Our annual celebration of the sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday through to Easter Sunday) is not just a recollection of the past; an exercise in memory. It’s a vital way to strengthen our life in Christ today and to plan for tomorrow.

That ‘paschal pattern’ – looking back on history and looking forward to the reinvigoration of mission – was very much part of my recent experience in the US. We Rosminians have been serving in the USA for 160 years. We never have been as large or widespread as many Orders there, but I have no doubt that our humble contribution to the life of the Church in the States has been fruitful and incisive.

Fr. Costa, an Italian, and the first Rosminian to set foot in the United States (in 1864), was described as nothing less than an ‘Apostle of Illinois’. His missionary zeal was exemplary; and many other of our men have toiled over the years in the United Sates with great diligence and with great affection for the people. If Fr. Costa were considered an Apostle of Illinois, I asked myself: why shouldn’t our brothers currently in the States aim to be ‘Apostles of Florida’ for today?

Our Works in the USA

What impressed me about our parishes in the USA is the strong sense of ecclesial community, the unity of the families, the active pastoral care and generous outreach programmes, the many and varied parish groups, and the warmth of the hispanic families etc. We also are blessed with vibrant and growing groups of the Ascribed (our lay members of the Rosminian Family).

It struck me that such vitality requires a selfless ministry from our men. Discernment guides us to avoid any kind of ‘maintenance ministry’ and instead to respond to Jesus’ call today for missionary disciples of love: for his Church, for his parishes, for his people – not “mine” but “his”. So I was delighted to see first-hand how our mission in the US is growing: parishes, prison chaplaincy, and more recently school teaching too. This is an encouraging sign of our readiness to respond to the widening calls for our Rosminian ministry of universal charity. Our growing appreciation of Father Founder’s vision of a Religious Family – with strong collaboration with laity – also helps us to remain flexible and responsive to new pastoral needs and situations.

Charism, Identity, Community and Mission

The Assembly of the US region of the Irish-American Province was a very  important part of my visit to the States.  To spend time together – gathering for Holy Mass, sharing, reflecting and discerning – is vital for our spiritual well-being and for sharpening a renewed sense of mission: “unless the Lord builds the house, we labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1).

In keeping with the ‘paschal pattern’ of revisiting foundations and looking to the future, four foundational elements of our Religious Life – Charism, Identity, Community and Mission – were discussed at length. Each element is inseparable from the other three. Sometimes we can fall into a pattern of focusing only on one, but the strengths and weaknesses of each of these aspects of our life is reflected in the others too.

Our strength for mission has its foundation in our community life – spiritual, fraternal, formational, and social too. Without this, we can very quickly lose our identity: our charism becomes vague or swamped by other factors, and our mission of universal charity can become restricted, or lost, in bureaucracy and managerial approaches to pastoral care. 

Yes, we all need to refresh the foundations of our Religious Life, and perhaps this is particularly the case where our communities are small.  If our specific Charism is not shaping our works, we are soon reduced to following our individual wishes or interests, or following the particular wishes or interests of someone else.  It is of great benefit then to ask ourselves: who do people say I am? Who do people say we Rosminians are? (cf. Matthew 16;15).

Companions in Charity – monthly gatherings, the interior life, and our mutual care:

Our very existence as Rosminians depends not upon our works, but upon our commitment to live the Lord’s love together. Our life is ordered to “mutual help and encouragement”. It is this care for each other that helps us to grow in holiness or perfection and thus grow in our “ardent desire to live as disciples of Jesus” (Constitutions, 2). Elsewhere in the Constitutions, Rosmini puts it in this simple yet beautiful way: let’s live as ‘companions in charity’ (cf. Constitutions 551).

I was therefore encouraged by the decision made at the Assembly to reignite our monthly regional gatherings. This commitment to each other bears much fruit: for the priests themselves, for anyone newly assigned to the region, for scholastics who may be assigned to the USA for pastoral placement, for candidates to the Order, and of course indirectly to all those families and individuals we serve. It is the spirit of the Order, a spirit of encouragement and care among us, that our people notice and relish. 

Pastoral Ministry of Vocations Promotion

No Assembly is complete without serious attention to the question of Vocations. It is indeed a priority commitment of the universal Church to accompany young people in discerning their future and to guide their emerging inclinations of vocation to mission, to consecrated life, to life understood as a vocation to holiness. I strongly believe that we – the Institute of Charity – must radically enliven our contribution to this duty (cf 2023 Major Superiors Meeting document, no. 39).

Pope Francis encourages us very clearly in this direction: “If we are indeed convinced that the Holy Spirit continues to inspire vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, we can once more ‘cast out the nets’ in the Lord’s name, with complete confidence. We can dare, as we should, to tell each young person to ask whether this is the path that they are meant to follow” (Christus vivit, 274.)

I am convinced that Vocations exist within our parishes in Florida and beyond. It is our duty, for the Church and for society, to proclaim our life and humbly yet diligently identify and accompany those individuals whom the Lord is calling.  There are many opportunities we can take to refer to Rosmini, and to the life and work of the Institute, in homilies, in our parish bulletins and websites, and when visiting families etc.

During the Assembly, our priests themselves identified many attractive distinguishing aspects of our Rosminian life: we are few in number yet we try to give our all (universal love; the story of the widow’s mite), we are organized into Provinces yet can be called to serve in any part of the world (indifference/availability; second maxim), our charism is appealing and engaging when explained, we complement diocesan life we never compete with it, we are small yet strong, we really know each other well, and we feel we are a Family etc. 

May everyone in the Rosminian Family add our Alleluia to Fr Bibin’s catchphrase: ‘each one catch one’ in the USA! 

Conclusion

Thanks for reading so far! I hope you are catching a glimpse of ‘who’ and ‘how’ we are, as we try to grow in the holiness of love. 

I was heartening to experience a very evident spirit of appreciation and joy among the parishioners and friends of our Rosminian Family in the US. Something of our men is reflected in the faces of the individuals and families they serve. This is truly a gift; a gift which has been borne of the loving commitment to our Institute and our call to serve through humility, availability, and charity; a gift which gives us confidence to move ahead in hope; a gift for which we can all give thanks to the Lord.

Fr Joe, the Provincial of the Irish-American Province, and Fr Rick, as Provost in USA, I thank in particular for their organization of our most fruitful time together, including the initial participation in the inspiring Los Angeles Archdiocese Education Congress. I also thank all the brethren for their generous hospitality and lively participation at our Assembly. Fr Paul, I am sorry was ill with Covid during our Assembly but he was included in our Masses and prayers. Fr Gordon, I thank for his decades of dedicated service and for his current ministry of prayer and humor in his senior years. Many thanks also to the various parish staff and parishioners whose outstanding generosity and hospitality were much appreciated by us all.  

Anyone reading this who would like to explore a Vocation with us, welcome, and please feel free to contact:  Fr Rick Pilger: pastor@bscchurch.com

Yours in the light of the Risen Lord,

Marco Tanghetti IC

Superior General.

Octave of Easter 2024