1 February 1991
To Each Confrere

My dear Confrere,

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

The weeks of Lent and Paschal Time are in a special way sacramental weeks. Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist and the Priesthood, and the blessing of the holy oils on that day evokes the Sacrament of the Sick. Who could assist at the vigil ceremonies on Holy Saturday without reflecting on Baptism and on that "second baptism" which is the Sacrament of Penance? Pentecost will recall the Sacrament of Confirmation, and since Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, the feast may also suggest the Sacrament of Marriage of which the Church is a symbol.

Sacramental weeks. In the country from which I come, there are in the mountainous areas large rocks which today are pointed out as "Mass Rocks." These rocks were the altars on which the Mass was celebrated during the years when Catholics were persecuted for their faith. It was around these rocks in the remote areas of the country that the faithful would gather and a hunted priest would celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass. Participation in the Eucharist on these occasions involved high risk for both priest and people. The "Mass Rocks" remain today as eloquent witnesses to the meaning and cost of evangelization and of the sacraments in another epoch.

On occasion over the past few years I have reflected on those "Mass Rocks" when I have participated in discussions on the relationship between evangelization and the sacraments. Today we emphasize the truth that evangelization must not be thought of as exclusively sacramental. "Action on behalf of social justice," declared the Synod of 1971, "and participation in the transformation of this world, are constitutive elements in the preaching of the Gospel." However, have we, who celebrate the Eucharist in the relative comfort of our churches and oratories, lost something of that sense of privilege of those who participated in the Eucharist at risk to their lives? For it must be considered a privilege and not an obligation to be daily invited by the Principal Concelebrant of every Mass, the Risen Christ, to join with Him in offering to the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory and to plead with Him for the evangelization and salvation of the world. That sense of being privileged to celebrate the Eucharist lies behind the sentiment which St. Vincent expressed in a letter to the superior of two candidates who were about to be ordained to the priesthood: "...I have begged to Our Lord and will continue to beg Him to grant them always renewed dispositions for the [Holy] Sacrifice and the grace never to offer it through routine. I entreat them to remember me when they say, `nobis quoque peccatoribus.' (Coste III, Eng. ed., ltr. 1028, p. 296).

And what of the prolonged presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament? Would I be right in saying that sensitivity to the reality of this presence (or to the presence of reality) has diminished over the past two decades? We have perhaps acquired a more heightened sensitivity to God's presence in the word of Scripture and in the person of the poor. Yet a long tradition in the Church, which St. Vincent himself greatly respected, teaches us that by cultivating a sensitivity to Our Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament, we will be enabled to recognize and respond more fully to Christ in situations where His presence may not be immediately obvious.

Is the falling off in the frequency with which people avail of the Sacrament of Penance, related in any way to us priests not "being good penitents" ourselves? Have we priests too quickly abandoned our confessionals in recent years, telling ourselves that the faithful do not come and that they do not feel the need of the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Could it be that we do not present to the faithful clearly enough the patience of the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son who waited lovingly and long for his son to return?

For us in the Congregation there is a further "internal logic" in the Sacrament of Penance. We can truthfully say that our Congregation was founded upon the experience of one penitent being reconciled with God and with the Church through the patient understanding of St. Vincent, shown in the Sacrament of Penance. It is logical, then, that in all our programs for evangelization, the Sacrament of Penance will have a prominent place and that we ourselves be known as men who are authentic ambassadors of Christ, sharing in His ministry of reconciliation.

I pray that in the coming weeks we may gratefully allow ourselves to be touched and embraced lovingly by Christ in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Reconciliation. Strengthened by this experience, we will in turn become ourselves sacraments of Christ's love, of His justice, of His compassion and of His peace to the men and women of our time. "Now then," exclaimed St. Vincent, "let us ask God that He give to the Company this spirit...this heart of the Son of God, the heart of Our Lord, the heart of Our Lord, the heart of Our Lord." (Coste XI, Fr. ed., p. 291).