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Prayer for the UAC General Coordination Council Meeting

April 21-25, 2018

Lord God, we pray for the annual meeting of the General Coordination Council. May it be a true experience of the Cenacle, of being united with You and with one another in the love and power of the Spirit of Jesus, Your Risen Son, sustained by the accompaniment of Our Lady Queen of Apostles, of St. Vincent Pallotti, of Blessed Elisabetta Sanna, Józef Stanek and Józef Jankowski.

Help us to grow in faithfulness to Jesus’ prayer that we be one, as He and You, Father, are one, and to live ever more generously his new commandment to love one another as He loves us.

We ask You to free us from any blindness, so that we may see and love each other with Your eyes and Your heart, as brothers and sisters, each created in the image and likeness of God and continually recreated in the image and likeness of God-with-us, Emmanuel, Jesus Christ Your Son.

Give us hearts capable of reading deeply the signs of the times concerning the Union at this point in its history, and of responding generously, courageously and creatively to the issues and concerns that our Pallottine Family is facing in its mission to be of true and humble service to the universal and local Church and beyond.

Grant us the spirit of discernment, so that all that we do may be guided by You, that our decisions may be the expression of nothing other than Your Will for the Union at this time for the building up of Your Kingdom in the Church and the wider world.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary, Queen of Apostles, and of St. Vincent Pallotti.

Amen.

The Community of San Egidio has had a long standing friendship with the Pallottine community in Argentina, when the first members arrived there they were welcomed for a time in the community at San Patricio in Belgrano, Buenos Aires. The late Saint John Paul II entrusted the Basilica of San Bartolomeo on the Tiber Island in central Rome to the San Egidio Community. The Community requested the Pallottine Community in Argentina to provide them with a significant item to form part of the memorial to the new martyrs which is housed in the Basilica. Fr. Tom O’Donnell, SAC, received from Msgr Guillermo Leaden, SDB, brother of the late Fr. Alfredo Leaden, a chalice which belonged to him and was used by the community in Belgrano, and it was considered that this would be a significant contribution to the memorial. The chalice, together with a paten, and a purificator specially prepared by Sr. Magdalena of the San Antonio de Padua Community in Mercedes, Buenos Aires, and embroidered with 5 red crosses and the letters SAC, was solemnly placed on the altar dedicated to the Martyrs of the Americas in the Basilica on 2nd of February. Monsignor Vicente Ojea, Bishop of San Isidro, Argentina, and President of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, presided at the Prayer Service, he was accompanied by the Vice-president of the Conference, Msgr Marcelo Colombo, Bishop of La Rioja, the Rector General of the Society Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, SAC, Fr. Juan Sebastian Velasco, SAC, Postulator of the Cause, and other Pallottines resident in Rome.

The history of the Sanctuary of the new martyrs is the following: “In 1999, in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000, Pope John Paul II instituted a “Commission of the New Martyrs” to investigate Christian martyrdom of the 20th Century. The commission worked for two years in the Basilica of San Bartolomeo and gathered almost 12,000 dossiers.

Andrea Riccardi, Founder of the San Egidio Community, introduced his work on more than 9,600 files in the archive and noted “I went into the large archive of the Commission of the New Martyrs where letters, reports and memoirs had arrived in Rome in the previous years from all parts of the world. I started to leaf through them. There were official letters from episcopal conferences from all over the world. There were also memoirs from simple groups of religious. As I read I became impassioned. There were thousands of stories of contemporary men and women, Christians who were killed because of what they were.”

After the Jubilee Year, Saint John Paul II wanted the Basilica to become the location of the Memorial of the New Martyrs. The proclamation was solemnly celebrated on October 12th 2002, in the presence of Cardinals Ruini, Kasper and George, and of Tesctist, the Orthodox Patriarch of Rumania; the large icon dedicated to the Witnesses of the Faith of the 20th century was placed on the high altar. On April 7th 2008, Pope Benedict XVI honoured the memory of the Witnesses of the Faith of the 20th and 21st centuries with a visit to the Community of San Egidio on its 40th anniversary. “The six altars in San Bartolomeo”, explained the Pope, “recall the Christians who fell under the totalitarian violence of Communism, of Nazism, those killed in America, Asia and Oceania, in Spain and Mexico, in Africa; we retrace ideally many painful events of the past century. Many of them fell while fulfilling the mission of the Church to evangelize; their blood was mixed with that of the native Christians to whom the faith was communicated.”

