BLESSED ADELE DE BATZ – FOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF MARY IMMACULATE (MARIANISTS) This is the favorable time
MARCH 2018 IN ADELE’S WORDS — Nº 2
Mª Blanca Jamar, FMI Buenos Aires Community (Argentina)
Adele lived in a constant attitude of conversion by her being "Turned towards the Lord" - her eyes and her heart fixed on God .
“Let’s search for Him now, for this is the favorable time. . .” (44.2)
How often has Adèle heard these words and lived Him and burning with the desire to make him known them well! How often does she teach them to her and loved. friends in the little society and to her religious sis- Fr. Joseph Verrier, editor of Mother Adele’s Positio, a ters! We discover this focus by the many times she theologian belonging to the Congregation and respon- quotes it in her correspondence. Sometimes in liturgi- sible for the causes of her beatification and canoniza- cal seasons, or to lift up spirits when an answer is lack- tion, examined the writings of the Servant of God ing, or as a cry of alarm when pride or other tempta- (Adele). He found that she expresses herself in these tions are lurking. She always invites us to not miss the terms: "In the conduct of the Servant of God, as re- moment of opportunity. vealed in her writings, we have not noticed any impul- What were the ways Adele experienced it? Thankfully, sivity or uncontrolled feelings, elicited by emotionali- her letters tell us much, because of the transparency ty. Her writings allow us to deduce that a serious self- with which she recounts her experience of God control and a supernatural motivation, seem to charac- throughout her life. Certain 'favorable moments' leave terize her exterior and interior conduct. "And Fr. Ver- her with a special grace: the memory of her baptism, rier concludes:" It seems to us that the writings of the her First Communion, her Confirmation, the "Little Servant of God justify a very favorable judgment on Society" and her entry into the Congregation of Bor- her moral character, in the supernatural sense of the deaux, her meeting with Father Chaminade, her option term. Indeed, this true Servant of the Lord, reveals to choose Jesus Christ coming before a marriage pro- herself in them, from her childhood, to the end of her posal, the illness and death of her father, the fruition earthly existence, revealing a soul fully aware of the of her "dear project" and the passing to eternal Life and supernatural responsibility that derives from both her meeting her Beloved. full Christian vocation and her religious vocation. She These are some of Adèle's favorable times. But con- desires to be consistent in a generous and constant sidering her whole life, we can say that she has wel- exercise of Christian virtues with a full fidelity without comed and lived each day as a time of grace, a unique concessions, nor compromises to her congregation moment to respond to Love. She lives in a constant and her total commitment to the service of God and attitude of conversion in the sense that she is "turned the religious state". towards the Lord" holding her eyes and heart fixed on THIS IS THE FAVORABLE TIME PAGE 2
In Adele’s words
My dear friend, does not the serve the purity of our hearts cold has finally left you, but God whom we serve deserve only by directing them toward your sufferings grieve me very our whole heart? Why have him. (44.2). much. However, dear sister, we so many reservations in This is the proper time to recall that almost all holy men what concerns him? God does obtain mercy, for we are going and women have had poor not act so toward us, for he to recall the passion and death health; this thought consoles showers us abundantly with of our divine Savior. May his me when I see my dear daugh- “This is the the most excellent gifts. He Blood not have been spilt in ters suffering. Come, now, this leaves his Tabernacle to enter vain for us. During these days illness will be for the glory of proper time to our hearts as often as we wish. of salvation, during this favo- God and your salvation. It will What abuse we make of God’s have taught you how to die to obtain mercy, rable season, we must redou- goodness! Some day he will ble our devotion, our hatred self, to renounce yourself, to for we are grow weary, and we shall seek for sin, and our love of God. know how to obey . . . not an him in vain. “You will seek (71.4). inconsiderable advantage! going to recall me, and you will not find me.” Courage, I see in this the will Because of the success with Let us search for him now, for of God; you needed this for the passion and which the Lord has blessed this is the favorable time, the- your advancement and your your work, your salvation se are the days of salvation. perfection. Profit fully from it, death of our would have been in jeopardy if How God loves the offering dear sister, and lose none of you had not been humbled. divine Savior”. of a young and tender heart! the harvest. Fill your barns “Now is the favorable time, Let us offer ours to him, my with meritorious acts of re- now is the day of salva- dear Agathe, these hearts that nouncement. This is the favo- AdelE de Batz tion.” (566.3) beat for none other but him. rable time, these are the days Let us consecrate to him all How glad I am, my very dear of salvation. (571.2). our affections. We shall pre- daughter, to know that your
