Never to deviate from the primitive spirit of our founder…….
Advent is a time of waiting with hope and joy for the coming of Jesus, Wisdom Incarnate. We began this four-week journey to prepare our hearts and minds in order to celebrate the coming of Jesus and also to welcome in the New Year 2023, full of joy and hope.
Marie-Louise, having responded to the call of God and trusting the words of Montfort, embarked on a journey of humility, detachment and union with her sisters. Captivated by Christ Wisdom she surrendered everything to God in humble beginnings, in the footsteps of Montfort, being one with the poor.
Humility: A call to empty oneself to be loved and to love
Following Jesus Wisdom, whom Marie-Louise loved with all her heart, led her to live in humility with and among the poor with a vision to continue the good work of Montfort. A life lived in total surrender transformed Marie-Louise with an ardent desire to do everything with love. As we began this Advent journey, with humility like Marie-Louise, let us enter into the temple of our being to prepare a place for Incarnate Wisdom.
Loved and healed, let us be the star of today that shines and spreads the love of Incarnate Wisdom in today’s world.
Detachment: A call to newness
Marie-Louise firmly believed that if the Congregation were to take root she had to let go of the known and leave for the unknown. But by that time she was deeply rooted in Wisdom and nothing could shake her faith and commitment. Montfort had already taught her to trust and have patience for the road that she had chosen was not going to be easy. It is through daily detachments that she grew closer to God and saw the face of Wisdom in the poor, the needy and in the beauty of creation. By her deep desire to welcome Jesus, Marie-Louise opened the temple of her being to make an oratory in her heart as a dwelling place for Jesus, Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom.
What am I to let go of in order to create an oratory in my heart to welcome Jesus so that the journey of advent bear fruits in and through me?
Union with one another: An invitation to embrace a Synodal journey with one another
I am reminded of a song: ‘No one can live as an island, journeying through life alone’. More than ever today, we need each other, and we need to take care of our “common home”. Isn’t it this union that Marie-Louise wished for the Daughters of Wisdom so that our lives witness unity and continue to reveal Wisdom’s love for humanity? The journey of Advent is once again a time to grow deeper into our spirituality and incarnate the “Love of Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom” in today’s world.
May the creative spirit of Wisdom instill in us a restlessness until we respond to be the face of Wisdom in the present reality of our Congregation. With Montfort and Marie-Louise and all those who journeyed before us, let us continue to live our mission in today’s world, by incarnating the gentleness and compassion of Wisdom in our day to day life.
I wish you all a very joy filled Christmas and a New Year full of hope and courage to journey to the unknown and continue to bear much fruits that will last.
