he
beatification is an ecclesial event because it is a sign that the church in its
pilgrimage is moving towards God’s perfection.
It is not easy to reach such a perfection, but a few of the faithful have
witnessed the love of God to the point that the church presents them as models
of Christian life.
So our founder is one of those faithful.
In the Decree on the missionary activity of the church it is said that “the pilgrim church is missionary by its very nature;” this means that all the people of God re called to become missionaries and to witness the love of God to all nations.
The beatification of our founder is deeply rooted in the nature of the church. Guido Maria Conforti understood clearly the mission of the church and consequently his role of bishop in the catholic church. Today we can notice that many bishops are living in a kind of “ghetto” preoccupied to solve the problems within their diocese; so, Guido Maria Conforti’s life should help them to understand their mission and to avoid any selfishness…
We know that over the centuries there were many conflicts between local clergy and missionary orders. Unfortunately, this conflict is not over yet; there still exists a kind of “conflict-misunderstanding mentality,” which is not exteriorized. What might be the reasons?
On the one hand, the missionary congregations appear very powerful to the point that they might manifest their independence from the Ordinary. On the other hand, there seems to be a misunderstanding about the role of missionaries. We often hear people saying “missionaries are coming to build the church, to set up a health center…” Does the concept “building the church” mean to construct a large edifice or to build a viable Christian community? I am strongly convinced that some bishops fall into the same trap: the presence of missionaries becomes a way of getting some financial resources into the diocese. You will agree with me that this attitude is not evangelical. Sooner or later it creates an open conflict which may generate many consequences.
The field of vocational conscientization seems to create also some problems; sometimes the missionary vocation is completely ignored as an alternative for young people in search of their vocation. Formation personnel just present the vocation of the diocesan priest because the local church needs to increase its clergy. Well, it is a good reason, nevertheless, it should not prevent the local church from promoting other ways of serving the church (providing that congregations working in the diocese are ready to welcome local vocations).
I think that our founder had a great personality because he succeeded in combining two goals without neglecting any dimension. Guido Maria Conforti is a gift for the church which aims to become a real family of God in which all the people feel at home: the local clergy, missionaries, and the laity…
I would like to thank the Lord for the miracle which allows us to celebrate this beatification; it happened in Burundi, a country where the situation is becoming more and more desperate: ethnic division, violence, killings… Our confreres are still working in Burundi and in many other areas where there is no peace and security. May the beatification of our founder comfort their efforts and give them courage to witness to the love of God and to become reconciliators of the people.
May Blessed Guido Maria Conforti intercede for us poor sinners so that the Lord may transform our hearts of stone into flesh-hearts and help us to commit ourselves to build a world of peace, justice, love, a world of brothers and sisters.
(From Xaverian News)