The website of the Basilica can be accessed at www.sanbartolomeo.org and the link to the Memorial can be founded there; it is also possible to take a virtual tour of the Basilica.

The Fifth Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate took place at the Retreat Centre of the Passionist Community in Rome from 23rd to 27th January 2018. The General Assembly is the supreme consultation and decision-making body of the UAC and takes place every three years. 39 members of the Union took part, including 12 members of the General Coordination Council, 14 Presidents and Vice Presidents of National Coordination Councils, the General Secretary and General Bursar, some invited members and the members who served the working of the Assembly.The theme of the Assembly was “Communion and co-responsibility”.
Mr. Pat Maguire, President of the Irish NCC took part, as did Fr. Juan Sebastian Velasco, President of the Argentine NCC, and member of the Irish Province. Fr. Derry Murphy participated as a member of the General Coordination Council, Fr. Rory Hanly as General Secretary, Fr. Liam McClarey was one of the two moderators and Brother Stephen Buckley served as one of the translators.
At the opening Mass, Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, the Rector General and Ecclesiastical Assistant of the UAC, made reference to three key words of the Pallottine charism which were central to the Assembly: communion, collaboration and co-responsibility and then outlined four aspects that can strengthen ecclesial communion among all the members of the UAC.
Fr. David Kinnear Glenday, former Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries and Secretary General of the Union of Superiors Generals (USG) presented his reflection on the theme “Communion and co-responsibility”. During the Assembly the following participants presented their reports: Miss Donatella Acerbi, the President of the General Coordination Council, the three General Superiors of the three Core Communities, the General Bursar, the General Secretary, the Presidents of the National Coordination Councils and the three invited members. The main topics examined in the Assembly were: the mission of the Union, evangelisation, family apostolate, formation, the economy of the Union, and a number of challenges of a juridical and financial nature.
The Assembly also elected the new General Coordination Council which is composed of the three ex-officio members: Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, SAC, Sr. Ivete Garlet, CSAC and Sr. Izabela Świerad, SAC, and the ten elected members: Miss Donatella Acerbi – Italy, Sr. Bożena Olszewska, SAC – Poland, Fr. Jeremiah Murphy, SAC – Ireland, Miss Cheryl Sullivan – Australia, Fr. Gilberto Orsolin, SAC – Brazil, Mrs. Sonia Saldana – India, Sr. Beniamina Tropiano, CSAC – Italy, Fr. Florent Eloundou, SAC – Cameroon, Mr. Michał Grzeca – Poland, Miss Linda Barikmo – United States. Substitutes: Mrs. Rosa Colucci – Italy, Fr. Alexander Pietrzyk SAC, France, Fr. Norbert Sequeira SAC, India.
The president and vice-president will be elected during the first meeting of the new General Coordination Council.
Vincent Pallotti made a retreat in this Passionist Centre in 1829 and this is recorded in a hand-written list of retreatants which hangs on the wall of the main corridor of the retreat house; there is also a painting of St. Vincent on display there and this meant that we members of the Pallottine family felt at home there.
The Assembly concluded with a concelebrated Mass in the church of Santissimo Salvatore in Onda, the main celebrant and homilist was Fr. Rory Hanly, SAC. Msgr. Henryk Hoser, SAC, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Warsaw-Praga in Poland and Msgr. Joseph Werth, Bishop of Novosibirsk in Russia were also present.

FINAL MESSAGE OF THE 5TH ORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE UNION OF CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE

Casa D’Esercizi Spirituali dei Passionisti, Rome, Italy
24th – 27th January, 2018

Communion and co-responsibility – celebrating and transmitting the joy of communion and co-responsibility