Homily of Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday (Basilica of Saint Sabine Sabine, February 14, 2018) The season of Lent is a favoura- charity – as Mother Teresa of- where. Pause from this com- ble time to remedy the disso- ten used to say – then the fruit pulsion to a fast-paced life that nant chords of our Christian life of distrust is apathy and resigna- scatters, divides and ultimately and to receive the ever new, tion. Distrust, apathy and resi- destroys time with family, with joyful and hope-filled proclama- gnation: these are demons that friends, with children, with tion of the Lord’s Passo- deaden and paralyze the soul of grandparents, and time as a ver. The Church in her mater- a believing people. gift… time with God. nal wisdom invites us to pay Lent is the ideal time to unmask Pause for a little while, refrain special attention to anything these and other temptations, to from the need to show off and that could dampen or even allow our hearts to beat once be seen by all, to continually corrode our believing heart. more in tune with the vibrant appear on the “noticeboard” We are subject to numerous heart of Jesus. The whole of that makes us forget the value temptations. Each of us knows the Lenten season is imbued of intimacy and recollection. the difficulties we have to fa- with this conviction, which we Pause for a little while, refrain ce. And it is sad to note that, could say is echoed by three from haughty looks, from flee- when faced with the ever- words offered to us in order to ting and pejorative comments varying circumstances of our rekindle the heart of the belie- that arise from forgetting ten- daily lives, there are voices rai- ver: pause, see and return. derness, compassion and reve- sed that take advantage of pain Pause a little, leave behind the rence for the encounter with and uncertainty; the only thing unrest and commotion that fill others, particularly those who they aim to do is sow dis- the soul with bitter feelings are vulnerable, hurt and even trust. If the fruit of faith is which never get us any- immersed in sin and error. PAGE 3 IN ADELE’S WORDS — Nº 2
Pause for a little while, refrain to making their homes a school invitation filled with hope for from the urge to want to of love. this Lenten time, in order to “PAUSE, SEE, control everything, know every- See the faces of our children and defeat the demons of distrust, thing, destroy everything; this young people filled with year- apathy and resignation. The AND RETURN”. comes from overlooking grati- ning for the future and hope, face that invites us to cry out: tude for the gift of life and all filled with “tomorrows” and “The Kingdom of God is possi- (P. Francisco) the good we receive. opportunities that demand dedi- ble!” Pause for a little while, refrain cation and protection. Living Pause, see and return. Return to from the deafening noise that shoots of love and life that al- the house of your Fa- weakens and confuses our hea- ways open up a path in the ther. Return without fear to ring, that makes us forget the midst of our selfish and meagre those outstretched, eager arms fruitful and creative power of calculations. of your Father, who is rich in silence. See our elderly whose faces are mercy (cf. Eph 2:4), who awaits Pause for a little while, refrain marked by the passage of time, you. from the attitude which promo- faces that reveal the living me- Return without fear, for this is tes sterile and unproductive mory of our people. Faces that the favourable time to come thoughts that arise from isola- reflect God’s wisdom at work. home, to the home of my Fa- tion and self-pity, and that cause See the faces of our sick people ther and your Father us to forget going out to en- and the many who take care of (cf. Jn 20:17). It is the time for counter others to share their them; faces which in their vul- allowing one’s heart to be tou- burdens and suffering. nerability and service remind us ched… Persisting on the path Pause for a little while, refrain that the value of each person of evil only gives rise to disap- from the emptiness of every- can never be reduced to a ques- pointment and sadness. True thing that is instantaneous, mo- tion of calculation or utility. life is something quite distinct mentary and fleeting, that depri- See the remorseful faces of so and our heart indeed knows ves us of our roots, our ties, of many who try to repair their this. God does not tire, nor will the value of continuity and the errors and mistakes, and who he tire, of holding out his hand awareness of our ongoing jour- from their misfortune and suf- (cf. Misericordiae Vultus, 19). ney. fering fight to transform their Return without fear, to join in Pause in order to look and situations and move forward. the celebration of those who are contemplate! See and contemplate the face of forgiven. See the gestures that prevent the Crucified Love, who today from Return without fear, to experien- extinguishing of charity, that the cross continues to bring us ce the healing and reconciling keep the flame of faith and hope, his hand held out to those tenderness of God. Let the hope alive. Look at faces alive who feel crucified, who expe- Lord heal the wounds of sin with God’s tenderness and rience in their lives the burden and fulfil the prophecy made to goodness working in our midst. of failure, disappointment and our fathers: “A new heart I will See the face of our families who heartbreak. give you, and a new spirit I will continue striving, day by day, See and contemplate the real face put within you; and I will take with great effort, in order to of Christ crucified out of love out of your flesh the heart of move forward in life, and who, for everyone, without excep- stone and give you a heart of despite many concerns and tion. For everyone? Yes, for flesh” (Ezek 36: 26). much hardship, are committed everyone. To see his face is an Pause, see and return!
