XIII Edition
March 2001
Heart to heart
"Go
Out Into the Deep"
EDITORIAL Mother Adela Galindo,
Foundress, SCTJM
© Only for
personal use
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In the Apostolic Letter at the closing of the
New Year, “Novo Millennio Ineunte” (At the
beginning of a New Millennium), His
Holiness, John Paul II tells us in his first
lines that, after having lived such an intense
experience of grace and mercy like the Jubilee
Year, we now find resounding in our hearts the
words of Jesus which invite the Apostle Peter to
“go out into the deep” in order to catch fish.
Peter and the other apostles confided in the
word of Christ and let down their nets. “And
having done so, they caught an enormous amount
of fish” (Luke 5, 4).
The Holy Father has told us repeatedly that the
Jubilee Year was one of abundant grace, mercy
and salvation, that Christ has opened His Heart
wide in order to pour forth abundantly graces of
salvation upon the Church and upon humanity. In
this Apostolic Letter he clearly reveals his
sentiment: “It is impossible to measure the
effusion of grace which, all throughout the
year, has touched conscience. Clearly a river of
living water, that flows constantly from the
Lamb, has been poured upon the Church. It is the
water of the Holy Spirit which quenches our
thirst and renews us…. That is why I feel the
obligation of directing myself to you. What has
occurred requires that we consider it and, also,
in a certain sense, that we interpret it, so as
to hear what the Holy Spirit, throughout this
year, has said and says to the Church” (cf.
1-2).
Yes, my brothers and sisters, what has occurred
demands a profound time of prayer and serious
reflection from each one of us, so that we can
consider what the Holy Spirit has told us and
poured forth in such a particular and plentiful
manner in this Jubilee Year.
What has the Holy Spirit done and said at the
beginning of this new millennium? He said: “Go
out into the deep.” The hour has come to let
down the nets and to take in a great multitude
of fish! Upon the Church a river of living water
has been poured, and this water bathes,
cleanses, and heals all impurity and has the
life-giving strength that makes all it touches
fertile. Is this not the prophecy of Ezekiel 47,
8-12?
"These waters go out toward the eastern region
and go down into the sea, being made to flow
into the sea, and the waters of the sea become
fresh. It will come about that every living
creature which swarms in every place where the
river goes will live. And there will be very
many fish, for these waters go there and the
others become fresh; so everything will live
where the river goes. And it will come about
that. By the river on its bank, on one side and
on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for
food, their leaves will not wither and their
fruit will not fail. They will bear every month
because their water flows from the sanctuary,
and their fruit will be for food and their
leaves for healing" (cf. 47:8-12).
The Pierced Heart of Jesus has opened itself
wide in order to pour forth His Blood and His
Water. Grace has already been poured out; now it
is only necessary to cooperate actively in the
transformation of our hearts in order to live an
authentic life of holiness and to go forward in
mission with generosity and ardor.
I believe that Holiness and Mission will be the
oars Peter’s ship will use to go out into the
deep to take in the miraculous catch of fish.
Both, moving harmoniously, will lead the ship
forward. Both will enable the Church to shine in
the world as a torch of faith, hope and love.
Both will open new paths through which the
Church will go forward to encounter man, to
encounter hearts that are restless and often
disoriented, to encounter his needs, his
desires, his struggles, his doubts and fears.
Both oars ought to direct the ship of the Church
to the Third Millennium with confidence,
determination and promptness amidst the great
waves that threaten it.
We have seen a great river being poured upon the
Church. The Holy Spirit has come upon the Church
as it did in Pentecost in order to change hearts
of stone into hearts of flesh, in order to
transform lives, to heal our blindness, to free
the oppressed and to lift up the paralytic. The
Holy Spirit has come upon us as in Pentecost in
order to distribute charisms, to anoint with
power, to give joy and enthusiasm for the
Gospel, to remove fear of the world’s
persecution, and to usher us forward with a new
love and a new ardor in our mission of
evangelization. The Spirit has come upon us to
lead us to a life of holiness and to usher us
forward on our mission.
The hour has come to go out into the deep. The
hour has come and we need to be punctual. The
Church as a whole and each one of us
individually have received this call at the
beginning of the Third Millennium. We have to
row, to let down the nets and to take in the
many fish and nourish them with the life and
truth of Christ. None of us can feel that we are
exempt from this. On the contrary, the Captain
of this ship is Peter, the Holy Father, but the
oars are moved by all the members of the Church.
To conclude I wish to share with you a passage
of Scripture that I feel confirms our
responsibility:
“This people says: ‘Not now has the time come to
rebuild the house of the LORD’…Is it time for
you to dwell in your own paneled houses, while
this house lies in ruins?...Consider your ways!
You have sown much, but have brought in
little…he who earned wages earned them for a bag
with holes in it. Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country;
bring timber, and build the house That I may
take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says
the LORD” (Haggai 1, 2-8).
In the Love of the Pierced Hearts,
Mother Adela, SCTJM
Foundress
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