19 March 1981
To Each Confrere

My dear Confrere,

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

I am writing this personal letter to you from our Mother House in Paris where I've been staying for the past three weeks. My room, as many of you know, is only a few paces away from the remains of the earthly body of St. Vincent. More than once during these weeks, while looking at the casket that contains St. Vincent's bones, I have reflected on God's question to Ezekiel: "These bones, will they live?" (Ez 37:3). For the Congregation of the Mission the answer to the question lies with us who are called to incarnate (the phrase is a daring one) the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul in the Church and the world.

First, let me wish you much joy this Easter. It so happens that the anniversary of St. Vincent's birthday falls this year in the octave of Easter. There could be much significance for us all in the fact that his birthday this year is associated with the Resurrection. The Resurrection is the feast of hope and in celebrating the birthday of St. Vincent within the octave of the feast of hope, all of us will be praying, not only with a sense of gratitude to God for what He has done for the world through Vincent de Paul, but also in and with the hope that He will continue to show mercy and kindness to mankind through the Communities which His servant Vincent has established.  In mentioning hope, I am reminded of the observation made about the Old Testament prophets. They have been described as men who had not optimism, but who had hope. The distinction is a valid one. Optimism is a human quality; hope is a spiritual one. A Christian may not always be optimistic about the world, but he need never be without hope, for Jesus Christ has risen and is with us. Perhaps at times you are not optimistic about the future of our community or your Province. At no time, however, should you be without hope for its future. It was one of St. Vincent's most profound convictions that the founding of the Congregation was entirely the work of God; that He had possessed it from the beginning; and still continued to do so. A diminishing number of vocations does not necessarily mean that the strength of God's hold on our Community has been weakened. We must resist the temptation, one to which David yielded, to measure our success before God by counting the number of our heads. More important is this: the hope which the Risen Christ has placed by His Spirit in our hearts should find expression in daily gestures of fidelity to what we once promised by vow to do for God in and through and with the Congregation of the Mission. "My Confreres, let us ask of the Divine goodness that we may have a great confidence in the outcome of everything that concerns us. Provided only that we are faithful to Him, we will want for nothing. He Himself will live in us, and guide us, and defend us and love us." (Coste XII, Fr. ed., pp. 141-42).