Naples, 19 January 1906
To all my dear brothers of the Xaverian Institute
Missioners in Honan
Health, Peace, Blessing
Thank
the Lord. He has answered our fervent wish. Through the Sacred Congregation of
Propaganda, He has given us a mission of our very own. I am reminded of the
serious responsibility with which the Institute, and you in particular are
entrusted.
You
are given an area of some 90,000 sq. km. (34,749 sq. mi.), where some 8,000,000
infidels live. With the help of the Lord you should enlighten them by preaching
the good news! What a tremendous field lies open to your work and priestly zeal!
Certainly if you consider your limitations and numbers, you can be
discouraged, doubtful, despairing of success. Take courage, it is the Lord, who
sent the Apostles to preach the gospel to the whole world, who sends you to
continue the same mission. You have every reason to take heart, divine
assistance will never be lacking unless we prove unworthy.
God
sends you, workers of the last hour, to work in His vineyard so that you may
bear fruit. He will grant you the necessary means, for He wants the end product.
That you may better merit divine favor, I say, seek first His glory and the
salvation of those, your brothers, who look to you for salvation and redemption.
When the human and earthly invade apostolic ministry, the results are sterile
since the Lord then withholds the benefit of His grace.
Work
always with the same spirit of Christ. Keep Jesus before your eyes. He is the
model of all called to glory. He is the particular model for the heralds of the
gospel. They announce a heavenly teaching, they should witness by their lives to
the sublime examples of holiness which are part of our priceless heritage. That
Christ might ever be foremost in your thoughts and affection, Is suggest: foster
that interior spirit which provides strength, vitality, nourishment for your
exterior life of continuous activity and sacrifice. You cannot preserve in such
activity for long unless you are sustained by an interior spirit rooted in God,
the source of every true joy.
Thus,
amidst anxieties and difficulties in ministry, don’t lose heart for the Lord
knows and takes account of your trials and struggles. If you wish to preserve
this spirit of union with God, so essential to the missioner, be faithful to
your daily meditation and spiritual reading. Celebrate Mass well like those
saints who there learned to climb the heights of sanctity, to be objects of
wonderment for men and angels alike.
A
missioner, who daily offers the immaculate Victim to God with fervor, cannot but
faithfully live his own live in continual immolation of the salvation of souls.
Indeed, he shares in Christ’s will to suffer for all.
Be
ever men of one mind and one heart, remain united by the bond of perfect charity
which “does not rejoice in what is wrong, is not self seeking, nor prone to
anger. There is no limit to love... to its trust, its hope, its power to endure.
The joy and mutual assistance which flow from this great virtue will lighten the
weight of your apostolate. If you are motivated such love, unlike Christ’s
apostles, you will not argue over “who is to be the greatest”. Rather your
rivalry will be that which the apostle Paul had for the members of the young
Christian community, where there were as many saints as their were believers in
the divinity of the gospel. Remember the wise words “sit first in the last
place” and “better to be subject rather than to reign”.
I
mention these things for no particular reason. At times self centered love
advances under the guise of virtue, it tries to undermine the hearts of even the
best.
You
are my crown and my joy. I bid you farewell. If you could read my heart, if I
were able to express what I feel, then you might be able to appreciate how much
is my love for you and how much I wish for you. May the Lord, aware of my
unworthiness supply for this, and accompany you with his grace and grant you
every blessing.
+ Guido M., Archbishop
Superior of the Institute
St. Francis Xavier Foreign Mission Society
