Thanksgiving
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22 April 1981
Berceau, France

My dear Confreres,

I once heard of a man who made a voyage around the world in order to experience the joy of discovering his own home. This morning after a cycle of four hundred years, a small group of us are experiencing the joy of discovering, not only the home of Vincent de Paul, but in a sense the home of all who consider themselves to be members of the great Vincentian family.

In a real sense, this place is the home of that family. In our Community parlance, we call it "The Berceau." More often than not we do not qualify that phrase. It is our berceau (cradle). Grace builds on nature, and it was here that Vincent de Paul received his nature. It was here that he first learned to be aware of others and their needs. It was here that he first heard of and experienced the reality that the world was unequally divided: that there were rich and poor. It was here that, like the first stirrings of Spring in the soil, his heart would have begun to feel compassion for those who were less fortunate than he. Let us never forget that whatever conversion he would later experience, the nature of Vincent de Paul must have been a tender, compassionate one, and it was in this place that his nature was first formed. Let us give thanks this morning for the great things God has done for St. Vincent de Paul, for his nature as well as for the grace which built upon that nature, received here in the pays des Landes.

The Gospel passage to which we have just listened has been described as the best short story ever written. It commences with the sad disillusionment of the two disciples: "We had hoped...." (Lk 24:21). Then they are joined by the unrecognized Risen Christ Who, through allowing them to talk, drains them of despair and disillusionment and sows in their hearts faith and hope. "Ought not Christ to have suffered?" (Ibid. v. 27). The story ends in the charity of the Eucharist: "They recognized Him in the breaking of the bread." (Ibid. v. 35). The Eucharist is carried forward into mission..."The disciples returned to Jerusalem...and they told their story of what had happened on the road, and how they recognized Him in the breaking of bread." (Ibid. vv. 33,35).

For all of us here this morning, I ask God to grant us three graces: 1. That our hearts be emptied of all discouragement about the Congregation of the Mission, so that the Risen Christ may fill them with faith and hope. 2. That all of us may be able to see more clearly Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, in the Eucharist and in the poor. 3. That in our recognizing Jesus Christ, we may all find again the sense of mission and a renewed zeal, so that we conceive the desire to start from here to announce the good news of the Gospel, above all to the poor, as the two disciples of Emmaus and as St. Vincent de Paul. "Were not our hearts burning....?" (Ibid. v. 32).

"Let us love God, my brothers, let us love God, but let it be with the strength of our arms and with the sweat of our brows." (Coste XI, Fr. ed., p. 40).

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice!

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