Agape of Love
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27 September 1982 To Each Confreres

My dear Confrere,

May the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with us forever!

Before the close of this day which united us all in a special way around St. Vincent, I write to greet you and to join my prayer with yours to St. Vincent that we may all "love what he loved and practice what he taught."

This evening I spent a little time in prayer before the casket which contains St. Vincent's mortal remains. As always, what attracted my attention was not so much the waxen features of St. Vincent's face, but the little crucifix that has been placed in his hands. According to the tradition in our Community, it was that little crucifix which St. Vincent held before the eyes of the dying King Louis XIII in May 1643. That St. Vincent should have been called to the bedside of the King tells us much about the confidence that he must have inspired in people who felt themselves in need and about the length and breadth of his love. St. Vincent's love for the poor was not so exclusive that he could not assist a king in his dying hour. That should not surprise us, for the love that was in St. Vincent's heart, and in ours too, is but a created participation in that 'agape' of God, Who makes His sun to shine upon the just and the unjust alike. "The `agape' of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit." (Rom 5:5).

All this has significance for ourselves and for our Community apostolates. We are to be clearly identifiable as a Community of men who have been called to take a special interest in the preaching of the Gospel to the poor and in the formation and spiritual well-being of the clergy. Our apostolates, however, are not based on the shifting sands of any merely human or political ideology of the day. Rather they must draw their inspiration and their strength, as St. Vincent's did, from a practical reflection on Jesus Crucified Who broke down barriers, making peace by the blood of His Cross. (cf. Eph 2:13-18).

During my reflection this evening before St. Vincent's casket, I thought of him who in God's Providence was called to be his nineteenth successor, Father William Slattery. He died, as you know, on the 10th of August, "full of days" (Job 42:17) and full of merits. May his saintly and gentle soul now rest in the fullness of God's peace! For twenty-one years he guided our Congregation. More fitting than any words of mine as a tribute to his memory are those which St. Vincent penned a few days after the death of his closest friend and collaborator in the Community, M. Portail:

He died as he had lived--in the good use of suffering, in the practice of virtue, in the desire of honoring God and of passing his days, as Our Lord, in the accomplishment of His Will. He was one of the first two Confreres to work on the missions, and he always contributed to the other apostolates of the Company to which he rendered notable services. The Company would indeed have lost a great deal by his death, were it not for the fact that God has arranged all things for the best, enabling us to find our well-being even when we thought we were suffering loss. There is reason to hope that this servant of God will be even more useful in heaven than on earth. I ask you, Father, to offer for his soul the usual suffrages." (Coste VIII, Fr. ed., p. 248).

Lastly, let me end this short letter with the assurance that I thought about you this evening and recommended you to St. Vincent's intercession. May you be strengthened in the conviction that in a certain but real sense you, too, are a successor of St. Vincent, for the Spirit of God has entrusted you with a share of his charism. Asking a remembrance in your prayers, I remain in the love of Our Lord, your devoted confrere.

 

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