Message of the Superior General
Dear Confreres and Friends,
I am away from Rome visiting our communities in Papua, the Philippines and Indonesia, but I remain in touch with the congregation. I wish each of you the grace to journey towards Easter with a missionary heart, so as to experience deeply the joy of the Risen Jesus and to witness to his presence in our lives and our ministry.
We are experiencing special times in the Church, that motivate us to deepen, both personally and as a community, the invitation of the last General Chapter: “To let God come into us, among us and, through us, into the world.”
Pope Francis, with his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium and by his life’s example, invites us to greater efforts in the same direction: “I especially ask Christians in communities throughout the world to offer a radiant and attractive witness of fraternal communion. Let everyone admire how you care for one another, and how you encourage and accompany one another: ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’ (Jn 13:35). This was Jesus’ heartfelt prayer to the Father: ‘That they may all be one... in us... so that the world may believe’ (Jn 17:21)” (EG 99).
The canonisation of the two Popes John XXIII and John Paul II on 27 April is for our Family an extraordinary event. As we well know, John XXIII and John Paul II had special links with the Montfortian Family. Their canonisation offers an occasion to re-read and make our own the human, spiritual and missionary heritage of these two great figures of the Church of our day.
The liturgical feast of St Louis Marie de Montfort, our founder and guide, on 28 April, invites us once again to recognise the common roots that unite us, and the immense wealth of his spiritual heritage for our communities and for the whole Church.
I invite you to place under the protection of Mary, the faithful Virgin, the sessions that are to take place in the coming months: that on Protecting the Vulnerable in June, and the session with our Northern Entities in October. They are important moments in our life as a congregation, and all of us should share in them through either our personal presence or our prayers.
May the Lord Jesus, who was sent into the world to give us the love of the Father, fill us with the Spirit of God, that we may be able to continue with joy and fidelity our Montfortian mission today.
Happy Easter!
Happy feast of St Louis Marie de Montfort!
Fr. Santino Brembilla, SMM
Superior General
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