The 5th Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate took place from January 23rd to 27th 2018, at the Retreat Centre of the Passionist Community in Rome.
We were 39 participants: Members of the GCC, Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the National Coordination Councils, 2 representatives of NCC Presidents, the General Secretary and secretarial assistant, the General Bursar, the 3 invited members, the moderators, translators and secretaries.
Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, Rector General of the SAC and Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Union led the opening Eucharistic celebration and it was centred on the general theme of the Assembly. In his homily he outlined four aspects which contribute to, and reinforce among us, communion and co-responsibility:
God – the source of communion and collaboration;
the will to understand and respect the diversity of vocations and of gifts;
a knowledge of, and experience of, the spiritual and mystical way of our holy Founder;
the Union as a public association of the faithful at the service of the mission of the Church.
Fr. Jacob noted later in his report that “the Union must not become an exclusive club of a few like-minded persons but open to all the members whether they agree or disagree with it.”
We were very happy to know and to see from the reports of the President, the two Mothers General, the General Secretary and General Bursar, the NCC Presidents and the three invited members how the charism of St. Vincent is continuing to spread in the world as a unifying force between lay persons, sisters, brothers and priests. The President of the Union, Ms. Donatella Acerbi, reminded us that “the charism per se is God’s, it belongs to Him. It’s not ours, not even St. Vincent’s. He and we, his children, are its bearers.” God asks our collaboration to live, safeguard, deepen and continuously develop this charism in harmony with the body of Christ which is perennially growing.
Fr. David Kinnear Glenday, MCCJ, Rector General Emeritus of the Comboni Missionaries and General Secretary of the Union of Superiors General (USG), the guest speaker invited to enlighten our sharing, provided us with a very incisive reflection which opened our reciprocal dialogue. His starting point was from chapter 10 of St. Luke’s Gospel and he drew a comparison between the work of our Assembly and the dialogue between Jesus and the 72 disciples on their joyful return following the mission Jesus had entrusted to them. Fr. David invited us to live with intense and justified joy the real life of the Union; his presentation centred on 5 verbs which characterised the life of our Assembly – they were: to remember – our own personal story as disciples; to discern – from what moved us; to desire – the good that is coming to birth in us; to serve – to serve the joy of the People of God in going out, as Jesus did; and, to console – all those we meet in our apostolic mission. Five verbs, five stepping stones, on which we trod and on which we can continue to journey with confidence.
We looked closely at some of the different aspects of the Union which were chosen by the GCC, they were: formation, finance and evangelisation, and this was done in a sincere and open manner, as we sought to move towards a greater harmony in the life of the Union: it is our hope that the fruits of our discussion will lead to incisive action by the new General Coordination Council and by the National Coordination Councils, because, as Fr. David Glenday, pointed out to us – “the first step in co-responsibility is to experiment with courage and humility.”
The third day of the Assembly saw the election of the ten members (and the three substitute members) who, together with the three General Superiors of the Communities founded by St. Vincent Pallotti, form the new GCC. Their mission is to oversee and carry forward the life of the Union in the next three years.
As is our custom, we all gathered in prayer around the altar of our saintly Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti, in the Church of Santissimo Salvatore in Onda, for the closing Eucharist which was led by the General Secretary, Fr. Rory Hanly.
We wish to thank all of you who have accompanied us during these days with your prayer, sacrifices and encouragement. Thank you for all the good you do and for the witness of selfless service which you offer to the entire Pallottine charismatic family.
We conclude with the words of Pope Francis, which resounded strongly in the Assembly: “Try to act personally instead of just looking and criticising the work of others from the balcony.” (Address in Cesena, 1st October 2017). Yes, and with this spirit we wish to walk, yes, to walk and to journey together as missionary disciples and protagonists of the mission of Jesus, in the footsteps of St Vincent who walked firmly in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

The Members of the 5th Ordinary UAC General Assembly 2018

Today, January 22nd, we the Pallottine Family celebrate the feast of St. Vincent Pallotti.
The following is a homily preached on the feast day of St. Vincent on 22nd January 1968, by the late Fr. Alfie Kelly, SAC, in the Pallottine Parish of San Patricio, in the town of San Antonio de Areco, in Argentina, where Fr. Alfie was based. Fr. Alfie was one of the five Pallottines massacred in the Parish of San Patricio, Belgrano, in Buenos Aires, on the 4th July 1976.

A very happy Feast Day to all. 

St. Vincent Pallotti’s Feast – Homily preached by Fr. Alfie Kelly in San Patricio, in
San Antonio de Areco, 22-01-1968.

