ENG 24 aprile 2017

The Community that sings the Magnificat (62)

“I sing the marvels of My Lord”

In Mornese’s first Community we can hear the sweet musical notes of the Magnificat that showed forth in their daily life for it was filled with joy and charity towards all those who lived in or who visited their House.

It was a Magnificat which perpetuated Mary’s sentiments and attitudes: joyous humility, gratitude, a strong faith which was, at the same time, filled with awe and wonder at the marvels which God accomplished in her life.  We are invited to listen to and identify each of these musical notes with greater calm so we may sing and dance our own Magnificat in union with Mary and with our Community.

The first note is that of Mary’s joyous humility.  She is a woman who realizes that she is a servant and who offers everything to her Lord.  This helps us understand the Mystery of Jesus better – He who though rich made Himself poor so as to be able to enrich us with His poverty.

The second note is the one of her gratitude to God: Mary never ceases to thank God for all that is happening in her life, enabling her to see, even in others, the marvels that God works in their lives.

Mary knows without a doubt that she is totally loved just as she is, in her fragility and in her littleness.  Because of this, she succeeds in loving and in setting out on a journey to help others who are in need…  Mary believed in love and became the bearer of love.  She experienced love as mercy and this rendered her capable of discovering the delicate touches of love - the notes that silently build fraternal life.

In her song of the Magnificat, she recognizes that future generations will call her blessed because she has taken upon herself, personally, the will of the Father which frees her from every bias and from all conditioning… hers is an attitude which causes her to grow as a woman, as a mother, and as a spouse.

In the Community of Mornese, “The House of the Love of God,” the Magnificat was the mindset lived in daily life.  The first Sisters, together with Mother Mazzarello, lived in a continual process of personal and Community conversion.  In her letters, Mother insisted on humility, on not making peace with one’s defects, and on not looking at appearances.  She constantly invited the Sisters to be happy, to practice charity in freedom, and not to remain indifferent in the face of others’ needs.  Thanks to her profound humility, Mother Mazzarello was able to reach a high level of interior freedom which brought her to create a simple, fraternal, and joy-filled environment.

Today, it is our turn to sing our Magnificat with and like Mary - to be a hymn of gratitude to the Lord for all the marvels that He has accomplished in us and in the entire Salesian Family.  It is to be a humble and joyous hymn to God.  It is our thanksgiving, not only pronounced on our lips but also with our lives, so that we may be builders and of a creative love where others’ needs are concerned, of fraternity, of peace, and of solidarity in our Communities.

LET US  ASK OURSELVES:

Do I feel the need to recognize my weaknesses and fragilities so that they can be transformed by the Lord?

Like Mary, do I recognize the marvels that God does in me and in my Community?

I will write my Community Magnificat