Dear brothers and sisters of the Congregation and brothers and sisters of the Passionist Family,

We have finally arrived at Bethlehem and the end of our Advent journey.  The liturgy has guided us in our waiting and in our journey to the Lord who is coming and it has affirmed our hope that also this year, something extraordinary will happen.

John the Baptist was the “voice” of God who invited his contemporaries and us today, to conversion in order to be able to worthily welcome Him who is to come.  We may be surprised at the figure of John the Baptist who was so close to Jesus, and almost his contemporary, merely six months older, as the Angel Gabriel had said in the Annunciation to Mary:  “And Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.” (Lk.1:36)  This will be the child who will leap with joy in the womb of Elizabeth his mother after the Annunciation.  And again, it will be this child who, as an adult, dressed in camel skins and living in the desert, nourished by locusts and wild honey, will point out the “Lamb of God”, Jesus, who was descending toward the Jordan River where John was baptizing.

But he also forcefully preached, like a new Elijah, that the one who would come after him would “gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” in order to carry out justice. (Mt. 3:11-12)  It is an image that is very different from the works of Jesus who was merciful and who spoke of love and salvation.  And from the place where John was imprisoned, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus a direct question:  “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” (Mt.11:2)  Jesus is not surprised by this question; he understands John’s perplexity and he opens his mind and his heart:  “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”  (Mt.11:4-5)

What Isaiah predicted is fulfilled in Jesus and other prophets and the reference to the scandal will reappear on the road toward the garden of olives when he announces that he will be abandoned by the disciples who, at the moment that he is captured, will find in him a reason for scandal.  Jesus will work wonders, he will heal lepers, the blind, the deaf; he will raise Lazarus four days after his death and he will raise the son of the widow of Naim, stopping the funeral cortege on its way to the burial.   However, the choice is to take the part of the lowly who are recipients of the “good news” and to make himself the “last” on the cross: “come down and then we will believe you!” they shouted –but he doesn’t come down; he will not transform love of oneself into power.  He wants to be a gift.  When he witnessed this folly of love the Centurion beneath the Cross declared:  “This truly was the son of God.”  The Centurion is one of the few people who, together with the repentant thief, will be able to recognize Jesus as the Son of God who is dying on the cross.  Bethlehem and Calvary are places of love, journeys that lead to salvation:  “Today…a savior has been born for you who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you:  you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” (Lk.2:10-12)

And we understand more clearly how meaningful the image of the Christ Child sleeping on the cross was for St. Paul of the Cross, a picture that he had in his room.  It was not merely something devotional; rather it demonstrated his great understanding of the mystery of salvation that began with the Incarnation in Nazareth and that was made visible at Christmas with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and by his exaltation on the cross in Jerusalem with a cry of love.  And we Passionists have made this cry of love, “the scandal of the cross” our reason for being and the motive for our vocation.  We know what it means to be a Passionist—living the charism that the Holy Spirit gave to St. Paul of the Cross and which the Church has recognized as a true gift of the Spirit.  We know what it means to be a Passionist from the example of the life of St. Paul of the Cross, from his letters, from the example of the Saints of the Congregation, from our history, our Constitutions and the witness of numerous religious who have formed us and with whom we have lived.  However, what would we reply if the Baptist would send his disciples to ask us about our identity:  “Are you a Passionist? Or should we look for someone else?”   Would we reply:  “Go and tell John what you see and hear?”

The statement, “Go and tell John what you see and hear…” may also refer to our capacity to live fraternally in community, faithful to prayer; detached living and poverty; the choice of the poor who have the name of Jesus written on their forehead, as the Founder used to say; with hearts that are open to the objective of Restructuring in order to foster a spiritual life style and religious life that is more authentic and effective – open to the Spirit and ready for new ministry.  “Go and tell” means that we want to begin anew from Bethlehem and from the roots of the Congregation:  Ovada, Castellazzo, Monte Argentario and the meaning that these values represent.

I want to thank the Lord because whether in the Synod that we celebrated in Rome as well as in the visits to the communities and in the Chapters I observed a desire to grow and the courage to discern the signs of the times in order to carry out what the Lord asks of us.  I trust that we will also work with enthusiasm during the days and years ahead.

Brothers, the historical moment in which we are living calls us to unity and to eliminate every possible cause of conflict and division.  United for the Reign of God we can find solutions to the significant challenges that we encounter and which involve our Passionist religious consecration.  Our mission is born from the Cross and it is by means of its logic that we should overcome our personal interpretations and the temptation of competition.  Now is the time to work together to further the mission of the Province and to be the religious family that St. Paul of the Cross envisioned when he founded our Congregation.

We are invited to have new eyes and a new heart and to be simple.  Christmas and the beginning of the New Year 2011 are opportunities that we should not miss.  We need to rediscover the ability to again be amazed at the new opportunities that God presents us every day.  We need to be freed from superficiality and weariness of heart – as if everything has already happened.  In Bethlehem and in our day it is still happening.  Something extraordinary, something both old and new is happening:  a Child is born whose name is Jesus, the son of Mary and the “son of the Almighty”.  He is great, but the sign by which he is made known is small and humble.  He has just been born and he lies in swaddling clothes in a manger for animals.

When he invited his disciples to welcome the Kingdom of God as children, an invitation that is present in the gospels of three of the evangelists (Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-15; and Luke 18:15-17), perhaps for moment he thought about Bethlehem or about Nazareth where he spent his childhood.  The presence of this invitation of Jesus in the three gospels to become like children “because of such is the Kingdom of God” speaks to us about the importance that Jesus and the primitive Christian communities gave to simplicity of heart, to trust and to enthusiasm.

Dear brothers of the Congregation and sisters and brothers of the Passionist Family– those consecrated religious living cloistered or active apostolic lives, as well as the laity– this is the greeting that I am extending to all of you in the name of the General Council and the Community of Sts. John and Paul:  may we be capable of becoming like children living relationships in simplicity, capable of forgetting past offenses, trusting in God’s future and living with joy both in religious communities and in lay families.  I believe that it would be difficult to understand Calvary if we do not understand Bethlehem with trust that generates new life.

I wish you every blessing in the Lord also for the New Year that is about to begin with the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.  It is also a day that is dedicated to Peace.  Let us not forget about peace and our role:  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt. 5:9).  Come, Lord Jesus!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I also wish to send special greetings to the sick, to those who are alone and to those who are suffering.

Retreat of Sts. John and Paul                                                            Fr. Ottaviano D’Egidio, C.P.
Rome,  25 December 2010                                                                Superior General

Related articles

• A Year End Message from Fr. Robert Joerger, C.P. (thepassionists.org)
• Solidarity with Fr. Mario Bartolini: letter of Father General and Synod (thepassionists.org)