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| Kenya: Celebration of St. Joseph |
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| Scritto da Allamano House Community | |
 The Allamano Community has gathered together with the Community of the Fathers and Brother on March 19, to celebrate the feast of St. Joseph. Special emphasis has been given to Joseph’s Holiness in light of the program of holiness of the Institute. Allamano House has probably more brothers than any other community in the Institute. There are five brothers in formation and one for higher studies. We saw it fitting to invite Bro. Gaetano Borgo, who teaches and runs the workshop of the Consolata Seminary, to speak to us about St. Joseph and his spiritual orientation in life. Since on the feast of St. Joseph the Institute honours all its superiors, the main celebrant of solemn Mass was Fr. Dietrich Pendawazima, the Rector of the Allamano House. Several fathers concelebrated with him. The choir outdid itself in the choice of songs, and the accompaniment with drums, shakers, and the harmonium. The beautiful chapel of the Allamano House became alive with the singing of the participants. After the Mass, all the participants gathered in the dining room of the Allamano House, beautifully decorated for the occasion, and we continued the celebration in honour of the Saint and all our superiors. We took advantage of this occasion to celebrate the birthdays of the members of the communities born in March, namely Gichane, Desire and Mutuku, as we do every month. A present was offered to Bro. Gaetano for his beautiful and inspiring meditation on the personality of St. Joseph, to the birthday youngsters, and to a couple of guests present. The memory and holiness of St. Joseph, as highlighted by Bro. Gaetano, will inspire us to continue the journey of the Biennium on Holiness, and become saints as the Founder wanted us to be, in imitation of St. Joseph whom he gave to the Institute as one of its major protectors. The meditation by Bro. Gaetano is reproduced with the papers on the Biennium, and can be downloaded for personal and pastoral inspiration.  MEDITATION ON ST JOSEPHBy Bro. Gaetano Borgo, imc Introduction Here we are, this evening, to commemorate an event that gives joy, that teaches us how to conduct ourselves in this present life of ours. But whom do we commemorate? We commemorate Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus the Christ. In the Catholic Church to commemorate means to imitate and, being St. Joseph Patron of the whole Church, all its members have to imitate those virtues of Joseph which are in keeping with their respective call in the Church. When we want to imitate someone, for one reason or another, we look, we listen and meditate, to penetrate the meaning of his life. Commemoration of the Saints, is a teaching offered by the Church, to guide us throughout our life, till we reach our final destination, i. e. to live with God, to contemplate Him with body and soul, without fear of dying anymore. But we are still living, here and now, in this present oversensitised, uproar world, and we need silence …. May the silence of St. Joseph and his Holy Family teach us recollection, inwardness, the disposition to listen to the good inspirations and the teaching of true masters. May he also teach us the need and value of meditation, of study, of preparation, of recollection on personal and inner life, of the value of prayer which God alone sees in the secret of our being. May St. Joseph, the carpenter, teach us also the redeeming value of human work, the awareness of it nobility. May Joseph also lead us in these two years of study and development of our personal and communal holiness, and help us absorb the true holiness taught to us by the Founder. The holiness of St. Joseph When Lorenzo, one of the students of Allamano House, asked me to say a few words on my 36 years of missionary life, I was a little reticent: but he insisted so much and so kindly that finally I accepted the invitation. But before I speak of myself, let me say something about the experiences that St. Joseph had in his life here on earth: in Galilee at Nazareth about 2000 years ago, when the Jewish people and many other people were in great expectation of a Holy Man, a Redeemer. We see St. Joseph, husband of Mary, a common young man honestly working as a carpenter, like the many we see flocking to the Industrial Area in Nairobi, on foot (because they don’t have enough money to afford the matatu), or by car and other means of transport. May be he had already a workshop of his own. As a young man (not old as shown in several paintings), with a young girl called Mary with whom they planned to get married and to carry on a normal life like all his friends and contemporaries. At this point in planning their life, God intervenes with his plan. Since God plans are not man’s plan, all their plans and projects are shattered, and in a quite tragic manner, with sleepless nights and inner suffering on St. Joseph’s side, and Mary’s too. This tragedy starts with the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary of the plan of God the Father “kept hidden by him since the origin of creation, and only manifested with the coming of Christ”, as St. Paul says. This plan of coming to life again as friends of God, where no separation, or tears, or sickness will be there. A life full of enthusiasm and joy, where all the longings of our heart will be fulfilled. This is the plan of God, the lasting covenant made with the blood of Christ for humankind. Then, soon after the annunciation, Mary disappears for three months, and when Joseph meet her again, she is with child. The tragedy unfolds: betrayed by the very objects of his love, by what was the pleasure of his eyes, betrayed by the very person with whom he had planned to stay together all his life! If Mary explained to Joseph what happened, is not known, but that he decided to leave her alone, without embarrassing her, are gospel’s words …..Because he was a just man, (the highest title that could be given to a man in the Old Testament), he did not want to harm her in any way, that he could legally have done. Joseph makes his new plan to divorce her informally, and again God comes with his plan ….. through an Angel and in a dream he is told: do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what is born in her, is of the Holy Spirit. He gets up and does what the angel told him. Thus God takes first priority in his life. Even Mary is told by the Angel Gabriel: do not fear, you have found favour in the eyes of God; just go on do what God wants of you, and everything will be well. These words “do not be afraid” must become a characteristic of a missionary. God knows the beginning and the end of an enterprise. In the scriptures we have several personalities sent for special missions, feeling quite incapable of carrying them out, and also fearing for their life (Moses, Jeremiah, Ananias who baptized Paul). They tell God of their fears. God’s answer is always the same: do not fear, have faith in me, not in your ability. I make you able and willing to do my will. As we have seen, in the life of St. Joseph God always takes the first place. Does God take the first place in my life? God, please, mercy! The worst thing a man of God can do to himself and to the mission is to live a double-standard life. One sentence comes to mind: “morning by morning you uproot from your house all the operators of iniquity”. Let us not forget that when we put ourselves to the service of God, sooner or later we will be put to the test in the fire of humiliation…….the book of Ecclesiastes warns us! So let us prepare ourselves for the fight. We start our life in the seminary with a lot of enthusiasm, everything is beautiful, exciting: food, timetable, studies, teachers, prayers, etc…then suddenly all this becomes a non-sense. Thoughts that never came before to our mind, pop-up; all of a sadden all girls become beautiful, doubts on the very roots of our vocation throw us into confusion, and we feel lost in this state of affairs. Remember: the spiritual director, good monthly confession are always there, valid and helpful for young and old, saints and sinners….. How true is this passage of the Holy Scripture: “You turned your face and I was put to confusion!” We have to look for help. Prayer is not an option, is the breath of life when facing trials: “Come to me all of you who are burdened…..” Let us imitate St. Joseph: kicked by an angel like a football to marry Mary, to go to Egypt, to return to Bethlehem, to go to Nazareth …. and never gave up! Missionary life requires such a behaviour. One has to look at some examples of our missionaries, like Bro. Mario Bernardi, who were moved constantly, start anew many times, but never refused to go. And now he is called to Rome to be the servant of all…… It is when we, by virtue of obedience, are made to bounce in the field of mission without loosing the air inside (i. e. our union with God), we fulfil our vocation and our missionary mandate. Everybody has to find his way to create and maintain his union with God. I divided the hour into two or three parts: when I am in front of a clock at his full hour I pray the “Glory be…..”, at the half hour I recite the ejaculation “Come Holy Spirit…:”. I also try to keep a small corner for me as an inspiration in the mess of my workshop…… All helps to keep us in union with God. |
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