It is probably true to say that despite belonging to a Pallottine parish, our parishioners know very little about the life of the man who founded this congregation of priests and brothers. Many think, for example, that the founder was Irish because the priests that they have known were from Ireland, or had Irish roots.
Vincent Pallotti was Italian, born in the city of Rome towards the end of the 17th century, in 1795, and he became a secular priest, having earlier attempted to enter a religious congregation and was not accepted because he did not have very good health. As a priest he was renowned for his great capacity as a spiritual director, as a counsellor and for the great love he had for all those we came to him. He also possessed an ability to ignite in people a desire to work for good, to enkindle them towards the apostolate. A large number of persons gathered around him: all those whom he directed spiritually, those who came to him for advice, those who shared his ideals, which were primarily geared to the renewal of faith, to the rebirth of faith and charity in Catholics and in the conversion of the entire world to the Church. His time was similar to ours in that evil was advancing in the world and those who knew God were not very enthusiastic about bringing that knowledge and experience to others.
That group of people who were part of St. Vincent Pallotti’s circle and who helped him was made up of a great variety of persons: from cardinals and bishops to more simple persons who had little education.
With the passage of time this became a group with its own constitutions and it was approved by ecclesiastical authority. In order to attend to these people Pallotti was assisted by priests and brothers and he gave them a special constitution. In other words he constituted a congregation of priests and brothers to attend to the larger movement, and this group is known today as the Pallottine Fathers and Brothers.
This is a synthesis of the work of Vincent Pallotti, and in his work, or his foundation, we can see a number of characteristics of his spirit:
a) The apostolate of the laity: there, in that group, lay persons worked, each in his or her own way, together with priests and religious. This seems very normal to us today, but in the last century this was unknown ….
b) Likewise he insisted strongly on the spirit of community: it was community animated by and guided by the priests. He insisted on it, and this is another characteristic which the apostolate must have today.
c) In his work there was no distinction between the members of the Church: lay persons had the privilege and the obligation to act and to work as members of the Body of Christ.
Because of all this and of other aspects which we don’t have the time to develop today, St. Vincent Pallotti is considered to be a saint for our time, even though he lived more than a century ago.
We too are called to radiate and spread these same ideals: the spirit of charity, of union between Christians, and in this union, zeal for the salvation of men and women; the responsibility of all in working to spread faith and love of God.
Let us ask our friends and our faithful to help us with their prayers, that by his example and word, some of this may be realized among us, in our parish of St. Patrick.

Fr. Alfie Kelly, SAC.

Vincent Pallotti died on the evening of January 22nd 1850, he was canonised on January 20th 1963, and so it is fitting today, January 21st, to revisit one of the final prayers of his life. The Benedicite is his own ‘O bless the Lord‘, and the context is the Benedicite found in the book of Daniel 3, 58-87. St Vincent intersperses verses from the book of Daniel with reflections on his own life. It is a prayer of thanksgiving for his entire life which was dedicated to God and his work and shows that Vincent was acutely aware that the good done was through the grace of God.

The ‘Benedicite’ of Fr. Vincent Pallotti,
composed shortly before he died (OOCC X, p. 488-95).

All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him (Dan. 3,57).
Lord Jesus, banish me from within myself and replace me with yourself.
May my life and all my actions be destroyed and may your life be my life.
May your agony be my agony, your death my death,
your resurrection my resurrection.
May your ascension be my ascension;
may all things that are yours, be mine,
may the life of the blessed Trinity be my life.
O all you works of the Lord, o bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever (Dan. 3,57).

A sinner was I conceived (Ps. 50,7);
but the conception of Jesus Christ has destroyed my sin
and the conception of Christ is my conception.
And you, angels of the Lord, o bless the Lord,
and you, heavens of the Lord, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 58).

I lived in my mother’s womb, without faith, without hope, without charity;
but the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ
which he acquired in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary
through the charity and mercy of God are my merits.
And you, waters above the heavens, o bless the Lord,
and you, armies of the Lord, o bless the Lord (Dan 3,60).

I was born under God’s anger (Eph 2,3);
but Jesus Christ’s poor and humble birth
made me a child of God, a friend of God,
an heir of God, a co-heir of Christ (Rom 8,17),
and replenished me with every good.
And you, sun and moon, o bless the Lord,
and you, stars of the heavens, o bless the Lord (Dan 3,62).

In the first days of my life I did not do any action worthy of eternal life;
but through the great charity and goodness of God
and through the sweetness of his divine mercy,
the merits which Christ had from his infancy can be my merits.
And you, showers and dew, o bless the Lord,
and you, breezes and winds, o bless the Lord (Dan 3,64).

I grew in age, in wickedness and in ignorance, culpable ignorance;
while Jesus grew in age, in wisdom and in grace in the sight of God and before men;
may the same merits of Jesus’ growth to maturity
destroy my wickedness and my ignorance.
And you, fire and heat, o bless the Lord;
and you, cold and heat, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 66).

That which I should have done, I did not do,
and that which I should have omitted, I did not omit.
I should have obeyed those to whom I owed obedience,
but I did not obey them;
but the actions, the virtues and the obedience
which Jesus showed in his relationship with Joseph
and the Blessed Mother Mary,
through the charity and mercy of God,
are my actions, my virtues and my obedience.
And you, showers and dew, o bless the Lord,
and you, frosts and cold, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 68).

