The Messiah Among Us
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5 June 1988
Paris, France

My dear Sisters,

Once upon a time there was a monastery which had fallen on hard times. Vocations were few and the monks were living in a building which had become far too big for them. There were many empty rooms and the monks, only a handful of them, were all over seventy years of age. Everything about the monastery spoke of past glory that had vanished. Surrounding the monastery was a large woods and in the middle of the woods there was a little hut to which a local Jewish rabbi used to go to spend a few hours from time to time. The rabbi made a sort of retreat in the woods when he felt the need of spiritual refreshment.

On one occasion when the rabbi was in his hut in the woods the abbot decided to go and speak with him. The two men met in the rabbi's hut. The abbot told the rabbi of his great anxiety for the future of the monastery. "We are dying out," said the abbot, "We are all old and we have no young vocations." The rabbi replied that things were somewhat the same among his people. The young were not coming to the synagogue as they used to do. The materialism of modern society was killing the old religious spirit. The old abbot and the rabbi wept a little and they prayed a psalm or two together. Then they felt better and they embraced each other. Before parting the abbot asked the rabbi if he had any suggestion he could make about the future. "No, I am sorry," the rabbi replied. "The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you." When the abbot returned to the monastery, the monks gathered around him to ask, "Well, what did the rabbi say?" "He could not help," replied the abbot. "We just wept, and we read some psalms together. The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving, and it was rather puzzling, was that the Messiah is one of us. I do not know what he meant."

In the days and weeks that followed, the old monks pondered this and wondered what significance the rabbi's words might have. The Messiah is one of us. If that is the case, which one? Could it be the abbot? Probably yes, for after all he has been our Superior and spiritual leader for years. But then it could be Brother Pacificus. Everyone knows that Brother Pacificus is a man of great prayer. It could not be Brother Dyscolus because everyone knows that Brother Dyscolus is touchy and impatient and rubs everyone the wrong way. When you come to think of it, however, Brother Dyscolus has a way of speaking the truth at community meetings and very often he is right, and almost prophetic. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Dyscolus. It certainly cannot be Brother Passivo. Sometimes one wonders if he has two ideas in his head. He rarely says a word at a community meeting, except when everyone is asked for a yes or no to a proposal. Brother Passivo's yes is yes, and his no is no. However, he has the gift of always being around in the community, and ready to fill gaps when someone else is sick or absent. Maybe, after all, Brother Passivo is the Messiah.

As they reflected in this manner the old monks began to treat each other with new respect, on the off chance that one of them might be the Messiah. And because each monk began to think of himself as possibly being the Messiah, he began to have a new respect for himself. On Sunday afternoons in the summertime, people would often come to the grounds of the monastery to have a picnic and to visit the rather dilapidated abbey church. As they did so they would meet the monks, and they would experience the warm glow of acceptance, respect and love which radiated in different ways from each one. People began to come out to the monastery not just to walk in its grounds, but also to speak with the monks. They told their friends about the monks, and then some young people came along. After a time one young man asked if he could join them, then another and then another. Within a few years the monastery had become a vibrant center, an authentic "fraternal community in view of service."

Unlike Our Lord's disciples, my dear Sisters, you will not ask for an explanation of the parable. Only let me add this. You rightly give much thought and prayer to sharpening your vision of seeing Christ in the poor. The choice of the theme for this Encounter would seem to reflect a certain need that exists in the Company of intensifying the search for the Messiah that is present, not only in the poor, but in each member of the Community. Let not the words fraternal community obscure from you the truth that what is in question is charity, that personal sharing in the agape of God which all of us enjoy because of our baptism. "The love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Spirit of God." (Rom 5:5). What is in question is the reality that a tiny spark of the love that is in the heart of Christ has been lodged in each of our hearts through baptism. Too often the agape or charity of God that is in our hearts has been taken hostage by vanity, jealousy and selfishness. The challenge that faces us is to liberate the agape of God in our hearts, so that the members of our local communities and of our Provinces will be the first to benefit from its joyful warmth and healing power.

In closing this Encounter which has been blessed by God in a thousand hidden ways, my prayer is that you will grow in respect and love for each of the Sisters of your Province. Assemblies, meetings, projects, revision of works, all will be of little avail if the communities of our Provinces are not glowing points of that charity which is patient, is kind, is not jealous, not irritable; that agape that hopes the best of everyone, that endures all things. My prayer is that the Sisters of your Provinces in turn will follow your example of being a shining light of charity, and that in your search for the hidden Messiah within the Community, you will draw many others to the Community. I ask this grace through the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. "May God in His goodness," prayed St. Vincent,"be pleased, my dear Daughters, to pour forth His Spirit on you in abundance, which is nothing but love, sweetness and charity so that by the practice of these virtues, you may do all things in the manner He wishes you should do them, for his glory, your own salvation and the edification of your neighbors." (Coste IX, Fr. ed., p. 279).

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