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General House, Rome
6 January, 2008
Epiphany of the Lord
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Christ has appeared to us, come let us adore Him!
On today’s celebration of the Epiphany, which is at the heart of Miles Jesu’s spirituality and charism, I greet each one of you, praying that God is giving you His grace and consolation.
“And they were filled with joy at the sight of the star.” (Mt. 2:10) After having had to journey for some time without the light of the star, the Three Holy Kings rejoiced when it appeared again and led them to Jesus. We have all meditated on this mystery many times in Miles Jesu how the star symbolizes our vocations and how its occasional disappearance symbolizes the difficult moments we have to go through in order to find Jesus. Today’s feast invites us all to rejoice in the beautiful vocation God has given us in Miles Jesu. It is a beautiful light which enlightens each one of us and leads us each day to find Jesus in the arms of Mary His Mother. Recently, God allowed the light of the star to be shrouded from us in our journey together as a Family. But as it did for the Three Holy Kings, it soon reappeared. The first reading of today’s Mass, from the Prophet Isaiah, has a special significance for us when it invites us to: “Rise up in splendor…your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you.”
Every day in our Miles Jesu Prayer for Vocations we recall the example of the Three Holy Kings and some of the symbolism that the mystery of the Epiphany contains. The Kings left everything—home, family, country; security, comfort, emotional ties—to go to meet Jesus. They followed a star, something that demanded a lot of courage and trust. They had left all they knew, and the star didn’t speak—in fact it disappeared after they had been following it for a long time. “Guided by the light of faith,” they had no security except their trust in God. But that was enough. Our vocation is the same. We are called to become detached from things, people, even our own wills, in order to follow a star through a desert. But at the end of the journey we, like the Kings, will find Jesus, the King of Kings, with His Mother.
Miles Jesu’s whole charism so imbued with the mystery of the Epiphany is a special gift to our Ecclesial Family. This was a providential inspiration of our Father Founder which came to him during a crucial period in Miles Jesu’s history. He was in Rome, praying in the chapel of the General House of the Claretians and the idea of the Epiphany kept coming very strongly into his mind, along with a heightened understanding of the deep symbolism of this mystery. He knew that “Epiphany” should be a part of our name and of our spirituality. Inspired by Our Lady’s special role in the Epiphany he came up with the title of “Our Lady of the Epiphany” and incorporated it into our name, “Sons and Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of the Epiphany.”
The year 2007 was an important milestone for the history of Miles Jesu. Our Father Founder, after 43 years of tireless and self-sacrificing service in the founding and forging of Miles Jesu in many parts of the world, left the office of General Director this year for reasons of health.
We held an election for the new General Director at the end of August, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Having the election in Kyiv was a testimony to our continued commitment to serving and promoting unity in the Church in the East and in the West. It was also a tribute to our Father Founder, who loves very much the Eastern Church and worked so hard to establish Miles Jesu in it.
He is residing in Spain. Our ladies’ community in Madrid is helping to take care of him. Other members and i have been keeping in contact with him through visits and phone calls.
Our Father Founder had foreseen that the time of his transition from office would have its difficulties. He repeatedly urged us to prepare for that day. As we are well aware, his predictions came true; his leaving office was accompanied by a stormy time which was a real test of faith for us all. A purification sent to us by the loving providence of Our Lord. Let us pray for all our brothers and sisters, especially those in difficulty, that the Good Lord in His infinite mercy, and Our Lady, the Queen and Mother of Miles Jesu, will bring us all one day to our heavenly homeland.
Just as the Three Holy Kings continued their journey even at times without the light of the star, so God also allows us these moments for our purification so that our star of faith, hope, and charity will shine more brightly. Recently a cardinal at the Vatican pointed out to us that he believes we experienced this stormy period because of Miles Jesu’s dedication to promoting sanctity among the laity and conversions to the Faith.
Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI with his inspired and enlightening words in his new encyclical Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope) provides light for all of us in this particular moment of Miles Jesu’s history, to continue our journey with even greater strength, with our hope firmly rooted in God:
“To pray is not to step outside history and withdraw to our own private corner of happiness. When we pray properly we undergo a process of inner purification which opens us up to God and thus to our fellow human beings as well. In prayer we must learn what we can truly ask of God—what is worthy of God… We must learn that we cannot ask for the superficial and comfortable things that we desire at this moment—that meager, misplaced hope that leads us away from God. We must learn to purify our desires and our hopes…
“It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater. It is not by sidestepping or fleeing from suffering that we are healed, but rather by our capacity for accepting it, maturing through it and finding meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love…
“Truth and justice must stand above my comfort and physical well-being, or else my life itself becomes a lie. In the end, even the “yes” to love is a source of suffering, because love always requires expropriations of my “I”, in which I allow myself to be pruned and wounded. Love simply cannot exist without this painful renunciation of myself, for otherwise it becomes pure selfishness and thereby ceases to be love.” (from nos. 32, 37, 38)
I encourage each of you to read this encyclical which can provide for many fruitful meditations. (You can download it from the Vatican website at www.vatican.va. It’s available in Polish and Spanish as well as English and several other languages.)
Over the years our Father Founder had told many of us that the true test of Miles Jesu’s success and his own success would be whether it would continue without him. Our Founder has retired, but his vision and his work continue. Miles Jesu in fact did survive this moment of trial and not only still exists, but even more importantly, continues to grow in spirit, in unity, in good works, and in number.
In addition to this historical transition which we all made together as one united Ecclesial Family, by God’s mercy our members and communities around the world have brought forth many other good fruits in 2007. Here are some of them:
On 19 March, feast of St. Joseph, we found a property better than we had even hoped for in an excellent location for the Miles Jesu General House and International Formation Center after many years of being in Rome. It has two buildings (one for men and one for women) and when they are finished they will have a big chapel, General Government offices, study areas, classrooms, libraries, and room for many members to live.
Our men’s communities in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and Sirsi, India, and women’s community in Nimo, Nigeria, all moved into new homes of their own this past year. The house in Sirsi is home for the India Boystown and the one in Nimo is our Nigeria Girlstown. In Ukraine, our boys’ school in Bortniky completed its first academic year. The Girlstown in Birky, Ukraine, is getting ready to expand into an additional building. Our men’s community in Nigeria was donated land in Umuoji for their Boystown and had a special groundbreaking and blessing ceremony.
More good news from Nigeria is that Lucia Okonofua, Regional Directress, renewed her consecration with the profession of the vows on Easter Tuesday. The local bishop presided at the ceremony. Many members in various countries are preparing to make their consecrations or renew them, deepening their commitments in Miles Jesu. And during 2007 Miles Jesu received new candidates from Czech Republic, Nigeria, Slovakia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Our domus and vinculum members helped many young men and women come closer to Jesus through retreats, seminars, summer camps, pilgrimages, Epiphany celebrations, talks, and charitable works.
In faithfulness to our charism of forming consecrated lay professionals, during 2007 Miles Jesu sent thirty-five Domus members from various communities to begin, continue, or complete their studies.
The International Path to Rome Conference took place at the beginning of November, in Mexico City, with about 700 participants. Three cardinals (two from the Vatican) spoke at the conference.
Darío Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, paid a beautiful tribute to our Father Founder: “I greet…all the friends of Path to Rome, but I give a most cordial greeting to Father Duran, because his presence is here. He has spent his life for the Kingdom, he has made initiatives that enrich the Church, he has given his very being. He is a martyr, because he has given his life for the things in which he believes. We have seen him preside at these conferences while ill. I hold him in greatest esteem, and I desire that he be with us at this moment and that we be with him, asking Jesus to give him health, to give him strength, to give him peace.”
Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship said: “Participation at Holy Mass, celebrated with faith and devotion according to the approved books of the Church, manifests our Catholic Faith, nourishes the Faith of the participants and sends them home on fire to live and share that Faith. Such beautiful celebrations have also been the path to Rome for some converts. I am, therefore, happy to have been invited by the organizers of this International Path to Rome Conference ...”
Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico City and Primate of Mexico, told the participants, “An initiative like the Path to Rome Conference is an inducement to rise up above all subjectivism and all division. This valuable and opportune initiative is certainly a contribution to the work for the unity of the Church.”
One participant from Puerto Rico summed up well the goal of Path to Rome: “Miles Jesu is doing something very good with this conference. The media always tell bad things about the Church, and to hear [about new converts coming into the Church] is something very good. When one hears about these things they are animated in the Faith and in the work of the Church.”
