Conforti was a man who knew how to listen to the voice of God and dedicated his life to working for Jesus’s project: “that they may all be one, as You, Father, and I are one” (Jn 17:21). He understood that this dream must be built through fraternal love: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34).
Saint Guido made this plan of salvation his own by founding the Xaverian Missionaries Institute, because for him, the missionary is “the most beautiful and sublime expression of any ideal.” A missionary not only extends the Kingdom of God but also preaches true universal brotherhood, striving to “make the world one family in Christ” (PdP, 1991, p.160).
For this purpose, he recommended mutual respect and love, as well as fraternal correction and charity. On May 4, 1921, in a conference with the novices, he told them, “Love one another as brothers and respect one another as princes.” ErmannoZulian tells us in his book that, to nurture this spirit of family, Conforti would often repeat this same phrase, urging the young men to live it and giving them a personal example (Ferraro, 1974, p.98).
We can understand the term “prince” not as a nobleman of royal blood, but as someone precious and important—the first and most essential place where we show our love and respect for God: our neighbor.
Saint Guido teaches that the key to living true fraternity is Love—“the password that contains the whole practical program of our Christian life” (PdP, 1991, p.70). He discovered this in the contemplation of the Crucifix, which revealed to him the most sublime way to love: “I looked at Him, and He looked at me; it seemed that He was telling me so many things” (Ferraro, 1974, p.21).
For this reason, our Missionary Institute is not just an organizational structure for mission work, but a great religious family where we share everything—our faith, apostolic work, hopes, joys, worries, and both spiritual and material goods (C 35).
The family spirit helps us realize that we are children of the same Father, who is God, and also of a father who is Conforti, who gathered us into a missionary family—our “mother”—to help us live as true brothers (CT 10).Thank you, Saint Guido, for this family and for saying yes to the mission God entrusted to you. Pray for us, for the Church, and for all humanity, so that we may all be one in Christ.
Bibliography:
- Ferraro, J. (1974). La gloria de Casalora. EDIXA, México.
- Palabra del Padre, Exhortaciones y pensamientos de Mons. G. M. Conforti a sus hijos. Traductor José de Jesús López López. Compilador P. Tiberio M. Munari. EDIXA, México, 1991.
- C – CostituzioniSaveriani
- LT – LetteraTestamento
