Marcellin and the lamp

At the Hermitage, where I had the good fortune to do my retreat, I spent some time contemplating the stained glass windows that decorate Marcellin?s tomb. One particular part grabbed my attention: the scene in which Marcellin received an intuition one day as his glance and heart transcended the horizon of the ranges of Mount Pilat. He was moved by the urging of the word of God, ?Go and teach all nations?. He thus drew up his map of Marist works such that all the dioceses of the world would come into his plans.

I remember times in the life of Marcellin in which reference is made to a lamp. One: Marcellin said to Mary, ?If you do not put oil in the lamp, your work will extinguish.? And one day, trusting that the Lord would provide the institutional lamp with the new oil of abundant vocations he dared to open wide the frontiers of the Marist mission: ?All the dioceses of the world come into our plans.? And another: when his strength was debilitated a short time before he died he said to the brother with him: ?Brother, the light of the lamp is being extinguished.? The lamp that stood by the brother was burning brightly, full of life. It was the sight and the life of Marcellin that was declining. The moment for Marcellin to surrender his will had arrived. The light of the mission continued to burn brightly.

Some will think it lunacy to look today toward Asia, toward new parts of the vineyard of the Lord, toward new dioceses and nations where there is no Marist presence, when the troops we do have on the ground can hardly cover the present demands. We will need the oil of more vocations and we will need to exercise a trust in Mary like that of Marcellin. The command of the Lord is always current: Go and teach. Champagnat translated the go and teach as an evangelical proposal for the nascent congregation, a concrete goal, able to be evaluated, as we say today: all the dioceses of the world. It is clear that there are still dioceses for us to realise our plans. There are still nations where we can go to teach. Today, through the VII general Conference, our attention is focussed on the voice and face of Asia in order to strengthen the faith and the mission.

Today the Congregation feels older, biologically aged; many of our members, after arduous work and a generous commitment, foresee that the end is coming and it seems that the light of the lamp is fading. Many, who wagered their lives for a new diocese, suffer the thirst of the dying Christ, a thirst that was theirs in the fervent moments of youth, and they look around them seeking to give witness to the mission in countries and dioceses in which their energy has been greatly consumed. They no longer find a brother at their side holding the lamp in his hand. How should we look at Asia, the largest continent on earth, to find somebody who is interested in the light that has illuminated our lives? Can a General Conference of leaders in a remote continent be attractive for older brothers? What can it say to the younger generation and to those who are the older generation?

The cry of the dying Christ ?I am thirsty? has been interpreted many times, and has been experienced in major moments of our lives, like the thirst of a soul, like the thirst yet to be quenched, felt by the worker called to work for the Kingdom at the end of the day, when the sun of life is setting and he looks at the fields and the Lord?s vineyards where the task is still immense even though they have been among the workers of the first hour and they have born the burden of the day. The agonising Christ is thirsty. A lot of brothers have died, also afflicted by this thirst. Having arrived at dusk, when the light is fading, as Champagnat experienced, the places of our presence stretch past the horizon that we have attained and past the limits of our strength. The Church, and the Congregation with it, is once more a pathway on which one can quench one?s thirst because an abundant harvest of faith is anticipated for the next millennium.

Many brothers and lay people want to quench this thirst. This allows us to understand the invitation of the VII General Conference to come to Asia as an Institute. As many brothers arrive at midlife, when it seems that the lamp that the brother carries with his head does not shine for his eyes, you can hear the institutional clamour: ?I am thirsty.? A thirst that the Gospel must bring to the nations who do not know it! The thirst of the Marist presence in the dioceses where Marcellin?s dream has not yet been realised! Thus, all is possible for those who believe, more for those who hope and who love and infinitely more yet for those who persevere in the practice of the three virtues. By the VII General Conference, our Institute appeals to our faith, to our hope and to our charity along the pathways of Asia. AMEstaún.