A word from the Superior General

Today we make much use of the expression charism but in the days of St Michael it was unknown. On the other hand, in his writings we come across the expression “the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ” as well as others like “the spirit of the Sacred Heart” or “this divine spirit.”

These are deeply held convictions about the Sacred Heart which are evident in his outward attitudes and actions. What an interior life! What an exterior life!: “Try during this great feast of Pentecost which we are about to celebrate to be filled more and more with the Spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ which is essentially a spirit of charity” (Letter Nr. 88); “you have not applied yourself with enough courage and constancy to complete detachment. […] Only attaching yourself to God’s good pleasure, […] not always without pain and tears, but in a disposition of loving all kinds of privations and sacrifices which are pleasing to God. […] Oh my dear Sister with what ardour I would wish you to have this spirit of Our Lord, an abundance of this spirit” (Letter Nr. 77); “I emphasise again, let Jesus always live in you. Nothing has any value to Jesus except doing God’s Will; this was his food…” “[God’s will which consists in] never doing his own will but doing always the will of God whatever it was, including very unpleasant things and dealing with very unpleasant people” (Letter Nr. 43 & 77). The person living in union with Jesus feels as he does and shows it in his exterior conduct.

St Michael Garicoits explains to us in what this spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ consists by taking that of Elias or John the Baptist as a “counterexample”: “St John the Baptist had a spirit of rigour to reprimand sinners severely, as Elijah to punish and destroy: our Saviour had a spirit of gentleness, humility and generosity, not to punish and confound, but to attract to repentance and his imitation.” (MS 351, M. 323). There you have very different ways of treating people who are still sinners. St John the Baptist and Elias make use of a severe condemnation; on the other hand our Lord uses gentleness, humility and understanding. The missionary disciples of Jesus should make use of the same methods. Severity aims at correcting sinners, at punishing them and showing them the error of their ways. With gentleness, humility and understanding the disciples try to convince the people to renounce their sinful ways. Do penance and accept to follow Jesus to be with him and live like him.

With such behaviour “sinners and publicans approached Jesus to listen to him. As Jesus was dining at the house of Levi, some of the publicans and sinners drew near and dined with him and his disciples.” (Mt. 9, 10)

“The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works”(Mt. 11, 190). It is with such behaviour that Jesus sees the conversion of Zaccheus, a rich man, leader of the Publicans who says to him: “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” (Luke 19, 8)

It is surprising to check and see how St Michael was able to understand the spirit of the Gospel; and there are many similarities with the style of Pope Francis and how he insists on mercy as the evangelical attitude of the missionary-disciples who must go out to meet mankind without passing judgment, pressure or condemnation but simply in the joy of discovering and getting to know Jesus. It is a joy for us too to see that the spirituality of St Michael is modern. It is by being aware of this spirit of Jesus that St Michael will instil it into the Congregation of the Sacred Heart. In doing this our holy Founder makes a distinction between the spirit in general which animates all congregations and the spirit which is characteristic of each one. “It is to strive for the perfection of charity, that is, the union of our soul with God and with the neighbour for God’s love.” (MS 351, M 983) Here it is the spirit common to all the baptised, typical of baptismal life whether Christian, lay, consecrated, ministerial, married, or political.

The charism or particular spirit of the Congregation includes the general spirit, the union of our soul with God and with our neighbour for the love of God plus what is characteristic of our life style. “What is the proper spirit of our Society? The spirit of profound humility before God, of great gentleness (douceur) towards our neighbours, and of complete generosity (dévouement) towards each other. The spirit of our state is the spirit of Jesus Christ, of the Heart of Jesus so well revealed in these words: Ecce Venio.” (MS, 352; M. 1134) It was always the custom to speak of the five virtues of the Sacred Heart; for the moment we have only mentioned four. Our Rule of Life number 60 tells us that what is typical of us is our filial obedience through love. It is part of the spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In letter 163 to Father Barbe our Founder wrote: “I can only thank the Lord for the goodwill of the Bishop of Buenos Aires. Here I am, my God! When will we understand that of all our duties, the first and most indispensable, and at the same time the most precious, is to present ourselves constantly to God and His representatives, while being aware of our nothingness, and surrendering ourselves to them, humble and devoted while each one of us says; ‘Here I am!” O God, give us this spirit of your divine Son, Our Lord.” (Letter 163)

Gaspar Fernández Pérez scj
Superior General