Christmas 2010
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Pro Sanctity,
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
The season of joyful waiting has reached its completion and we celebrate the gift of the love of God seen in a little child. For four weeks of Advent, we have been preparing a place for the Savior, a place where Jesus may come and dwell in our hearts and in our homes. We have prayed and fasted, we have looked for him and met him in the silence of prayer and in the needs of our brothers and sisters. Now we renew our deepest joy that God has sent us a Redeemer, a newborn child, Christ the Lord!
This year, our Pro Sanctity formation theme has been “The Saint: Fully Human, Fully Alive!” Christmas is a time to return to the source of how we can be both fully human and fully alive. We return in our minds and in our hearts to the little town of Bethlehem. Angels sing and shepherds watch and there, a child is born. The child is fully human, fully divine, and fully alive. He takes on our human strengths and weaknesses; he cries and nurses, he moves and sleeps, wrapped not only in swaddling clothes but in the tenderness of his mother’s loving embrace. Under the loving gaze and strong protection of Saint Joseph, he will grow from boy to man, fully alive as a worker, teacher, healer and redeemer. He will show us that to really live is to give yourself away, following always the will of the Father.
Bishop Giaquinta, our Founder prays in “Consecration to Redemptive Love”: “I will ask for nothing, Redeemer of souls, but only that you accept my intense desire for the work of redemption, my consecration to redemptive love.” In these beautiful words, Bishop Giaquinta touches the yearning of our souls to help others grow in holiness. He speaks to us today, although he wrote years ago, of the desire that we have to be part of the work of redemption. That desire unites us and deepens our commitment in Pro Sanctity. We have received the insight to understand the incredible importance of the call to holiness and of the apostolate of holiness. We are called to redemptive love, to drink from the heart of the Redeemer of His love, and to transform our hearts and our world with the love that moved Jesus to give his whole life for us.
At this time of Christmas, we celebrate the Love that came to earth in that little child. This Love became flesh, fully alive human flesh. You and I can give new flesh to that love each day of our lives. The love we show our families, our friends and neighbors and our enemies, is a love that consecrates each day to holiness. It is a love that leads us to heaven.
May this Christmas be filled with that Love. May all the Members and Friends of Pro Sanctity, the Apostolic Oblates, the Apostolic Sodales and the Social Animators, rejoice during this holy time, and be filled with the graces and blessings God has in store for you.
Monsignor Andrew J. Vaccari
National Spiritual Advisor
P.S. Remember to plan to come for the Pro Sanctity National Convention in Nebraska from July 29 – 31, 2011. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Pro Sanctity,
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
The season of joyful waiting has reached its completion and we celebrate the gift of the love of God seen in a little child. For four weeks of Advent, we have been preparing a place for the Savior, a place where Jesus may come and dwell in our hearts and in our homes. We have prayed and fasted, we have looked for him and met him in the silence of prayer and in the needs of our brothers and sisters. Now we renew our deepest joy that God has sent us a Redeemer, a newborn child, Christ the Lord!
This year, our Pro Sanctity formation theme has been “The Saint: Fully Human, Fully Alive!” Christmas is a time to return to the source of how we can be both fully human and fully alive. We return in our minds and in our hearts to the little town of Bethlehem. Angels sing and shepherds watch and there, a child is born. The child is fully human, fully divine, and fully alive. He takes on our human strengths and weaknesses; he cries and nurses, he moves and sleeps, wrapped not only in swaddling clothes but in the tenderness of his mother’s loving embrace. Under the loving gaze and strong protection of Saint Joseph, he will grow from boy to man, fully alive as a worker, teacher, healer and redeemer. He will show us that to really live is to give yourself away, following always the will of the Father.
Bishop Giaquinta, our Founder prays in “Consecration to Redemptive Love”: “I will ask for nothing, Redeemer of souls, but only that you accept my intense desire for the work of redemption, my consecration to redemptive love.” In these beautiful words, Bishop Giaquinta touches the yearning of our souls to help others grow in holiness. He speaks to us today, although he wrote years ago, of the desire that we have to be part of the work of redemption. That desire unites us and deepens our commitment in Pro Sanctity. We have received the insight to understand the incredible importance of the call to holiness and of the apostolate of holiness. We are called to redemptive love, to drink from the heart of the Redeemer of His love, and to transform our hearts and our world with the love that moved Jesus to give his whole life for us.
At this time of Christmas, we celebrate the Love that came to earth in that little child. This Love became flesh, fully alive human flesh. You and I can give new flesh to that love each day of our lives. The love we show our families, our friends and neighbors and our enemies, is a love that consecrates each day to holiness. It is a love that leads us to heaven.
May this Christmas be filled with that Love. May all the Members and Friends of Pro Sanctity, the Apostolic Oblates, the Apostolic Sodales and the Social Animators, rejoice during this holy time, and be filled with the graces and blessings God has in store for you.
Monsignor Andrew J. Vaccari
National Spiritual Advisor
P.S. Remember to plan to come for the Pro Sanctity National Convention in Nebraska from July 29 – 31, 2011. Looking forward to seeing you there!
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