations with which we 7 Constitutions of the Pious Schools, 16. 8 General Congregation of the Pious Schools, The Fraternity of the Pious Schools, 2011, n.19.