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(Letter from the Prelate: August 2013)

My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!

Merely mentioning the month of August spontaneously calls to mind the treasure that our

Mother is, since she is the “type” of the Church. n a special way during the coming wees, let ushave recourse to our "ady so that she o#tain for us from the $oly %rinity a clean life that

facilitates our dealings with the %ruth “in everything and for everything.” May Mary mae us

women and men who have clean souls, who are more loyal to &od' and then we will #e more theChurch, more (pus )ei.

am writing to you from this land of *ra+il where the orld -outh )ay has now ended.

%hese days were spiritually very intense, close to the $oly ather and in the company of #ishops,

priests and millions of faithful who had come to /io de Janeiro. have presented our "ord withyour prayer and your wor, asing that there #e a#undant spiritual and also human fruit #oth in

ourselves and in those we deal with. May the seed of &od that the $oly 0pirit has sown in somany hearts mature for the good of the Church and the whole world.

&od1s gifts were very a#undant last month. t #egan with the pu#lication of the encyclical Lumen Fidei in which 2ope rancis completed the trilogy on the theological virtues that *enedict

34 #egan. invite you to meditate on it slowly, so that our minds are filled with light and our

wills thoroughly moved to mae a more ardent commitment to the new evangeli+ation.

(n the 5th of July, the day the encyclical was pu#lished, the papal approval of the miracleattri#uted to )on Alvaro1s intercession was also announced, which opens the door for his

#eatification. (n the same day, 2ope rancis approved a miracle that will mae possi#le the

canoni+ation of John 2aul . was filled with 6oy at the remara#le coincidence of these two

papal acts on the same day, which see as a manifestation of how “spiritually in tune” were thatgreat 2ope and my #eloved predecessor at the head of the or.

n his encyclical, the 2ope recalls that faith in Jesus Christ and in all that he has revealed to

us has remained intact since apostolic times. “*ut how is this possi#le7 $ow can we #e certain,after all these centuries, that we have encountered the 8real Jesus17”9 %he answer to this uestion,

which many of our contemporaries as, really comes down to one reply: through the Church.

“%he Church, lie every family, passes on to her children the whole store of her memories. *uthow does this come a#out in a way that nothing is lost, #ut rather everything in the patrimony of

faith comes to #e more deeply understood7 t is through the apostolic %radition preserved in the

Church with the assistance of the $oly 0pirit.”;

%his transmission #y the Church, which never stops, is found chiefly in the Creeds and inother documents of the Magisterium that e<pound the doctrine of the faith. %herefore during the

months of the -ear of aith we are striving to go more deeply into the Creed with the help of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church or its Compendium, while also re6oicing that our faith shines

out in the lives of the saints during the course of the liturgical year. %he miracle attri#uted to )onAlvaro1s intercession is another spur to us to put into practice the spirit of (pus )ei, “as old as

9 2ope rancis, =nc. "etter Lumen fidei, June ;>, ;?9@, no. @.

; 2ope rancis, =nc. "etter Lumen fidei, June ;>, ;?9@, no. B?.

9

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the &ospel and also as new as the &ospel ,”@ striving for holiness in ordinary life. %his spirit was

entrusted to 0t. Josemara #y &od so that it would tae shape in his soul and in the souls of many

other people. 0hortly after the news was made pu#lic, suggested to you that we enter moredeeply into )on Alvaro1s holy response: his fidelity to &od, to the Church and to the /oman

2ontiff, and his complete identification with the spirit of the or that he received from 0t.

Josemara and that he continued to hand on to us in its entirety. Dow will pause to consider another characteristic note of the Church: holiness. n order to

help us properly appreciate this reality, *enedict 34 wrote that “one thing that will #e of

decisive importance in this -ear is retracing the history of our faith, mared as it is #y the

unfathoma#le mystery of the interweaving of holiness and sin.”B f we reflect on the holiness ofthe Church, made evident in her teaching, in her institutions, and in countless sons and daughters

throughout the course of history, we will #e moved to a deep thansgiving to the thrice holy

&od, the source of all sanctity, with the reali+ation that we are inserted into this display of the%rinity1s love for us. $ow do we turn to each divine 2erson7 )o we feel the need to distinguish

and love each of them7

hen clarifying the nature of the Church, 4atican Council highlighted three aspects in

which the mystery of the Church is e<pressed more fittingly' namely the 2eople of &od, theMystical *ody of Christ, and the %emple of the $oly 0pirit, which are amply developed in the

Catechism of the Catholic Church.5 n each of them the note of holiness rings out, which, lie the

other notes of the Church, distinguishes it from any human association.

%he name People of God goes #ac to the (ld %estament. -ahweh chose srael as a peopleespecially his own as an announcement and anticipation of the definitive 2eople of &od that

Jesus Christ was going to esta#lish through his sacrifice on the Cross. But you are a chosen race,

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds

of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light .E “Gens sancta, a holy nation,composed of creatures with infirmities. %his apparent contradiction mars an aspect of the

mystery of the Church. %he Church, which is divine, is also human, for it is made up of men, andmen have their defects: Omnes homines terra et cinis Fir 9G:@9H, we men are dust and ashes.”G

%his is a reality that should move us to contrition, to loving sorrow, to reparation, #ut neverto discouragement or pessimism. e must never forget that Jesus himself compared the Church

to a field in which #oth wheat and thistles grow, and to a net that gathers #oth good fish and #ad,

and that their definitive separation will only tae place at the end of the ages. At the same timewe should also reali+e that there is more good than evil in the world, that grace is more powerful

than sin, even though its action may #e less visi#le at times. “*ut it happens that the personal

sanctity of so many faithfulIthen and nowIis not something e<ternally apparent. reuentlywe do not recogni+e the ordinary people, common and holy, who wor and live alongside us.

rom an earthly viewpoint, what stands out most is sin and unfaithfulness: these are more

conspicuous.”> &od wants his daughters and sons in (pus )ei, and many other Christians, to

@ 0t. Josemara, "etter, January >, 9>@;, no. >9.