During 2007 many, many favors received through the intercession of the Servant of God Paul Murphy were reported. A remarkable number of them were for sick children and young people. Please keep encouraging people you know to pray for favors through the intercession of Paul Murphy. Our brother, Fr. Paul Vota, M.J., (who actually knew Paul Murphy and found his vocation partly thanks to him) was diagnosed with stage four (terminal) cancer in September and came very close to death early in December. He asked members and friends to pray for a miraculous healing at Christmas Midnight Mass, the anniversary of both his own profession of vows as well as Paul Murphy’s. Since then Fr. Vota’s health has improved dramatically, and he believes he has been cured through Paul’s intercession. Later this month he will have a CAT-scan, and we are all trusting in God and praying that through the intercession of Paul Murphy the doctors will find that Fr. Vota is now cancer-free.
There are many more beautiful works that God is doing through each of you and your communities, I know. It would be a great thing if we could all share with each other these good works. One easy way to do this is to send by e-mail or some other way a copy of your local community or personal monthly newsletter. Let us encourage and inspire each other by keeping one another informed about all the good news taking place in our Family around the world.
Let us remember though, dear brothers and sisters, that in this great mission Our Lord has given us for the salvation of souls, the faithful living of our consecrated life according to our constitutions is a testimony more valuable than and prior to any particular work we may be called to do. In fact, our life of consecration gives salvific fruitfulness to all that we do.
As we begin this new year of 2008, let us give thanks for all the blessings of the previous year while also looking ahead with anticipation for the blessings God has in store for us this year.
By the grace of God, in spring or early summer we will celebrate the blessing of the General House and International Formation Center, and i hope we will have a good representation from Miles Jesu around the world for this important moment for the future of our Ecclesial Family.
By the time you read this, i will be making, God willing, a visitation to our communities in India to celebrate our Miles Jesu birthday on 12 January with Miles Jesu members at the ladies’ community in Sirsi. On 14 January i’ll be participating in the official inauguration and blessing of the new home for the Miles Jesu Boystown also in Sirsi. In February i plan to visit our communities in Eastern and Central Europe. Sometime later this year i plan to visit our communities in Nigeria.
During this new year we are looking forward to our ladies’ community in Bratislava, Slovakia, getting a house. We watch with great joy the development of Miles Jesu’s original foundation (in Phoenix), including the growth of the Paul Murphy Academy and the plans to construct a chapel following the model of the chapel designed and built by the Servant of God Paul Murphy at the Mount Claret Cursillo Center in Phoenix (founded by Father Founder).
We look forward to congratulating and celebrating with all the Miles Jesu members who will be receiving academic degrees in various fields this year.
We are also looking forward in 2008 to working together to giving a renewed impetus and organization for our Vinculum members and to building up each member of Miles Jesu as well as our Ecclesial Family as a whole.
His Eminence Franc Cardinal Rodé, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life (Miles Jesu’s highest ecclesiastical superior after the Holy Father), sent us a Christmas greeting. He writes:
Reverend Father
Fr. Mark Gelis, MJ
General Director
Miles Jesu Institute
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Christmas confirms us in the faith of the wonderful exchange, while the heart journeys in the hope that has been given to us: God is with us!
To you, Reverend Father, and to the whole community, my Christmas greetings together with those for the new year, for days of grace and light.
Cardinal Franc Rodé, Prefect
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life
and Societies of Apostolic Life
Vatican City
May we journey like the Magi with their wisdom, courage, generosity, trust, and perseverance. Let us pray together that God will enlighten us as to the best way to build up Miles Jesu to be ever more effective for the salvation of souls. As our Father Founder repeatedly taught us, let us continuously strive to improve ourselves individually and as a group to be of greater service to God and His Church. Let us consecrate and commend all the work of our faith family to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady of the Epiphany.
May Our Lady of the Epiphany, the bright star of our vocation, enfold us in the mantle of her beautiful light and warm our hearts in the immensity of her Heart, so we may love her Son without measure and become every day more humble, more fervent and more zealous for the salvation of souls. Please keep me in your prayers as i remember each of you in every Mass and prayer.
In Corde Matris,
Very Rev. Fr. Mark Gelis, MJ
General Director
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