Blessed Antonio Rosmini

Rosminian Family

Gentili Province Assembly

The Assembly Address from Fr David Myers.

The Road to Emmaus: The Discovery of Hope.

 

We began this morning by singing the Veni Creator and then singing the Litany of the Saints. By these two actions we were vividly reminded that this gathering is not just a natural grouping of people together but is the work of the Holy Spirit and that Spirit assures us that we are not here alone. We are part of the great Assembly of God’s People – the Saints are here with us and they will intercede for us on our journey of hope.

 

In our procession this morning we solemnly carried in the Scriptures. In those Scriptures we read about the road to Emmaus and this house is dedicated to the memory of that story. It is a story, which begins with the disciples feeling of disillusionment and failure. All their hopes had been dashed. All their dreams had been nailed to a cross. They were in despair, humiliated, in fear of their lives, running away from their pain. This experience may echo in our lives. Yet it is at our lowest point that Jesus meets us on the road. May our hearts too burn within us during these days as the Lord explains the scriptures to us.

 

Also in the procession there was a relic of Blessed Antonio Rosmini and Fr Luigi Gentili’s Missionary Cross. Our Founder and his disciple are not just with us here today symbolically but are here with their spiritual power to help us to move forward together. As we take our various steps through this week let us be guided by the Charism of our Founder.

 

We have been called by our General Congregation to become one Province. This is going to take a great Act of Faith on the part of each and every individual member of our Institute living in New Zealand, the United States, Ireland and the UK to move forward in hope. This will demand of us a wider vision and a more open heart.

 

 A few months ago a little group of us met at the Glen to plan the way forward. One of the Scripture readings we were given was from Isaiah 54:2: ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back…. drive in your tent pegs.’ Enlarge the place of your tent; our Provinces have shrunk over the years. Some of our members have died and some have left us. Providence is telling us that we need to stretch the curtains of our tent to embrace other parts of the English-speaking world. The quotation goes on to say, do not hold back. We have to move forward in hope. Drive in your tent pegs, in other words be more deeply rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and our unique Charism.

 

Our gathering here is part of our preparing so that we can enlarge our tent, so that we can stretch our curtains wide. Some of us here may have fears; some may have doubts but together we have to plan the steps for the next twelve months. We are not here to create a new province, neither are we here to make final decisions, but we are here to try and discover the way forward.

 

Maybe we will have to leave our comfort zones so that we can be open to what the Spirit is saying to us. This is something that God’s people have been called to do generation after generation, from the call of Abraham to the present day.

 

Civilisations have come and gone, languages and cultures

have changed and God’s people have over and over again had to adapt to the new circumstances in which they found themselves. As John Henry Newman said: “To grow is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”  I know you could quote back at me from the Maxims: “A Christian loves not change.” But I am sure that what the Founder was getting at there was that a Christian should not seek out novelty for its own sake.

 

 

The culture in which we find ourselves is changing rapidly. Some of these changes are positive and some negative. On the positive side for example, a few years ago we had our first International meeting of the Ascribed Members, which was held in Rome, AGIR.  We discovered an immense love of God among the laity, which had been deepened in them by their reading of Fr Founder.  We need more ministers of the Gospel to work with us. Blessed Antonio himself wanted the Ascribed to flourish and he spent much energy to help this happen. Those parts of our Order where there are not yet Ascribed can learn from those who have experience of Ascription.  We should view the Ascribed as a powerhouse of prayer and as a collaborative ministry. The Ascribed are part of our living Charism.

 

 

At the General Chapter the newer, younger parts of the Institute came of age and received encouragement to grow into provinces in their own right.  They are in many ways a more energetic part of our family.  Those of you who have worked in mission lands or in formation know that they have a love of Rosmini and of the Church, just as strong as we have.  Perhaps there will be space in this meeting to discuss how they can now come to our help in areas where we feel that age has diminished our forces.  Some may stay among us for a time and gain experience. This will also enable us to continue to help them financially.

