" The Spirit of truth will guide you

into all the truth "

Mass for the opening of General Chapter 27

(Acts 2:1-11; Gal 5:16-25; Jn 15:26-27.16:12-15)

My dear confreres,

Gathered as we are around the table of the Word and the Bread, we are officially opening General Chapter 27 of the Society of St Francis de Sales. We are doing so by celebrating this Eucharist in which we are asking God that we may walk under the sovereign guidance of the Holy Spirit who is our Light for knowing the Truth of the Gospel and our energy for living faithfully as authentic disciples of the Lord Jesus.

Let us ask God for the gift par excellence, “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father”. He witnesses to Jesus and makes us in turn witnesses of the Christ. May he guide us through this Chapter Assembly. We need him to come, as he did at Pentecost, and personally and pastorally convert us, transform us from being closed and self-certain individuals to being open and courageous disciples, profoundly renewed so that we become “witnesses to the radical approach of the Gospel”.

We therefore need to learn how to live according to the Spirit's desires and not allow ourselves to be waylaid by the desires of the flesh.

The Word of God we have just heard invites us to meditate on this; and the world needs it too; it has been going through an unprecedented crisis for years now and would seem to be giving in to pessimism for want of hope and any future prospects. And the Church also needs it at this wonderful stage of history, like a new spring, that it is experiencing.

The charming figure of Pope Francis is offering us a clear and fascinating testimony of what it means to be someone led by the Spirit, precisely because of his ability to look at the world through God's eyes, return to the Gospel without gloss, discern with an exemplary inner freedom and evangelical poverty that allows him to move ahead courageously and with conviction, neither afraid nor remaining silent, not stooping to compromise in order to gain the world's respect and appreciation. He is very well aware that his mission is to confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith and to re-energise the Church.

It is obvious that such a clear attitude and approach will provoke resistance and misunderstanding in those who for one or other reason – viewpoints, sensitivities, self-interests –do not wish to be disturbed by his evangelical genuineness and the missionary impulse that guides his ministry.

Pope Francis' evangelical attitude, his positive view of the world, his notion of the Church as the People of God en route in the world to the geographical, cultural and existential peripheries; his way of interpreting authority as service, stripped of power, wealth and privilege, has emphasised two great reasons for hope. The first is that even societies which seem to be strongly secularised or belong to other religions are sensitive to a special kind of language: the culture of dialogue and encounter, respect for differences, defence of the poor, the marginalised and excluded.

The second is that his message is accompanied by a powerful witness of material poverty, humility of spirit, simplicity of life, genuineness. Thus the Pope's behaviour and words become a powerful and unique proclamation; this is the greatest value of the Church in the public forum. Today the successor Peter presents as a great leader full of humanity and strong in faith, able to effectively tackle the secular view of today's world.

If Pope Francis appears to us to be a concrete model to follow, the Word of God we have just heard offers us a spiritual process as disciples and apostles, offering us everything we need for us too to become new human beings, enriched by the Spirit of Jesus, capable of allowing ourselves to be led by Him.

The account in the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the Twelve, with the group of the Disciples along with Mary and some other women, were gathered, as they were in the habit of doing, in the Upper Room. Here is the way to await the Spirit: with Mary, sharing prayer which strengthens communion of life!

Inside the Upper Room the disciples experience a real earthquake, and while it is essentially something inward, it visibly involves them all, along with the place they are gathered in. They saw that "Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability". For all of them it was a profoundly life-changing experience: the outpouring of the Spirit had filled their hearts with fire and an inexplicable ability to communicate with everyone. This is what I would like to happen to us in this General Chapter: a powerful movement of the Holy Spirit which profoundly alters our lives leading us to the freshness and authenticity of the Gospel and able to transform us into ardent missionaries of the young.

That community needed Pentecost, an event which would deeply move the hearts of each of them. An earthquake that would bring down their inner resistance and make room for God's novelty, because the Spirit brings novelty. Actually, a powerful energy enveloped the disciples and a kind of fire burned within them; fear collapsed and gave way to courage. Indifference gave way to compassion, narrow-mindedness was broken open by a powerful need to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, selfishness was replaced by love. This was the first Pentecost; with the Spirit indwelling, the Church began its journey through history.

The inner earthquake which had altered the hearts and lives of the disciples could not but have had an impact beyond the Upper Room.

The long and detailed list of peoples implies the whole world is outside their door. So, while the disciples were speaking, everyone who was listening understood them in their own language, because the Spirit is the only one who brings about both unity and diversity and communion thanks to the inculturation of the one and only Gospel. We could say that after the transformation of the disciples, this is the second miracle of Pentecost, communion in diversity. And for a worldwide Congregation like ours, this is something that offers us great consolation. It invites us to appreciate the diversity of race, language, culture, viewpoint, and bring them to converge on the unity of the one charism and Gospel project of life experienced and inculturated in the countries where we are called to make Don Bosco present.

From that day on the Spirit of the Lord began to overcome the limitations that seemed insuperable; these are the limitations they seem to weigh heavily on people, tying them to place, family, their little context of birth and upbringing. And it particularly puts an end to the unchallenged domination of the logic of Babel in human affairs. This ancient account describes to us the ordinary existence of people on earth, often divided and fighting amongst themselves and tends to emphasise more what divides than what unites us. Everyone turns to his own interests, without looking to the common good.

Pentecost puts an end to this Babel of men struggling on their own behalf alone. The Holy Spirit poured out into the hearts of the disciples begins a new time, a time of communion and fellowship. It is a time that does not arise from humankind, although it involves it. Nor is it a result of their efforts, despite them wanting it. It is a time that comes from on high, from God. A kairòs, a gift of Grace. Tongues of fire came down from heaven and rested on the heads of each one there: it was the fire of love that burns away any hardness and alienation; it was the tongue of the Gospel which broached the boundaries set up by mankind and touched their hearts so they would be open to God and to others.

The miracle of communion begins right there at Pentecost, in the Upper Room and outside its doors. It is here - between the Upper Room and the plaza which is the world - that the evangelising and missionary Church has its beginning: the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, overcome their timidity and begin to evangelise.

Today too, dear confreres, the Holy Spirit is guiding us towards “all the truth”, and will personally and pastorally convert us, fill us with fire, give us the awaited radical Gospel touch and set us on the way, filled with joy, to the real peripheries where young people live. The world needs to be awakened once more. This is the task of Consecrated life. We will do so by living as credible witnesses of Christ and the Gospel, committed to building up the Kingdom in communion with the Church. Let us then allow ourselves to be guided by God's will, and let us welcome his Spirit.

It is enough for us to listen to the exhortation which the Apostle Paul addresses to us in his Letter to the Galatians, to "live by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh…Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these". And he adds: "The fruit of the Spirit instead is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”. The whole world needs these fruits. Our communities and our dear young people are awaiting people who are made fruitful by the Spirit. This is our personal task and the task of the Congregation; this is also the hope I have for all of you today at the opening of GC27.

May Mary, who is an expert in welcoming the Spirit in order to bring God's plan into reality, guide us and accompany us always on our journey of Gospel renewal.

Salesianum, 3 March 2014

Pascual Chávez V. - sdb