Communique # 13      St James - 25 July 2020   

Communique # 13      St James - 25 July 2020   

Once more: it’s all about faith, hope and charity! 

• including in this time of COVID-19! 

Can we be men and women of faith? 

“The gist of Jesus' message is the promise of victory over all that is negative, over all suffering and over death. This is why it is 'Good News'… Ultimately, “we will take God, and God alone, as both fulcrum and lever…” Only faith can exorcise the fear of not triumphing over cruel reality: 'All that is born of God conquers the world. And the victory that overcomes the world is our faith. Who can conquer the world, if not whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God?' (1 Jn 5,4-5).     

Can we live with unshakeable hope? 

“Hope is the muscle of the heart of the Christian…”, Cardinal Danneels said.  

“If God is for us, who can be against? … Who will separate us from the love of Christ? ... Yes, I have the assurance of it: neither death nor life, neither angels nor dominions, neither the present nor the future, nor the powers, nor the forces of the heights nor those of the depths, nor any creature, nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God manifested in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Cf. Rom 8,31-39)      

Once again we have to say: “The future is greater than the past!"    

Can we be men and women moved by loving-kindness? 

It is not enough to put up with each other: we must want to love each other!  

“A spirituality of communion consists above all in a gaze from the heart onto the mystery of the Trinity which dwells in us, and whose light must also be apparent on the faces of the brothers and sisters who are at our side”.  

“A spirituality of communion means the capacity to be attentive, in the deep unity of the Mystical Body, to one's brother and sister in the faith, thus considering them as one of us.'”. From this principle, with an implacable logic, several consequences of our way to feel and to act flow: to really share the joys and the sufferings of the brothers and sisters; to guess their desires and take care of their needs; to offer them a true and deep friendship.     

The spirituality of communion is also the ability to see above all what is positive in the other, to welcome and value him or her as a gift from God. It means knowing how to give a place to one's brother and sister, by carrying together each other's burdens. Without this spiritual journey, the external means of communion would be of little use.” (Cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 43)  

We must stand up in faith, hope and charity!   Yes, especially in this time of the corona virus and even other plagues or disasters that challenge us. 

Let us look at events and circumstances with the eyes of faith! We don't have to blame any person, group or community! Everyone must assume “his” or “her” responsibility and say at the same time: “I am responsible for my brothers and sisters. I am their keeper”. Let us not settle for “mediocrity” but strive for “the ideal” of human life and of consecrated life!            

Camiel

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