MESSAGE OF THE MINISTER GENERAL
TO THE TRINITARIAN FAMILY
ON THE OCCASION OF THE SOLEMNITY
OF THE HOLY TRINITY
Lit. Circ. 6 /2021
B.S.SS. T
Dear Brothers,
My cordial and fraternal greeting to all the members of the Trinitarian Family.
The prolonged health emergency due to the pandemic is severely testing our lives, forcing us to review and reformulate our programs, imposing a heavy restriction on our fundamental freedoms, feeding insecurity and fear for the future. The pandemic is now beginning to spread Madagascar which had previously been unaffected. The main concern there is that the virus is spreading rapidly and there are limited medical resources to fight the virus. In Brazil and India, there is now talk of a humanitarian catastrophe, due to the high death rate.
These challenges make us increasingly aware of our need not to feel alone. This situation has increased our desire for communion and shared growth. Let us keep alive this fire of fraternal communion that allows us to face every difficulty and to bear witness to the Gospel according to the redemptive-liberating charism of St. John de Matha. Our first mission is fraternal communion, a laboratory of listening, understanding, and mutual help, where each day we learn to “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). Fraternal communion is not a simple human strategy, as the famous motto “strength in unity” suggests. Human strategies lead us to the illusion that the unity we seek is based solely on our own efforts. We know well, however, that its perennial source is the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the principle and source of unity and peace. “One cannot understand the religious community without starting from its being a gift from Above, from its mystery, from its being rooted in the very heart of the holy and sanctifying Trinity, which wants it to be part of the mystery of the Church, for the life of the world[1].”
When fraternal communion is founded on the sand of our human skills and strategies, it is destined to collapse in the face of the storms of life. How many forms of false communion are we tempted to experience in human relationships? I will mention just a few: complicity (an expression of opportunism); the quiet life (indifference); confusion. Complicity is that form of communion that is based on a common human goal, at which point it vanishes. This communion is based on the unstable nature of personal and selfish interests, which often lead to identify a “common enemy” against which to defend themselves.
Then there is another attitude that is harmful to the building of a true fraternity: quiet living. It is practiced by those who believe that, in order to be at peace with everyone, it is necessary to avoid all forms of conflict and confrontation.
As a result, sincere dialogue is jeopardized, which can only help to strengthen those bonds of fraternity that are often seriously compromised by our own limitations and by heavy silences that have the sensation of closure and resignation. The third form of false communion is confusion, which occurs when there is a lack of rules, and no sure points of reference. In conclusion, when everything is questionable, roles of each are not respected, and no one takes the responsibility to build authentic fraternity. Respect and responsibility for others are the two pillars upon which true fraternity is founded.
We must recognize the primacy of fraternal communion. We all feel, especially at this time, a deep longing for “we” that must be transformed into a renewed commitment to build fraternal sharing and true bonds of solidarity and mutual acceptance. Fraternal communion must increasingly be the criterion for all our actions, initiatives, and commitments. We must always ask ourselves whether the initiatives we wish to pursue are helpful and supportive to fraternity or whether they create an obstacle. Even worthy projects, when they are based on a single protagonist, do not last.
The Trinitarian Family is truly rich with the presence of numerous forms of religious life and lay consecrated men and women who are inspired by the charism of St. John de Matha, to live fraternal communion. This diversity of our lived charism is rich when it preserves within itself the profound unity of all. The Trinitarian charism is not an exclusive possession but a gift to be shared with the family for the good of all. The image of the concentric circles that form when we throw a stone into the water comes to mind. Living communion within one’s own lay fraternity or religious community helps us to live it within the Trinitarian Family, the Church, and eventually the whole world. Our consecration and our mission must have this universal imprint. Missionary spirit is the breath of fraternity.
It is not superfluous to recall that fraternal communion represents one of the challenges indicated by the General Chapter celebrated two years ago. In the final document, there is a particularly enlightening passage, which I quote below:
“We have also expressed a dream for our entire Order and for the Family: to become, more and more, “The House of the Most Holy Trinity” where the Family grows in unity and identity, without impediment, committing ourselves with joy and strength to the redemptive mission.”
The witness of our fraternal life is the most authentic source and most effective method of formation. The many vocational initiatives, which we thank God for, are of no use if there is no community that knows how to welcome, care for, and nurture them. Every formation community must be able to count on the commitment of everyone in our communities and fraternities, to breathe an air of family and authentic welcome. I make a heartfelt appeal to intensify our prayers for religious and priestly vocations. The lack of young people, which we suffer especially in the older jurisdictions of the Order, has considerable repercussions on community life and on our witness.
At times we experience weariness and discouragement in the journey of fraternal life. May the Lord give us the strength never to give in to pessimism and discouragement. Precisely in these moments we must believe that communion is a gift from God, entrusted to our care and to our willingness to allow ourselves to be regenerated by forgiveness when evil threatens us. May the attitude of the Good Samaritan be our compass as we safeguard the gift of fraternity and may that be the paradigm of our common life. Like the wounded man in the Gospel parable, may our fraternity not lack the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.
The Solemnity of the Holy Trinity, which we will celebrate in a few days, is the moment in which we will renew the vows of our consecration. Fidelity, perseverance, and fraternity support each of us. Let us entrust to the Most Holy Trinity our humble commitment so that our religious communities and our lay fraternities may be little icons of divine communion, little seeds of hope in a world torn apart by strife, discord and division.
We also entrust ourselves to the protection of our Saints and, in this year dedicated to St. Joseph, we ask for his intercession to live our consecration with joy.
I assure all of you of my prayers and my blessings!
Rome, 9 May 2021
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Fr. Luigi Buccarello O. SS. T.
Minister General
[1] CONGREGATION FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE, Istruzione Congregavit nos Christi in unum amor, n. 8.