14 March 1986
Bikoro, Zaire

My dear Confreres,

Let my first word to you be one of appreciation and thanks to you for coming here to celebrate this Eucharist with me. I see in the presence of each of you here this morning a manifestation of faith in the office which I presently hold. Our Constitutions state that the Superior General is the center of unity for the Congregation. The fact that we are celebrating the Eucharist together this morning must be interpreted as a desire on the part of each one of us to deepen the unity that already exists among us. This Vice-Province is what I might call one of the growth points in the Congregation. It has a growing number of indigenous vocations. It is evolving towards the status of a full Province. If it is to continue to grow, it will do so only if there is deep unity among its members.

In the first reading of today's Mass there is a little phrase which struck me forcefully. The author speaks of people who "did not know the secrets of God." (Wis 2:22). In the language of my own country, the Irish language, we have a rather special word for mystery. The word we use for mystery is divine secret. Mysteries are divine secrets. Each one of us has his secrets and we wish people to respect our secrets. We have a right to keep secrets to ourselves. So, too, with God. He has His secrets, and He asks us to respect them.

The priesthood, or our vocation to Community, is one of God's secrets, one of God's mysteries. During the past twenty years, we have heard discussions about the priesthood and religious life that leave us with the impression that the vocation to the priesthood or religious life is not a mystery, is not one of God's secrets. "They do not know the secrets of God." (Ibid.). If we want to preserve our vocation to the priesthood or to the religious life, we must continually and consciously accept our priesthood as a mystery, as one of God's secrets. We can only do that by giving time to silent and conscious reflection on the mystery of our vocation.

When I visit the missions of our Congregation, I am impressed by the volume of work which the Confreres do in circumstances that are often very difficult. More than once, however, I have come away with the impression that the Confreres are too busy, excessively active. I have sometimes thought that many of us in the Congregation have, what I might call, the Martha Syndrome. We are not working in such a way as to be able to enter into the secrets of God. "They do not know the secrets of God." (Ibid.).

There is one other little phrase in this morning's reading that merits some reflection. The phrase that follows the one which I have quoted reads as follows: "...and they did not count on a recompense of holiness." (Ibid.). Sanctity will only be rewarded and recognized fully in heaven. The question I ask all of us this morning is this: "How convinced are we that genuine personal holiness is effective in our apostolate?" In a general way we accept that a priest should be an authentically holy man. But do people recognize us as men of God, men who are on very intimate terms with God? Or do they see us as good men, but not as priests who can talk with deep conviction about God, and Him whom He has sent, Jesus Christ? The holiness I am talking about is not only integrity of life. The holiness I have in mind is a gift of God. We must humbly seek it and accept it from Jesus Christ through prayer and reflection, and which then expresses itself in action which we call apostolic. "Lord, You are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness." (Eucharistic Prayer, no. 2).

To you, my dear Confreres, who are bearing the burden of the heat here in Zaire, I would say what St. Vincent so often said to Confreres: "Courage." That was one of his favorite expressions. Perhaps if he were here today in Zaire, he would add the word, "Patience." I was told a few days ago that to work in Zaire, the first, second and third virtue is patience. When I listen to you speak about the work that remains to be done before the Gospel will be preached to all peoples, I become more convinced that the second coming of the Lord is still a long way off. We are still probably in the epoch of the early Church. So let my final words to you this morning be those two simple verbs which St. Vincent used on one occasion and which I have written on the little picture which I leave with you: "Wait... but work." Cultivate an attitude of waiting on the Lord. As St. Vincent once wrote to a Confrere: "The works of God have their moments. His Providence brings them about at one particular point in time, neither sooner nor later." (Coste V, Fr. ed., p. 396). At the same time we must act, expressing our love for God, as St. Vincent said in a memorable phrase, with "the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brows." (Coste XI, Fr. ed., p. 40).