SAINT MICHAEL WROTE... NEF N. 140 NOUVELLES EN FAMILLE - 116TH YEAR, 11a series - 14 September 2018 In this issue The message of the superior general Conceived and brought to birth in the sources of the charism p. 1 Question: In what consists the religious perfection to which we Address of Pope Conceived and brought to birth Francis, 7 July 2018 must aspire under pain of mortal sin? Answer: In Charity. Q: and p. 4 in the sources of the charism what is the strongest and most unequivocal proof of charity? A: It is to conform our will to the will of God in all things, to make this The Vicariate of « Which religious is truly on fire with the spirit of our vocation? the object, the rule and the motive of all our desires and all our France-Spain p. 6 The one who applies himself entirely and exclusively to the duties of his enterprises: to want what God wants, as He wants and because International Session office with profound humility, a deep gratitude to God, a great generosity he wants it. Q: What must we do to act properly, Christianly, at Betharram p. 7 in responding to his grace, without running ahead, religiously? A. Apply this general principle to all our decisions and or going beyond the limits of his employment. » Summer camp in choices, to every little thing we do. | M 396 (DS § 233) Katiola: to dare, to act, to live p. 13 Father Angelo Bianchi Dear Betharramites, scj † p. 17 Notices from the In recent years, we have spent much time reflecting General Council... on our religious identity. The laity helped us from their p. 19 own perspective in the Church. And it has been a recur- ring theme during our meetings, a family theme that is History of a spiritual journey (8): A born and reborn. The General Chapter has also present- Generalate House mi via Angelo Brunetti, 27 spirituality of ed this as a challenge for the age in which we are living. Societas S Cordis Jesu 00186 Roma « Here I Am! » It asked us to go out to encounter life, but in what spirit Phone +39 06 320 70 96 together with B E T H A R R A M Fax +39 06 36 00 03 09 should we do it? What is the tangible sign of authentic Email [email protected] Bossuet p. 20 Betharramite religious life? www.betharram.net Saint Michael wrote... We can find answers by looking at our own vocation. p. 24 It is often born of a strong experience of God. A kind of «love story» that deeply marked us selves to «lose momentum» through It has pleased God to make Himself loved, and led us to follow a new orientation the success of their personal work, or and while we were still his enemies, he loved us so much as Christians. It is the result of an en- by the prestige they had legitimately that he sent his only Son: counter with Jesus Christ who called acquired through their pastoral chari- He gave Him to us to be us to the position we are in, even go- ty. the magnet which draws us to divine love, ing so far as to accept our hesitation Betharramite vocational identity to be the model which shows us the dynamic of love, (cf I Sam 3: 9-10). was forged in them as they met Je- and to be the means of attaining divine love: Many Betharramite brothers, whom sus (to follow him), and their brothers the Son of God became man. we remember today with gratitude for (to serve them). Their lives, like ours, their word and faithful witness, have are made beautiful in the eyes of God At the moment He entered the world animated by the Spirit of God His Father, challenged us to conversion, to an whenever we pronounce this obedi- He gave Himself up to all God’s designs for Him; inner transcendence, going beyond ent and loving «yes», which we call He took the place of all victims; our limits and our weaknesses. Their Ecce Venio or Ecce Ancilla Domini. He said: “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, life response - simple, unconditional To live today this experience of the but a body have you prepared for me; and generous - was accompanied by encounter, to devote time alone with in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. a confident surrender to the hands of the Lord, is to give Him all that we are Then I said: ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will, O my God.’” the Father. It was their secret which, and all that we have, that He may use Jesus began His life’s work by this great act which he never discontinued. by a free gift, became our spring ... how he wants. And this, without spar- From this moment onwards he remained always in a state of sacrificial offering, Therefore, no one can boast of his ing areas «where we do not let him annihilated before God. He did nothing on His own; His actions were always directed by the Spirit of God; own calling. Nobody was called to ful- in», No-Go spaces that we want to His disposition was one of constant abandonment to the orders of God, to suffer and do fil themselves by using the Congrega- keep in the shadows, spaces of world- whatever He wanted: tion as a theatre stage. On the other ly freedom, which he actually knows Exinanivit semetipsum, factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. hand, we were called to give life, to all too well. [He lowered Himself, becoming obedient until death, death on the cross.] carry the Cross, to follow Christ. It was I sometimes meet brothers who the Lord who came to meet us while have conceived their religious iden- This is how God loves us: this is how Jesus Christ our Lord and creator we were « following the flock» (Amos tity as a kind of «garden of roses», became an indescribable attraction for our hearts, a perfect model and an all-powerful help. 7:15). There would be vanity and assumed in the early years of forma- self-sufficiency to not recognise it. tion but whose perfume has inevitably But we human beings are cold before God! What a joy to meet religious who evaporated over the years! The iden- Even among the priests there are very few who say as their divine Master did: are detached and happy to devote tity of the Betharramite missionary “Here I am, Ita Pater![Yes, Father]” themselves and be available to the must be cultivated throughout life, to missions entrusted to them! make it mature in the paschal dynam- At the sight of this marvellous spectacle, the priests of Betharram15 felt drawn to dedicate16 The generosity of St. Michael Gari- ic of a serious interior life, embraced themselves to imitating Jesus, humble and obedient, coits and Fr. Etchecopar was such that with passion. and to working wholeheartedly to bring the same happiness to others, they no longer cared for themselves, I share the following principle: under the protection of Mary; she was always disposed to do what God wanted so great had been their intimate ex- «Wherever a Betharramite evange- and was always submissive to what God did. perience of the merciful love of God lises in the name of Betharram, I am They have taken St Michael and St Ignatius Loyola as their patrons. the Father. The self-emptying of Jesus there too». This vicarial style of pasto- had permeated the vocational expe- ral presence is also essential to make 15) In 1838, the Congregation did not yet have religious brothers : they had to wait until 1840 for this. rience of our founder and his second the missionary community more au- 16) « To devote onself » meant in the past « to dedicate oneself by vows » ; the meaning remained here. » (Footnote by Father Miéyaa, successor. They never allowed them- thentic and able to give witness. It is a P724). From the beginning, Michael Garicoits wanted a real religious congegration with vows ; that is where he would find the stum- bling block with Monsignor Lacroix. w 2 Nouvelles en famille N. 140, 14 September 2018 23 w was made before the foundation of the the abbreviated version of the faith. Also, style that appeals, that attracts voca- of sheep, not officials. institute, before the Ignatian retreats; at it is the profession of John: “I believe in tions, because young people see us • Live simply, live in a more aus- the time of the mystical manifestations of charity!” (I John 4, 6). It says everything. sincerely united and enthusiastic. tere way, live happily, expressing in Christmas 1829 and 1830, noted Father He is made man ; I believe it! He loves and The opposite is regrettable: community the joy of one who has his Morin5... he who loves does everything.»10 “Here I ego-centered and individualistic be- treasure where his heart is (Mt 6.21). In Cambo, Jeanne Dagoret introduced Am” is a near-equivalent of “love”! haviours, pastoral egoism, dissen- A Betharramite must have the char- her curate to the devotion of the Sacred To understand the influence of Bossuet, sion and envy, recurrent discredit to acteristics of his vocational ideal, but Heart, according to the customs of St one text is enough: Father Jean-Luc Morin authority, self-referentiality, whisper- also the traits and values of his own Margaret-Mary Alacoque. If Michael analysed it.