ADVENT LETTER 2013 BROTHER RESPONSIBLE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY IESUS CARITAS
\nDear brothers,
\nwhen you have this letter in your hands we will be celebrating
\nthe anniversary of the Easter of Brother Charles, and also the beginning of Advent, or if not we will have already celebrated them. The current importance of his message for our Church today is indisputable. It is not just a spiritual message, a way of living ones faith: it is a way of living. It is to live Nazareth with believers or non-believers, in one\u2019s own culture or
\nsharing in a totally different culture, it is to be the
\npresence of the living Jesus not so much in religious
\nsigns, but rather one\u2019s closeness to people while not
\nbeing anyone special. Coinciding with the charism of
\nBrother Charles, Pope Francis tells us we must go to the
\noutskirts, where one does not hear God spoken of,
\nwhere the most abandoned are found, who do not even
\nexpress a desire to know God, or live a faith in religions
\nvery different from our own, or where the god of money
\nimposes its own norms and its own \u201cliturgy\u201d. Each one of us knows what these outskirts are. The language and witness of the Pope truly reach the poor, and we know that it makes many ecclesiastics and powerful people uncomfortable. Others consider him a demagogue and a populist… Reforms do not always appeal to all, because they take us out of our comfort zones or where we have installed ourselves. It is a call to take stock of ourselves if we wish to be reformed, recycled, converted, and discover resistences within ourselves. It is to return to Nazareth, to become a pilgrim, while still living in the same house…
\nWe are following with concern the situation of brothers facing problems in their countries for a variety of reasons: In the Philippines, Central African Republic and Honduras… We are praying for them and their people.
\nIn June I took part with the fraternity of Argentina in their retreat; in October I was with the brothers in Chile. These Latin brothers are \u201cbravos\u201d and fighters. They are prepared to collaborate with hope and joy in the preparation of the next Panamerican Assembly, due to take place, perhaps, in 2015. In January 2014 I will meet the Mexican fraternity in their annual retreat, and this will be an interesting moment to strengthen our bonds as brothers. The Italian fraterntiy received me as a pilgrim at their assembly in Loreto, Ancona in November, and I was able to share their lived experiences, dreams, concerns: the experience of some older brothers who have been involved from the beginning of the fraternity, and who
\nrepresented for me a lesson in humility and wisdom.
\n\ufffc\ufffc
\n\ufffc\ufffc\ufffc\ufffc\ufffc\ufffc\ufffcWhat a suitable moment this Advent to set aside one or more days in the Desert, in an attitude of listening, giving time to the Lord in solitude, awaiting Him, rather than our interior \u2018shows\u2019. Giovanni ZANINELLI, a brother of the Italian fraternity, shared this thought of his with me after the Day in the Desert in Loreto, during the gathering: \u201cThe silence was a place for God, but I could not hear His voice. I seemed to feel a sense of emptiness in my spirit, but at the same time one of calm and serenity: a sign
\nof the closeness of God, of being in his presence.
\nGod is probably speaking in this way. When God
\ndoes not speak it is because we do not give him a
\nchance to speak. We fill the whole time with our
\npetitions and preoccupations. We speak and do
\nnot allow [Him] to speak. Then you recall Samuel\u2019s
\nlittle prayer: \u2018Speak, Lord, your servant is listening\u2019.
\nGod does not speak because we do not know how to await and trust in His word\u201d.
\nThe Desert is essential for our interior life and for the life of the fraternity. The Desert and Adoration cause us to grow in friendship with Jesus and with others. A fraternity of friend-brothers is a small cenacle where we meet not only to pray but also to review our lives and allow others read our hearts as a contemplative moment.
\nThe last weekend of November we celebrated the meeting of the Charles de FOUCAULD Family of Andaluc\u00eda and Murcia, in Spain and Marc HAYET, who was prior of the Little Brothers of Jesus, accompanied us with the theme, \u201cTo make oneself small in order to make oneself a brother\u201c. The experience of the fraternities, meeting different people, the prayer-sharing, the celebration and the word, and listening to Marc, helped us to deepen the
\nspirituality, the message, the options and the future vision of Brother Charles. The testimony of a Muslim workmate especially left an impression on us: \u201cIf I wish to forgive, I must change all my interior rules\u201d. That\u2019s that…
\nA Holy Advent full of vitality to all! A joyful and fraternal Christmas to all! May our lives make others happy. This is my hearts desire that goes with a hug for each one of you.
\nAurelio SANZ BAEZA, brother responsible Per\u00edn, Cartagena, Murcia, Spain, 26th November 2013
\n(Translation of Liam \u00d3 CU\u00cdV; thank you, Liam)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADVENT LETTER 2013 BROTHER RESPONSIBLE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY IESUS CARITAS Dear brothers, when you have this letter in your hands we will be celebrating the anniversary of the Easter of Brother Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aurelio-letters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232\/revisions\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iesuscaritas.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}