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| 1856 - 2006 - Gaillac 2 |
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HOMILY of Père Jean-Pierre Rey, on 24 AUGUST 2006
Our prayer, which is firmly rooted in the two readings chosen for the Opening of this Triduum of Remembering and Faithfulness, will be based on a psalm, the one on which the Church invites us to meditate each week, on Thursday, during night prayer – Compline.
This is the psalm of commitment and fidelity in the Christian life, the religious life and in the priestly life.
Thus, we join all the generations of the People of God who have gone before us, from ancient times, King David, the Prophets…. the priests and all the people in the Temple in Jerusalem, but also Mary and Joseph, the old man Simeon, Anna who was a Prophetess and Jesus Himself!! praying in the synagogues of Nazareth and Capharnaum.
The Prayer of the Church yesterday and today;
The prayer of the birth of the Sisters of St Joseph, wherever we find ourselves at this moment;
The prayer of Emilie de Vialar throughout her life, in her spiritual quest, right until its fulfilment at the moment of her death on 24 August 1856;
It is the prayer that we can make ours during all the stages of our life, in union with the whole Church.
Is it not in these “Words of Life” that we can drink from the source of the Spirit of St Emilie?
Psalm 15 is the psalm of commitment, the psalm of the decision taken to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, towards God our Father. Once the grace is received (and the Sisters of the Congregation know the “Account of Graces;” it is their bedside book!!), once the grace is received, the will and affectivity, all the “flesh” of the person (according to the expression of St John, my “flesh” given) should take the decision and make profession.
It is from reading this psalm that we are able to “nourish” St Emilie’s experience and our own, of course, whatever our age and our state of life (by the various layers superimposed on the very events as they occur).
Psalm 15:
Preserve me God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: “You are my God, my happiness lies in you alone.”
He has put into my heart a marvellous love for the faithful ones who dwell in his land.
Those who choose other gods increase their sorrows.
Never will I offer their offerings of blood, never will I take their name upon my lips.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself who are my prize.
The lot marked out for me is my delight: welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!
I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at night directs my heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad; even my body shall rest in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead*, nor let your beloved know decay.
You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence,
At your right hand happiness for ever.
* On the day of Pentecost, St Peter said: “God raised Jesus to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power.” (Acts 2,24)
Then follows the quotation of the last two verses of Ps. 15, with a few modifications which show very well that the Prayer of the Church is a “life!” as Father Varillon says: it is not to be put into a can of conserve!
“I constantly saw the Lord before me,
for, he is at my right hand so that I shall not be shaken.
And my heart was joyful and my tongue singing with elation.
Better still, my flesh reposed in hope,
for, you will not abandon my life in the sojourn of the dead,
and you will not let your saint know decomposition.
You showed me the path of life,
You will fill me with joy by your presence.”
* It was in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia that Paul cited the same psalm to announce the Resurrection of Jesus.
Acts 13,35: “The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to return to corruption, is no more than what he had declared: “To you I shall give the holy things promised to David. This is also why it says in another text: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption.’”
Following Jesus and all the saints, and in the footsteps of St Emilie de Vialar, are we not all called, but each one in their own rank, called to play a part in the full realization of the Covenant between God and humanity?
In praying this psalm we have a foretaste of this promise of “an eternity of delights” which, we believe, is already accomplished and brought to its “perfection” in Jesus as the First Born and in Mary his mother.
Where can we look for the spirit of St Emilie today, if not in fidelity to the Word of God, and more especially for you, Sisters of the Congregation, in those pages from which she drew her commitment, those in particular proposed for the celebrations of these days, for this day:
Is 61,1: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me….”
Mt 1,20: “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, for she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit.”
In August 1856: the return of St Emilie to the Lord….
In December 1856, of that same year, Blessed Anthony Chevrier, founder of the Fathers of Prado, had the following spiritual, mystical experience:
“It was while meditating, on Christmas Night, on the poverty and humility of Our Lord that I resolved to leave everything and to live in the poorest way possible. I said to myself: ‘The Son of God came down to earth to save all people and to convert sinners. And yet, what do we see? People continue to damn themselves.
So, I decided to follow Our Lord Jesus Christ more closely so as to make myself more capable of working effectively for the salvation of all people.”
In order that it will be thus in our lives, let us pray together to the Lord during this triduum.
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