by Fr. Francesco Cardarelli, cpps
Let us remember in a special way, my dear brothers, our obligation to promote charity among ourselves. Let us respect one another, pity one another, help one another. Let it not be among us who speak or act out of sympathy or antipathy; nor let us demand that others practice charity with us, without our practicing it with them. Let us all consider ourselves as one body, whose members are in all harmony with each other. Let us regard our orderlies as brothers, edify them by our conduct, help them in their needs, counsel them, instruct them, console them, animate them!
Talking about charity can run the risk of generic, broad talk, as if it were difficult to identify precisely the meaning of this term that is as much touted as it is, at times, “evanescent” for Christian practice; Giovanni Merlini, however, does not run this risk; on the contrary, with the dry and sober trait that distinguishes him, he is careful to materialize the consistency of charity for the lives of his Missionaries. One thing is closest to his heart: to clarify the fact that charity does not consist in a right! Often, in fact, it may prove easier to identify oneself as a user, a passive party to charity, rather than an active, protagonist, a builder of the Kingdom of God in exercising it. The Venerable wants to avert the danger that the bond of Charity existing among his own may constitute for someone an occasion of expectation, worse of pretension, by not allowing himself to be personally challenged by the urgency of this virtue. In proposing the Pauline metaphor of the one body, our pioneer invites us to inhabit life with a precise style: that of the Christian. A style that translates into a gaze never lowered on one’s own navel, but always projected beyond oneself; into arms outstretched to promote the other and welcome him or her into one’s daily life; into legs ready to cross the boundaries drawn by pride; and into a heart passionate for communion. Nothing different from truly loving someone! The bond of charity, strongly desired by St. Gaspar as the foundation of the life in common of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and unceasingly promoted by Giovanni Merlini is aimed not only at conveying the Commandment of Love, but also at arousing personal commitment in cultivating the desire to love one another, even when struggling, even in the face of the challenges of circumstances and opportunities, and above all by renouncing any nexus of reciprocity! This is not the recipe for the superhero, but the stature of a Christian, fully realizable through the relationship with Jesus Christ that multiplies every human possibility.
“Nel Segno del Sangue” May/June Issue, 2019