I received baptism; but I did not profit from it as I should have.
In confirmation the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, descended on me;
but I thwarted him always.
But the baptism of Christ is my baptism,
and the fullness of the Holy Spirit which was in him is my fullness.
And you, frost and snow, o bless the Lord,
and you, night-time and day, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 70).

To me and to others it appeared as if I fasted, kept vigil, prayed;
but all my fasts, my vigils and my prayers
are as nothing before the Lord.
However, through the charity and mercy of God,
Christ’s fasts, vigils and prayers, are my fasts, vigils and prayers.
And you, darkness and light, o bless the Lord,
and you, nights and days, o bless the Lord (Dan 3,72).

To me and to others it appeared as if I worked and taught well;
but I have not done anything other than evil and all evil.
I did not instruct the faithful as I should,
I did not preach the Gospel of Christ to all creatures (Mk 16,15);
but the works of Christ and his preaching of the Kingdom (Lk 10,9)
are my works and my preaching.
O let the earth bless the Lord,
to him be highest glory and praise for ever (Dan 3, 74).

To me and to others it appeared as if I brought back the lost sinners
to Christ’s flock;
but I through my great and numerous scandals have rather
distanced numerous souls which are dear to God and to Christ,
from Christ’s fold.
But all the labours and the zeal of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd,
are my labours and my zeal.
And you, mountains and hills, o bless the Lord,
and you, all you creatures that live on the earth, o bless the Lord (Dan 3,75).

To me and to others it appeared as if I healed the sick (Lk 10,9),
but through my sins all men became ill.
I did not restore sight to the blind;
I did not cause the lame to walk (Mt 11,5),
I did not make the deaf hear,
I did not make the dumb speak
I did not raise the dead.
But, through the great charity of God and his holy mercy
all Christ’s works of charity are my works.
And you, fountains and springs, o bless the Lord,
and you, rivers and seas, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 77).

To me and to others it appeared as if I evangelized the poor (Lk 4,18);
I, rather, have given scandal to all.
But Christ’s preaching to the poor is my preaching.
And you, creatures of the sea, o bless the Lord,
and every bird in the sky, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 79).

To me and to others it appeared as if I had instituted something good;
but I have done all that which is evil
but all that Christ instituted is mine.
And you, wild beasts and tame, o bless the Lord,
and you, children of men, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 81).

I did not baptise all peoples, but rather because of my sins,
innumerable persons have died without baptism.
And yet through the infinite charity of God
and through his holy mercy the institution of the baptism of Christ,
its propagation and its fruits are my propagation and my fruits.
O Israel, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him for ever (Dan 3, 83).
Because of my poverty and my lack of holiness
I have never profited from the ineffable institution of the
most holy Eucharist;
but through the holy mercy of Jesus Christ I have been filled
with every grace, as if I had fully profited from it.
And you, priests of the Lord, o bless the Lord,
and you, servants of the Lord, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 84).

I have never profited from the most august sacrifice of the Mass,
neither as a layman nor as a priest;
rather I have always assisted at it and I have celebrated it
in a less than fitting manner.
But through the holy mercy of Jesus Christ
and in his great charity
I have been granted the fullness of the merits
of the very sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
even though I be the most unworthy among all creatures, past,
present and future.
And you, spirits and souls of the just, o bless the Lord,
and you, holy and humble of heart, o bless the Lord (Dan 3, 86).

Footnote on page 495 OOCC X, “See Dan 3, 86, note the composition was interrupted, the final three verses of the ‘Benedicite’ were not quoted.”

A characteristic of Saint Vincent Pallotti’s spiritual life was his abiding experience of God as Mercy, Infinite Mercy, that God in his very essence is Mercy and continuously expressing that with humanity.
The following is a meditation taken from St. Vincent’s writing ‘Iddio Amore Infinito’ or, ‘God, the Infinite Love’, which is a series of 31 meditations on God’s infinite love interwoven with his infinite mercy. It was written in the spring of 1849. The meditations follow the same format, a reflection on an aspect of God’s love, a prayer composed by Vincent, and an offering, or oblation.

God, the Infinite Love, Meditation XVII
On the obligation to become perfect, since we are living images of Infinite Mercy.

