Toronto, 12 March 2023
Dearest Sisters,
On March 15 we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the pontifical approval of the Constitutions and, therefore, of our Institute.
With Maestra Thecla, we praise and thank the Lord “because, with the certainty that comes to us from the official recognition of the Church, we can say, ‘We are in the will of God; the path we tread is one that leads us to the summit of holiness!’”
On this day, we particularly remember the covenant of the God who walks with us and who renews in us the gift of the Spirit granted to Fr. James Alberione, so that we may make it alive and operative in the Church and in the world (cf. Const. 4).
The covenant of love in which we are inserted not only reveals that the initiative is God’s, but that it is in him that our fidelity is founded and lived. We are very weak, ignorant, incapable, insufficient in everything, but the Lord continually seeks us and chooses us. Despite our inconstancy and weakness, he remains faithful, binds his strength to our frailty and gives hope to our faithfulness. This is what the spirituality of the Pact or Secret of Success makes us experience every day.
The itinerary of faithfulness to the covenant demands commitment (to seek wholeheartedly and in all things, in life and in the apostolate, only and always the glory of God and the peace of humanity); it is marked by an uphill path and is not exempt from setbacks and falls… The important thing is not to lose sight of the goal, which is lofty: to correspond to the sublime will of God, to arrive at the degree of perfection and heavenly glory to which we are destined, and to perform the apostolate of the means of social communication in a holy manner.
Fidelity to the covenant, lived out in the spirit of the Pact, makes us open to the new. It enables us to interpret the signs of the times as traces of God’s presence in history, in order to respond today to his calls, to journey, grasped by the Spirit (cf. Acts 20:22) and impelled by the love of Christ (2 Cor. 5:14), toward new goals, there where once again “the Lord makes all things new” (Rev. 21:5).
Sisters, let us revive, in the depths of our hearts, the joy of being Daughters of St. Paul. And let us dedicate, on this day, a moment together as a community, praising the Lord for what he has and continues to accomplish with us, for the covenant he forged with our congregation, and for the call to holiness in daily life, which is a call to charity, to love that is lived, and is “good news” for all.
With great affection, in communion of joy and hope.
Sr. Anna Caiazza
Superior General
