22 January
Saint Vincent, deacon, martyr
1881, Brother François, first Superior General of the Marist Brothers, died at the Hermitage in France
1991 Decree on the heroicity of virtues of Brother Alfano Vaser
1881, Brother François, first Superior General of the Marist Brothers, died at the Hermitage in France
12/02/2011: General House
Emanuela is one of the workers in the General House. Recently she gave birth to a beautiful little girl. By a fine coincidence, she was born on 2 January, a very Marist day. The presence of an expectant Emanuela inspired me with two reflections I shared with her. They are reflections on life, which we share with our readers.
Flavia, my friend and sister, welcome! From today you form part of the great human family. Your presence among us is a great joy. But what it evokes above all is life.
For life, for your life, we wish to give thanks to the Lord. Life is a gift. You are a gift for us. We welcome you with open arms, to lift you up to heaven, for you are a gift from heaven.
By your presence, heaven dwells on earth and the latter feels raised to heaven. You appear as a bridge joining earth and heaven. The bridge where life bursts forth to tell us that, despite everything, it is worth the pain of being alive. It is also the bridge where, beyond, well beyond yourself, we encounter God himself. You are without doubt the visible image of God in man, in the triple dimension which places God at our very centre:
In your presence, a divine sign of life and divine life among us, I salute also your dear parents, Emanuela and Luca, my dear friends. They are the interpreters of God’s designs for you. They give harmony to the marvellous notes of a hymn God has written, from all eternity, for you. It is a song of creation. But a song which sings the music of God offered you by your parents. It is thus also a gift for humanity, so that you may reveal to it the etrernally present newness of God.
In your presence, I also rediscover myself. For I am also a gift of life. God’s music has also built up its melody in me. A melody full of life that I want always to sing and to sing forever. In contemplating you, how could I dream, if only for a second, of an attitude of death? In your incarnation, I already see the resurrection, the victory of life over all the temptations of death, just as in the Incarnation/Resurrection of Jesus. That is why you are formidable, Flavia! In your way, so simply in our arms, you reveal also this supreme and unique victory: that of life over death.
So, allow me to finish where I began: welcome, my sister. I love you, Flavia.
Teófilo, your brother.
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