Enlightened by holy faith, I will recall that my soul, being created by God in his image and likeness, is also a living image of his Mercy because God in his essence is eternal, infinite, immense, and incomprehensible Mercy, and everything he created followed his most beloved designs of Infinite Mercy.
I will clearly recall that this was done by God in order that the person, as a created being, and aided by his grace, must always use free will in order to practise all the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. In doing so, the person can obtain mercy even after a live filled with sin, because our Lord Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Matt. 5,7).
Oh, what a grace, oh, what a precious gift was bestowed on me by God in creating me like him, a living image of his mercy!
Therefore, by reason of creation I am obliged with the help of his grace, to always use my free will in perfecting myself in a worthy way because I am a living image of Mercy itself. In all my life I will busy myself in the practice of all spiritual and corporal works of mercy, according to my capability, state, position and condition, and with all the means at my disposal.
This way of life will make me always disposed and ready to receive from God newer, greater and numerous mercies. It will assure me the blessing that the divine judge will give the elect at the last judgement, in the valley of Josaphat.
Oh my God, infinite love, how ungrateful I have been. How I worked against your loving designs, especially against the design of your infinite mercy. Oh, how much negligence, oh how much resistance on my part.

But, through your infinite mercy help me to pray in this way:
Prayer
My God, my Father, infinite love of my soul, eternal, infinite, incomprehensible and immense Mercy. You see that according to your design I am a living image of you. Yet, through my ingratitude and through my fault my soul is deformed. My soul is guilty because I have acted against its very nature which is a living image of your mercy.
Therefore, I deserve to be forsaken and I deserve all the pains of time and eternity. But you, infinite mercy, do you want me to believe that you will forsake me? Through your infinite mercy, through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, through the merits and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the Angels and Saints, I firmly believe, rather I am certain, that you will grant me a quick and perfect forgiveness of all my sins and for my inexcusable ingratitude. You grant me the grace to be always occupied in the perfect practice of all the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In this way, I will perfect my soul more and more so that after this life I will be a living image of your mercy in the glory of eternity.

Offering
Eternal Father, in union with the most sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, I offer you the most precious Blood of the Immaculate Lamb, our divine Redeemer, in thanksgiving, as if you had already granted all the graces I have requested for me and for all persons, now and always.

OOCC XIII, pages 103-106.

St Vincent Pallotti’s Meditations on Jesus in the Eucharist

On January 22nd we celebrate the Feast of St Vincent Pallotti, canonised by Saint Pope John XXIII on 20th January 1963. Vincent had a great devotion to the Eucharist and indeed his spiritual diary attests that preparation for the Eucharist and thanksgiving after the Eucharist were part of his life. He drew up the following set of meditations on Jesus in the Eucharist, originally intended for priests, but universal in appeal. He suggested that one number would be taken for meditation each day and then repeated again the following month.

St. Vincent Pallotti’s daily meditations on the Eucharist.

1. Jesus Sacrifice, and Sacrament in the Eucharist
2. Jesus model, and truth in the Eucharist
3. Jesus Priest, and victim in the Eucharist
4. Jesus in the Eucharist, Sacrifice, Holocaust, and Eucharist
5. Jesus beseeching and propitiatory Sacrifice in the Eucharist
6. Jesus our God, and our King in the Eucharist
7. Jesus our Creator, and our Redeemer in the Eucharist
8. Jesus our Shepherd, and our Father in the Eucharist
9. Jesus our Spouse, and our Brother in the Eucharist
10. Jesus our Master, and Saviour in the Eucharist
11. Jesus our Banquet, and Viaticum in the Eucharist
12. Jesus our Physician, and medicine in the Eucharist
13. Jesus our Counsellor, and friend in the Eucharist
14. Jesus our guide, and companion in the Eucharist
15. Jesus our mediator, and peace in the Eucharist
16. Jesus in the Eucharist, witness, and judge of our Works
17. Jesus our ransom, and recompense in the Eucharist
18. Jesus life, and death in the Eucharist
19. Jesus our food, and grace in the Eucharist
20. Jesus our refuge, and hope in the Eucharist
21. Jesus our treasure, and happiness in the Eucharist
22. Jesus our model, and objective in the Eucharist
23. Jesus in the Eucharist is the gift people offer to God, it is the gift of God to be given to people
24. The power, and wisdom of Jesus in the Eucharist
25. The goodness, and love of Jesus in the Eucharist
26. The obedience, and patience of Jesus in the Eucharist
27. The poverty, and humility of Jesus in the Eucharist
28. Jesus infinitely adoring, and adorable in the Eucharist
29. Jesus infinitely loving, and lovable in the Eucharist
30. Jesus in the Eucharist, the greatest and the holiest of all our Mysteries

(OOCC XI, p. 441-443)

Stephen Muli and David Kakinda, professed students of the Province, were ordained deacons by Bishop Prosper Lyimo, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Arusha, on 11th January, along with three seminarians from the Archdiocese. The ordinations were held at Burka, Arusha, and many of our Pallottines were present.

