FROM THE PROVINCIAL

The Mystery of Love

Dear friends,

May Jesus Christ be praised!

Christmas celebrates the mystery of love – that is, God’s love for us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  Jesus is God’s love made flesh and blood.  Because of Jesus, God’s love is forever a part of our world and history.  In the words of an ancient prayer, in the person of Jesus, heaven is wedded to earth.

It is our calling as followers of Jesus to continue to make this love visible to all.  We do this first by letting the love of God fill our own hearts, letting Jesus become the center of our lives, living St. Paul’s words, “I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me.”  But then, once we have experienced and known this love in our own hearts, we must make it visible to others so that everyone can see and know that the mystery of God’s love is still present and at work in our world.

Pope Benedict, when speaking of the challenges facing us as Christians in the twenty-first century where God’s love is not always so obvious, remarks, “I believe that the future of the world in this dramatic situation is decided today:  whether God – the God of Jesus Christ – exists and is recognized as such or whether he disappears.”  It falls to us to take up this challenge and to make God visible to our world and society.

We do so through our charity.  Our commitment to loving and helping others, especially the poor, is not a form of philanthropy.  Nor is it the mere result of some ethical imperative.  Rather, we reach out in charity to others because God first has loved us.  Recognizing Jesus – God’s living love – in our own hearts, we can reach out to others in charity and so continue to make visible the love of God in our midst.

At this most special and blessed time of year, I pray that you will know God’s love in your own heart and that you will be moved to make that love visible by your charity to others, especially the poor.  Together this Christmas, let us celebrate the mystery of love.

My thanks to the many donors and friends of the Province who have attended recent special events.  On September 22, we invited former Vincentian priests, brothers, and seminarians to join us at St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville for a day of reconnecting, reminiscing and telling stories, and making new connections.  For many, this was their first chance to see the new residence and to visit some of the retired Vincentians living there.  This was the second such gathering for former members of the Community.

On September 30 we had another special event.  We invited our Missouri-based friends and benefactors to join us and the parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, St. Louis, for a Mass and reception as we celebrated the feast day of St. Vincent.  A special feature of this gathering was our honoring Mr. Paul Heidemann, now of Florida and formerly of St. Louis, as an affiliate of the Congregation.  Affiliation is a special honor bestowed by our Superior General on benefactors and friends of the Congregation recognizing their association with the works of the Province and their sharing in our Vincentian charism in a notable way.  Our congratulations to Paul.

Finally, I draw your attention to the article on our mission in Kenya, to all the good being done there, and especially to our newest Kenyan Vincentian priest, Fr. John Musolo Ochola.  Our good work in Kenya, as well as all the ministry and outreach we do here in the States, is possible because of your support and generosity.  We are most grateful for all you do to join us in our mission.     

You are in my daily prayers.  May the blessings of Christmas be yours.

James Swift, C.M.