24 March 1990
Paris, France

Mother Duzan, Father Lloret and my dear Sisters,

When the angels and saints in heaven celebrate the feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord, it is only natural that the Angel Gabriel should be a center of attention. Each year the celebration of the feast revives a rumor that the Angel Gabriel had a special difficulty with the commission that was given to him by the Most High. It seems that, when he was asked to go to the planet Earth to a town called Nazareth, he set out obediently and promptly. He went out into the great vastness of the universe which God had created. He traveled from one galaxy of stars to another but could not find the planet Earth. His angelic intelligence had never failed him before, but now it seemed to do so. At last he decided to return to heaven. "Could it be," he asked himself, "that the planet Earth no longer exists"? Humbly--for angels esteem humility as the greatest wisdom--he spoke of his difficulty to the Most High. "Yes, indeed," replied the Creator, "the planet Earth is scarcely visible in the universe. It is but a speck of dust. For my part, I know where it is from the sound of the beating of the human heart."

So the Angel Gabriel set out once again, and this time he found the planet Earth and the town called Nazareth, but again he was perplexed. Which of the young girls in Nazareth who bore the name Miriam or Mary (for there were a few) was the one the Lord intended? Angels do not make mistakes, so Gabriel returned once again to heaven and humbly asked the Most High for more enlightenment. "It is she," the Eternal Father replied, "whose heart is beating in perfect harmony with Mine. And you will find that there is only one such in Nazareth, or indeed in the whole of the universe." The Angel Gabriel went once again to Nazareth and, having found the Virgin Mary who was betrothed to Joseph, greeted her, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you." (Lk 1:28).

The vows that we take have everything to do with our hearts and with bringing them into unison with the heart of Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man. It is as clear as daylight to us that the heart of Jesus Christ was not set on money or on what money could buy. He had not whereon to lay His head, and He died deprived of every material thing. Nor was His heart set on doing His own will, but on that of His Father. He lived as a celibate so that others might have life and have it abundantly. As for service, He assured us that He had not come to be served but to serve.

Candid reflection in prayer on our own lives can reveal to us how well or how ill our hearts are beating in unison with the heart of Christ. The day of renovation and the preparation that leads up to it are designed to bring our lives into harmony with the heartbeat of Jesus Christ, chaste, poor, obedient and servant. Is there an echo in our lives of the chaste love of Christ? Does the note of the humble obedience of Christ sound a chord in our actions and reactions to authority? Does the simplicity of Christ's lifestyle harmonize easily with ours? Is His servant mentality a theme that runs through the entire composition of our lives?

The vows which we make are music to the ears of God. When we look at a musical score of a symphony by Beethoven or of a Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach, it does not look particularly inspiring. There are a series of strokes and dots and lines on a succession of pages. But give those pages to the members of an orchestra under the direction of a musical conductor and we will be ravished by the beauty of the sound.

The music of Christ's life was written with blood and tears, and He has told us that at all times He studied to do the Will of His Father in heaven. To make music in our hearts to God we need the written score of lines and strokes and directives of interpretation. It is one of the graces of the day of renovation that Sisters come to a fresh realization that their lives are singing a new hymn to God. "Sing a new song to the Lord," (Ps 98:1) wrote the psalmist. A Daughter of Charity who has revised the score of her life in preparation for this day of renovation, is enriching the harmony of heaven, while bringing new gladness to the poor she serves.

The heart of Mary of Nazareth beat always in unison with the heart of God, her Creator and Savior. It was always pure and authentic. Vows are designed to eliminate what is false and unauthentic in the living of our vocation, so that when we are living our vows, our lives resonate to that of the chaste, poor, obedient and serving Christ. "Batter my heart, three-personed God," prayed the poet, "Take me to you, imprison me, for I, except you enthrall me, never shall be free, nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." (John Donne: Divine Meditation).

Our vows give stability to us in our ascent to God, for we are ever subject to the gravitational pull of what St. Paul refers to as "the desires of the flesh." (Gal 5:16). Visiting recently our Communities in Eastern Europe, I reflected much during those days on the damage which for forty years the powers of darkness caused to the Body of Christ. I marveled at the fidelity of Sisters and Confreres to their vocation and at the strength of their desire to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. More than once during my visit to these European countries, I found myself wondering if the powers of darkness may not be at work in more subtle ways among us, who have not lived under political systems that are oppressive of religious values. Perhaps we would do well to ponder Our Lord's words that a person's enemies may well be living within his own household. When the tempter stands on our doorstep here in countries where there is political freedom, he prefers to assume the guise of a plausible salesman, who will try politely to persuade us that we are not truly free unless we are seeking to eliminate discomfort, to discard restraints and to secure greater independence. From such specious freedoms, our vows, understood and lived, will deliver us. "One may say that if the Son of God was tempted He was all powerful to resist it," remarked St. Vincent, "but what can a poor Daughter of Charity do to prevent herself yielding to temptations? Courage! You will conquer in Jesus Christ. Rest assured, there is no happier state than that which renders us conformable to Our Lord." (Conf. Eng. ed., 20 Aug. 1656, pp. 827-828).