Messaggio della Consigliera per le Missioni _ marzo 2021 eng

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Rome, 14 March 2021
“On the third day there was a wedding
in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of
Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples
were also invited to the wedding. When the
wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him,
‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her,
‘Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come’.” (John 2: 1-4)
Dearest Sisters,
An affectionate greeting together with a
HUGE HUGE wish for serenity and health, for
each of you, for your educating communities,
for your families!
In the preceding messages, we let
ourselves be questioned by the first verses of
the Wedding of Cana, contemplating the
heart of Mary, Mother who is always present,
and her attentive, discrete, and delicate gaze. Mirroring ourselves in her heart and placing our gaze
in hers, we have surely strengthened and made grow in us the desire to be communities that
generate life in the heart of contemporaneity.
During this month of March, I would like to invite you to read, meditate, and contemplate
the passage of John 2: 5-8. “His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now there
were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty
gallons. Jesus told them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ So they filled them to the brim. Then he told
them, ‘Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.’ So they took it.”
I consider these verses to be the heart of the story of the Wedding at Cana. There are many
aspects for our reflection: Mary’s proactive presence; the servants who listen and take the
suggestion of the Mother of Jesus; the jars that are there but are empty; Jesus, the Son who listens
to His mother and tells the servants what to do; the jars that let themselves be filled…; the miracle
of the water transformed into wine; the servants who promptly bring that mysterious gift to the
headwaiter…
Meanwhile, I would like to add and propose another aspect. Mary is present at the Wedding
not only with her heart and her gaze, she is also present with her word. It is a word that arouses
trust, that invites opening the mind to the impossible, that warms and revives hope, that restores the
joy of the feast even when the feast of life is threatened and seems no longer to make sense.
“Do whatever he tells you.” These are the words Mary addresses to the servants
immediately after her dialogue with Jesus, when she had alerted Him “They have no wine.” In the
four Gospels, Mary is a woman of few words, however her words are efficacious, generate the
miracle, reach the heart, descend like the rain and snow… that do not return without having their
effect, without doing what the Father desires, and without having accomplished what is in God’s
plan (cf. Isaiah, 55: 10-11).

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“Do whatever he tells you.” The word of Mary is the word of a mother who discretely
involves her son Jesus and discretely anticipates the miracle for her other ‘children’, the spouses.
The word of Mary is a word that encourages obedience because She is the first to obey. “Behold, I
am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
Dearest sisters, the few words of Mary that the Scriptures have handed down help us to
understand the intensity with which she lived them! Her words at the moment of the Annunciation
can be summed up in a single word: “Fiat”. Her canticle of praise, when she visits her cousin
Elizabeth, is summed up in one powerful word: “Magnificat”. Let us think of her words when she,
with Joseph, finds Jesus among the doctors: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I
have been looking for you with great anxiety.” A word that leads to silence and she lets herself be
inhabited by the Word: “His mother kept all these things in her heart.”
Let us also remember the words that Mary did not say… the words we know nothing
about! At the time of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem; in the presentation of the child in the Temple, in the
encounter with Simeon and Anna; during the flight into Egypt; when Jesus preaches, heals, works
miracles among the crowds… “Then His mother and His brothers came, and while standing outside
they sent word to Him, calling for Him”; when, at the foot of the cross, she receives the mandate of
universal motherhood from Jesus: “Woman, behold your son!”
With this message, I express the hope that we can allow ourselves to be summoned and
provoked by Mary’s words: “Do whatever he tells you”. Let her words be the sure guide to our poor
words. We well know that for a missionary, the word is a special instrument of evangelization, but
the instrument par excellence is the Word, with a capital W. Pope Francis in an interview with
Gianni Valente said, “The mission is to let the Holy Spirit guide you: let Him be the one who urges
you to proclaim Christ. With testimony, with the martyrdom of every day. And if necessary, even
with words.”
In a world ‘crowded’ with words, full of noise, may Mary’s invitation be an opportunity for
each of us to remain at her school, to learn to listen to her Son and to give voice, space, and life to
the Word: “And the Word became flesh...”
In this special ‘Year of St. Joseph’ I wish you to live and celebrate with hope both the
Solemnity of the Patron of the Universal Church and of our Institute, and that of the Annunciation
of the Lord. I ask you for special prayers for the 9 new missionaries who, on 15-25 March, will
make the discernment in view of their destination. I entrust this intention to you with much joy and
gratitude.
In communion of reciprocal prayer, a strong sisterly embrace,
Sr. Alaide Deretti
Councilor for the Missions