 

However, some of the changes in our world appear negative to us. These are difficult and disorientating for us as individuals and for our society. The breakdown of many institutions in our Western world is self-evident. Our little religious family has been affected by these upheavals.

 

When a donkey is tired it is advisable to get off its back. When a donkey is dead it is essential to find a new donkey. The four donkeys of our Provinces are a bit worn out! The New Zealand donkey hasn’t even arrived here! So Divine Providence seems to be saying to us - to mix metaphors – New wine, new wine skins, new donkey! Let us try to smooth the way for this donkey. Let us try to prepare the ground for the donkey to travel.

 

In this flux, what are we to do? Where are we to find our compass? As Bishop Conti said at the Beatification of our Founder, “The Saints are the true teachers of the Christian Faith.”

 

The Founder, in the constitutions, asks us to pay particular attention to St Augustine, St Ignatius of Loyola and Saint Francis de Sales. I would now like to take a saying from each of these saints to inspire us.

 

From St Augustine:

“Entrust the past to the mercy of God,

the present to His love

and the future to His Providence.”

 

We as an Order have failed in many ways. As scripture says,

“Sin clings so easily to us.” That is why we have to start by entrusting the past to God’s mercy.

 

The present moment  - we have to entrust to God’s love. Time and eternity only touch in the present. God is not asking us to live in the 19^th or even in the 20^th century but in the present moment. It is in facing the reality of today that we find the God who longs to speak his Word of Love to us.

 

Nostalgia is evasion. God is only in THE NOW – The Sacrament of the Present Moment.

 

And the concluding phrase from St Augustine: ‘the future to His Providence’. Here we are, a group made up mainly of middle-aged men who are either grey headed or bald - or both!

 

We, like Abraham and Sarah are asked to step forth in Faith. In their old age they too were without the next generation. Yet they stepped into God’s Providence and became the source of a mighty nation. The history of the Church proves this over and over again. At the time of the Reformation, the English Benedictines were reduced, so it is said, to one member. Another example would be the French Dominicans who after the Revolution, numbered less than ten. By the end of the 19^th Century they had several Provinces in France alone. God is most mighty when we are most weak. And by God we are!

God can do the same for us if we have faith.

 

All this is going to be hard and this is where the prayer of

St Ignatius comes in:

 

“Teach us good Lord to serve you as you deserve;

to give and not to count the cost;

to fight and not to heed the wounds;

to labour and not to ask for any reward, except knowing that we do Your Will.”

 

Many of us said this prayer years ago when we entered the postulancy. We dedicated ourselves to the Lord in the Rosminian Family by putting ourselves into his hands.  We did not know what was going to be asked of us.  Now we know a little more. For many of us our journey has been long, but we are still called to entrust ourselves, into the Lord’s hands.  During our time together we need to reflect on how the Lord is calling us to a new reality as we find ourselves in a wider Province.  The Lord is still asking us to be faithful, to give generously, not to count the cost and to go forward with him in hope.

 

Finally, two quotes from St Francis de Sales:

 

“Love will shake the walls of Geneva, by love we must invade it; by love we must conquer it.”

 

Today Geneva is not our enemy. Now, it is not Calvin we face but an age of unbelief, which expresses itself in Secularism and Relativism.

 

We who take our name from Charity are called to conquer by love. In the desert of modern culture there is a hunger for the Gospel even if people are unaware of their need. The paradox is, as St. Francis de Sales said,

 

 “God asks little of us because he knows how little we have.”

 

This is true of us as individuals but we have a treasure of inestimable value in the Charism and teaching of our Founder. Rosmini’s Charism and wisdom have been for so long under a cloud. Now, with his Beatification, those days are over and we have the privilege and responsibility of making this heritage a living reality for the good of society and the Church.

 

Echoing the words of Our Lady: Although we are little, the Almighty can do great things.

 

Tomorrow we will make a pilgrimage to the place where Luigi Gentili died, and then in the afternoon to the Calvario where his body rests. But this whole time together is but the beginning of a much longer pilgrimage. We gather and we are challenged to chart out this journey; a journey given to us by Divine Providence.