a sermon for 1st profession of sisters

1st profession of CSST sisters

Geddalahalli 24 April 2009

Gen 12,1-4; Ct 2,8-14; Mt 19,16-26

I would like to read today’s Gospel from the perspective of a relationship of love. The young fellow who approaches Jesus expresses a strong desires to enter eternal life. This means he desires a strong, solid, eternal relationship with God. Since childhood ha has done whatever he could to be obedient to that God whom he is seeking, but obedience is not enough for God. He wants more, as a matter of fact he wants everything. Do you want to enter into a relationship with me, seems to say Jesus to the man, then put at risk yourself, surrender whatever makes you feels safe and strong and start a relationship based on love.

The whole book of Song of Songs is conceived as a love song or dialogue between two lovers, namely: God and his people Israel.

Even Abraham had to give up his family, his land and set off on a journey which would bring him where he would not know, based only on a promise.

Love is not a joke, is not a mere emotion. The Church asks you today to make your commitment for one year, your heart should tell you to make a commitment forever.

It is not only matter of leaving behind your family or the possibility of making a new one. This would not have sense in itself, unless you do it for something greater. Somebody gives up the chance of falling in love for another person, but then she is afraid to fall in love for God. What a pity. What a lonely life she is going to live. You give up the possibility of falling in love, but, please, do not give up the capacity to love.

Look at the attitude of young people when they are in love. They look crazy. Their mind is all oriented to the person whom they love, as soon as they do something they feel inside a deep need to communicate it to the loved one, sometimes they even do strange things for the sake of seeing or hearing the loved one.

You know one thing? The saints have often been referred to as crazy people, even Jesus once was believed to be crazy and his relatives came to take him away. What was so insane in all the saints? The fact that they were willing to take up risks for the Lord.

Do you want a simple way to monitor how your religious life is going? See how many times the Lord comes to your mind. I am not speaking of the times in which you are in prayer, there of course you think of Him, I am speaking of the rest of the day. If you are in love with Him, he will frequently come into your mind. See how many times he finds a place into your talks, speeches. People in love never stop to praise their loved ones, or to boost of their qualities, when talking to others. See how many times a day you feel the need to peep into the chapel to say hallo, how are you, I am going out now.

I remember when I was a novice, we had some sisters of our Congregation in charge of the kitchen. After meals we would go there to wash up the dishes and they would prepare some nice coffee for us and for themselves too. I noticed that the superior, called sr. Martina, before sipping that little coffee, would make the sign of the cross. I was surprised because we of course make sign of the cross before big things like meals or meetings, but that was just a little coffee. I asked why she would need to do that, she was surprised of my question and answered, Why? Isn’t this too a gift from God? Shouldn’t you learn a bit of gratitude?

The life of our elders was filled with the Lord.

Of course love becomes commitment, what you would call apostolate. For the little I know about your Congregation, you have a lot of wonderful institutes which do a lot of good for the poor and the society at large. What I want to underline today is not what you do but the reason for doing it. Often we pray that our apostolate would go well. Very nice. But I think there is something wrong in this expression. When we say that we pray so that our apostolate go well, we put the apostolate at the centre, as the aim, and the prayer as the instrument of success. Nothing wrong in that. But I would like to shift the balance of the things. We pray because we are in deep union with God, and because of that we feel the need to go out to reach the poor, to distribute to them the love which is by now overflowing in our heart. The love of God is the aim and the apostolate is the instrument of success. Go give all your possessions to the poor so you are free to follow me.

Of course nothing will change in the words of our prayers, but the attention of the heart will change.

Do you want a simple way to monitor how your religious life is going? See how many people are becoming important in your apostolate. If many, then your religious life is ok, because true love by nature wants to expand, to reach as many as possible. If, instead, the number of those who are important to you is becoming less, if you are concentrating on few only, then there is something wrong. Our founders had boundless hearts, they never seemed to be satisfied with the number of people they were helping, but they were not attached to anyone, because they were attached to all of them in the Lord. See how important are the details of your work becoming (programs, marks, constructions, etc, and if because of that you lose the sight of the big picture, the picture of the plan of God for those people. True love cannot be directed to material things but to people and to God. The young man left sad because he had many possessions. See if you have the courage to take some risk for the sake of helping a hopeless case, an unrewarding one.

I close up here otherwise things become too long. Just one idea: open your life to the love of God, fill yourself with it and let it overflow from your heart to reach the world around you. Do not be the source of water but the pipe which carries God’s water.

Do not be butterflies but eagles. Butterflies are beautiful to see but fragile, eagle are strong and majestic. Butterflies fly low from one flower to the other, eagles go from one pick to the other of the high mountains. Butterflies are attracted by the light of the small flame of a candle and burn their wings there, eagles are the only animal able to fix their eyes into the sun. butterflies see only the small world of few meters, eagles from the heights see the extensions of the world.

Be willing to fly high and teach people to do so, the heights of pure love.