The Word of God tells us... (2 Cor 6,2) duct ourselves properly as in light, so that you may become God says in Scripture: “At an the day,* not in orgies and children of light.” drunkenness, not in promiscu- acceptable time I have listened (Mc 13, 33-37) to you, and on a day of salva- ity and licentiousness, not in tion I have helped you.” See, rivalry and jealousy. But put on Be watchful! Be alert! You do now is the acceptable time; see, the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not know when the time will now is the day of salvation! no provision for the desires of come. It is like a man traveling the flesh. abroad. He leaves home and (Rm 13, 11-14) places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders And do this because you know (Jn 12, 35-36) Jesus said to them, “The light is the gatekeeper to be on the the time; it is the hour now for watch. Watch, therefore; you you to awake from sleep. For with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, do not know when the lord of our salvation is nearer now than the house is coming, whether in when we first believed; the so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the the evening, or at midnight, or night is advanced, the day is at at cockcrow, or in the morning. hand. Let us then throw off the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you May he not come suddenly and works of darkness [and] put on find you sleeping. What I say have the light, believe in the the armor of light; let us con- to you, I say to all: “Watch!”. THIS IS THE FAVORABLE TIME PAGE 4
SUGGESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND PRAYER Individually: Ponder the readings from Pope Francis, Mother Adele and Scripture, noting their common elements.
… Now is the favorable time… (Adele) How is it time, my time to return to God ? Review and reflect on the experiences of the past week. What were the "favorable" moments and those that have not been ?
The three words, Pause, see and return (Homily of Pope Francis) are a good focus for each day, and for daily review of our conversion process. How are you being invited to pause, look and come back to God ?
Adele invites us to view what we are living as a time of salvation. How do you express this in your out- look and gestures, your words, your relationships? Ask for the grace to see the presence and coming sal- vation of God in everything.
In community : Share about Pope Francis’ homily and what resonates with you. Conclude with the prayer, « It is time again… »
Prayer to the Virgin Mary (Pope Francis)
Mary, make us feel your Mother's gaze, guide us to your Son. Form us, not as Christians on showcase display, but as those who know how to dirty their hands to build with your Son Jesus , the Kingdom of Love, Joy and Peace. We pray all this in the name of this same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
It is time again…
Time to strengthen our love. to abstain from something, than to love more I hear Your words again: "Come and follow me ..." to sacrifice, than to give what I have And this time my answer will be surer to attend a liturgy, than to fight for a more just world. I want to follow you, Jesus, to act like a pharisee, than to work for unity I want to make the most of this new opportunity I need to get out of ordinary routines Lord, do not let me To experience our extraordinary relationship. be first when I pray flaunt my actions Once again, I am reminded that you count on me, remain comfortable with old habits that I am invited to live every day sleep in general mediocrity with more love, more attention to others, feel too satisfied because I am with you. More self-restraint to keep me free, and more moments of prayer Wake me up Lord! Let me love more! to strengthen our love so that our hearts beat in unison Let this new opportunity not be in vain, may my heart celebrate You know that for me it is easier : as I renew my love for You. to fast from food, than to accept criticism to give alms, than to welcome those I don’t like Mari Patxi Ayerra
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