Servants of Charity

Dear Guanellian Family,

The month of September invites us to contemplate the heart of our Guanellian vocation through three profound signs of faith: the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and the witness of Don Armando Budino (1913–1993), former Superior General of the Servants of Charity. From Mary, the Mother who stood beneath the Cross, and from the faithful witness of Don Armando, we are invited to rediscover what our wounded world needs most today,

 “THE WORLD NEEDS A MOTHER.” 

Who Is a Mother?

A mother is not adequately understood through a definition but through experience: in her embrace, sacrifices, hidden tears, sleepless nights, silent prayers and the joy of seeing her children grow. Motherhood is love, sacrifice, patience, protection, forgiveness, hope and self-giving. Behind many beautiful lives, strong families and generous vocations stands the silent and often unseen love of a mother.

The First School of Love

Before we understood the word love, we experienced it through our mother. Before we learned to pray, someone prayed for us. A mother is our first school of love. True maternal love does not teach hatred, violence, or revenge. A mother desires life and goodness for her child, and because she knows the value of her own child, she can understand the value of another mother's child. Perhaps this is why the world so desperately needs a mother's heart. We have extraordinary technology, knowledge, wealth, and power, yet humanity still struggles to live the simplest lesson we learned at home: love one another.

If we asked our mothers, “What is your dream for me?”, would they ever answer, “I want you to hate, destroy or make another mother weep”? No. Their dream is simple: Live well. Love. Be good. Be happy. Do good to others. What might happen if humanity listened again to the wisdom of its mothers? Perhaps there would be more peace, forgiveness, joy, and charity.

Mary: Mother of Humanity

There is no substitute for our own mother. Yet, in His loving Providence, God gave humanity a Mother who belongs to us all: the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary's motherhood began with her humble

“Yes to the End.” 

She loved when she understood and when she did not understand; when her Son was welcomed and when He was rejected; when He was praised and when He was mocked. At Calvary, Mary stood beneath the Cross. Her suffering could have become hatred, but she allowed it to become love. Her breath became prayer. Her tears became compassion. Her silence became forgiveness. Her suffering became an offering. Her presence became hope. At the very place where humanity revealed its capacity for cruelty, Mary revealed the greater strength of the human heart: the capacity to continue loving. That is motherhood at its highest.

The World Needs a Mother

Today, the world does not need more hatred to defeat hatred, nor revenge to answer revenge. The world needs a Mother. It needs Mary's heart, a heart that remains tender without becoming weak, that suffers without learning hatred, that is wounded without becoming a weapon, and that stands beside humanity's crosses without losing hope. Mary does not invite us merely to admire her but to imitate her. If families learned her tenderness, communities her patience, leaders her compassion, nations her respect for life, and each of us her capacity to forgive and love, many wounds of our world could begin to heal. Perhaps peace begins not first at negotiating tables, but at a mother's knee, in a mother's embrace, through a mother's prayer, and within a heart that has learned to love. Let us therefore remember our own mothers with gratitude. Let us cherish their sacrifices and listen again to the values they planted within us. And above all, let us return to Mary, Mother of Jesus and Mother of humanity, asking her to teach us tenderness, compassion, obedience, patience, forgiveness and love.

As we conclude, I extend my prayerful greetings to all our confreres and Guanellian Sisters gathered in Italy for formation and for a deeper renewal of our Guanellian charism. Let us continue to pray for our Superior General, entrusting his health and speedy recovery to the loving Providence of God.

I also kindly ask every community for full cooperation with the Economy Office regarding the latest requests and the forthcoming visit of the Economy Office team. In the midst of the challenges and difficulties we face, let us remain united, transparent, responsible, and faithful to our mission. May Divine Providence guide us, strengthen our communion, and help us to live our Guanellian charism with renewed faith, charity and hope.

Read about these events and more in the latest issue of NEWS and VIEWS.

Fr. Gnanaraj, SdC

Provincial Superior