Congratulations to David and Stephen on this milestone in their response to the call of the Lord.

Greetings to you all from Dublin.

Fr John Joe O’Brien died peacefully yesterday Monday 8th January at 19.30 very peacefully. He was a resident in Woodlands Nursing Home, Dundrum, Co. Tipperary since May 2016. John Joe died very peacefully, his niece Josephine Carey-Corcoran and I were with him, I had anointed him and Josephine and I were praying the first decade of the Rosary when he died. May his gentle soul rest in peace.

John Joe was born on 14th of January 1935, made his First Consecration as a Pallottine on 12th September 1957, was ordained on 10th June 1962 and spent all of his ministry as a priest in the USA.

Fr John Joe will repose at Ryan’s Funeral Home, Silver Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, on Thursday 11th of January from 4.30 to 7pm. His con-celebrated funeral Mass will take place in the College in Thurles on Friday 12th at 12 noon; burial afterwards in our Pallottine cemetary in Cabra. 

“In God alone there is rest for my soul” Psalm 62.

Homily at the Concelebrated Funeral Mass, Fr. John Joseph O’Brien, SAC, Pallottine College Chapel, Thurles, Friday 12^th January 2018.

Welcome to you all to our Community chapel, to our College, where Fr. John Joe started his journey towards priesthood on 8^th September 1950, at 15 years of age, and where he lived until his ordination to the priesthood on 10^th June 1962. He was ordained in the Cathedral of the Assumption here in Thurles along with his friend and class-mate, the late Fr. Michael McCormack, SAC. We are gathered here through our common Faith, and gathered in Christian Hope that Fr. John Joe is now in the eternal presence of the God he sought to know and love during his 82 years of life.

Our Mass is one of Thanksgiving, thanksgiving for Fr. John Joe, for his person, for his life as a priest and for all he was to all those with whom he shared life, be it family, his Pallottine community, parishioners and friends.

Fr. John Joe died very easily and peacefully on Monday evening at 19.30 in Woodlands Nursing Home. Josephine, his niece, and I, were present with him, I had anointed him a little earlier and we were praying the rosary when he died, and a phrase came into my mind then and stayed with me since, it is “and he breathed his last”, and it describes how he died, easily, there was no struggle, no agony, he went peacefully. And, of course, it later came to me that this is the phrase used to describe the death of Jesus in the Gospels of Saints Mark and Luke, in Luke 23, 46, “Jesus said ‘Father into your hands I commend my spirit’ and he breathed his last”, and this is how Fr. John Joe died, he breathed his last breath and he was gone, Josephine and I waited for another breath that never came.

Fr. John Joe to all those who knew him, was a man who sought God always and everywhere and found the God he sought. This is clear from the funeral liturgy he prepared for himself, which he did at least ten years ago. We were given a copy of these pages with the title “My Funeral – Liturgy of the Word” and “Music from Songs of Praise” for the hymns and the music; yes, prepared by him, typographical errors and all.

His well-worn and battered Bible has been placed on his coffin here before us; he read, and re-read the Word of God for as long as he was able and he chose 3 readings and a Psalm for his funeral mass that very clearly reveal his experience of God and they form a spiritual testament of his life.

The gospel passage is from John 17, 1-4, a passage taken from the farewell discourse of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper. Let’s read it again … “Father, the hour has come: glorify your Son so that your Son may glorify you; and through the power over all mankind that you have given him, let him give eternal life to all those you have entrusted to him. Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ who you have sent. I have glorified you on earth and finished the work that you gave me to do.” What strikes me is the line “Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life is to know God, to know Jesus Christ, not merely after death, in heaven, but to know God here on earth is already eternal life. This is a powerful understanding of human existence and our relationship with God. And, perhaps the final sentence is also one with which Fr. John Joe wished to express his summation at the end of his life “I have glorified you on earth and I have finished the work you gave me to do.” Indeed it was so.

Eternal life is to know God, now, and here on earth; the other two readings of the funeral liturgy develop this insight.

The second reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, 3, 14-21, and here we have Paul’s prayer and it is that the graces of God working in one strengthen the inner self, the soul, the essence of the person, strengthening the inner person in a life-long pilgrimage in knowing the fullness of God. Paul uses imagery to best express this fullness of God – ‘to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth of God, in knowing Jesus Christ who is the utter fullness of God’. This surely mirrors Fr. John Joe’s understanding.

The first reading is from Isaiah 43, 2-3, and I think it tells us how Fr. John Joe experienced the presence and strength of God in his life, the exhortation is “Do not be afraid, I have called you by name, you are mine, and should you pass through sea and fire, (which are really the struggles, difficulties and sufferings of life), be aware that ‘I am with you’”. This was, I think Fr. John Joe’s experience, that God was always with him, through it all.

We all know that his last ten years were difficult, the onset of Parkinson’s Disease and its advance with the diminishment that came with it, and in his case it was coupled with dementia which was the form the disease took in his life and it meant that his final years were not easy. Through it all he had his faith in God’s presence with him. I would visit him occasionally, and it became very hard to hear him and to grasp what he was saying, one day when I was with him he was very agitated and I started to pray with him and he joined in, and so I always prayed a little with him on each visit and he always responded by joining in with the well-known prayers. He never lost that ability to pray, even though so much else had gone.

One day during his early days in St. Theresa’s Nursing Home in Thurles he asked me if I had ever heard of and read Carlo Carretto, and coincidentally I had about 30 years earlier. Carlo Carretto was an Italian religious author and he wrote books on spirituality, Fr. John Joe had read his works and he spoke of the book “Letters from the Desert” on the spiritual life, on life with God, in prayer, in solitude and lived in reflection. Perhaps he liked Carretto because he too had spent so many years of his priesthood in arid places in Nevada and in north Texas and he identified with what he read of Carretto’s years of living in the North African desert as a member of the Little Brothers of the Gospel.

Fr. John Joseph was born on 14^th January 1935, one of 14 children. He made his first Pallottine Profession on 12^th of September 1957 and was ordained on 10^th June 1962. In September 1962 he was appointed to Brownfield, Texas; in 1964 he was transferred to St. Elizabeth’s, Lubbock, and it is recorded that in the winter of 1965 and the spring of 1966 he accompanied 33 converts in their preparation for reception into the Catholic Church, so he was a very energetic young priest. One of our more colourful Pallottines, the late Fr. James McGrath, wrote of Fr. John Joe that he “is the most popular priest ever in St. Elizabeths”.

In 1966 he was moved to Ely, Nevada, where he started another work which was to be a characteristic of his ministry, that of building; in 1967 he was moved to Reno, Nevada, and in 1968 to Sparks, Nevada, where he was responsible for building an impressive C.C.D. centre with the help of his family, parishioners and friends, at a very modest cost. Fr. Pat Whelan was killed in a car accident on 17^th of February 1973 and as a result of this Fr. John Joe was moved back to Texas to become pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Weatherford, where Fr. Whelan had been pastor. In Weatherford he was responsible for organizing and overseeing the building of the Holy Spirit Centre on Bethel Road, with a very large C.C.D. centre, a parish hall, and office space. In 1982 he was once again appointed to Sparks in Nevada and this time round he built a new rectory, church and parish centre.

In the year 2000 it became necessary to hand the parish in Sparks over to diocesan administration, but Fr. John Joe stayed on in Nevada and worked as a hospital chaplain until the onset of Parkinson’s necessitated a move and he went to San Francisco in 2007. On 2^nd March 2012 he came back to Ireland and lived at St. Theresa’s Nursing Home, and in March 2016 he moved to Woodlands.

Fr. John Joe was a man who inspired loyal friendships which was evidenced by the letters, cards and greetings he continued to receive from so many loyal and faithful friends, long after he was able to respond to them. We received some lovely tributes to him, and perhaps a comical one or two, a parishioner from Weatherford wrote how Fr. JJ, as she referred to him, was an assiduous visitor to her home every Saturday at midday, to raid her fridge!

My confrere Fr. Donal McCarthy wrote a fitting summation of Fr. John Joe, and I will read it, “In life, John Joe was a man of quiet and gentle disposition. A man of great prayer, he was much sought after for guidance and direction in the spiritual life. He read and re-read the Bible every day and was steeped in the good things he found in it.”

And finally, from Psalm 62, our responsorial psalm today, which was chosen by Fr. John Joe, “In God alone there is rest for my soul”; Fr. John Joe, our prayer is that you find the rest you sought in your eternal life with God.

Fr. Derry Murphy, SAC.

Provincial.