B *enedict 34, Apostolic "etter Porta fidei, (cto#er 99, ;?99, no. 9@.

5 Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. G99?.

E ! Pet ;:>.

G 0t. Josemara, $omily Loyalty to the Church, June B, 9>G;.

Cf. "t 9@:;B@?' BG5?.

> 0t. Josemara, $omily Loyalty to the Church, June B, 9>G;.

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remind all men and women that they have received “a call to holiness, and they must strive to

correspond to grace and to #e personally holy.”9?

%he Church is the "ystical Body of Christ . “n the course of time, the "ord Jesus forms hisChurch #y means of the sacraments emanating from his plenitude. *y these she maes her

mem#ers participants in the Mystery of the )eath and /esurrection of Christ, in the grace of the

$oly 0pirit who gives her life and movement.”99

%he Church “is therefore holy, though she has sinners in her #osom, #ecause she herself hasno other life #ut that of grace: it is #y living #y her life that her mem#ers are sanctified' it is #y

removing themselves from her life that they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation

of her sanctity . . . 0he suffers and does penance for these offenses, of which she has the power to

heal her children through the #lood of Christ and the gift of the $oly 0pirit.”9;

“irst of all, the #ody reminds us of a living reality. %he Church is not a welfare, cultural or

political association #ut a living #ody that wals and acts in history. And this #ody has a head,

Jesus, who guides, feeds and supports it . . . f one separates the head from the rest of the #ody,

the whole person cannot survive. t is lie this in the Church: we must stay ever more deeply

connected with Jesus. *ut not only that: 6ust as it is important that life #lood flow through the #ody in order to live, so must we allow Jesus to wor in us, let his ord guide us, his presence in

the =ucharist feed us, give us life, his love strengthen our love for our neigh#or. And thisforever! orever and ever! )ear #rothers and sisters,” the $oly ather stressed, “let us stay

united to Jesus, let us trust in him, let us orient our life according to his &ospel, let us #e

nourished #y daily prayer, #y listening to the ord of &od, #y sharing in the 0acraments.”9@

e can see that the human #ody is made up of diverse organs and mem#ers, each having itsown function su#6ect to the governance of the head for the good of the whole organism.

%herefore, #y &od1s will, in the Church “there is variety and a diversity of roles and functions'

there is no flat uniformity, #ut a wealth of gifts that the $oly 0pirit distri#utes. -et, there iscommunion and unity: each one relates to the other and comes together to form a single living

#ody, deeply tied to Christ.”9B %his union with Christ, the invisi#le head of the Church, must ofnecessity #e made manifest in a close union with the visi#le $ead, the /oman 2ontiff, and with

the #ishops in communion with the Apostolic 0ee. "et us pray every day, as 0t. Josemara did,for the unity of everyone in the holy Church.

=ver since ancient times it has #een said that, within the Mystical *ody of Christ, the $oly

0pirit has the same role as the soul in the human #ody. $e gives it life, preserves its unity, and

maes possi#le its growth until it reaches the perfection that &od the ather has desired for it.“%he Church is not a fa#ric woven of things and interests' she is the %emple of the $oly 0pirit,

the %emple in which &od wors, the %emple in which, with the gift of *aptism, each one of us is

a living stone. %his tells us that no one in the Church is useless . . . Do one is secondary.”95

As mem#ers of the same Mystical *ody, we Christians can and should help one another toreach holiness through the communion of saints that we profess in the Apostle1s Creed. *esides

9? #$id%

99 2aul 4, 0olemn profession of faith FCredo of the People of God H, June @?, 9>E, no. 9>.

9; #$id%

9@ 2ope rancis, Address at a general audience, June 9>, ;?9@.

9B #$id%

95 2ope rancis, Address at a general audience, June ;E, ;?9@.

@

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alluding to the fact that all the faithful share in the magnalia &ei, the riches of &od Ffaith,

sacraments, diverse spiritual giftsH, “the e<pression 8communion of saints1 also refers to the

communion #etween holy persons F sanctiH' that is, #etween those who #y grace are united to thedead and risen Christ.”9E %hat is to say, the saints in heaven, the souls #eing purified in

purgatory, and those who are on earth still fighting the #attles of the interior life. e form a

single family, the family of the children of &od, in order to praise the $oly %rinity. ith whatintegrity and firmness do we loo after it7

0t. Josemara was greatly consoled #y meditating on this truth of the faith. Do #apti+ed

person can feel alone, either in one1s spiritual struggle or in material difficulties. 'he (ay gives

voice to this certainty: “%he Communion of the 0aints. $ow shall e<plain it to you7 -ou nowwhat #lood transfusions can do for the #ody7 ell, that1s what the Communion of the 0aints

does for the soul.”9G 0hortly after this he adds: “-ou will find it easier to do your duty if you

thin of how many #rothers are helping you, and of the help you fail to give them if you are notfaithful.”9

"et us always #e optimistic, my daughters and sons. =ven though we might stum#le, even

though we might at times feel wea and without strength in our spiritual #attles, with &od1s

grace we can always renew our march toward holiness. e are surrounded #y a multitude ofsaints, of people faithful to &od, who are constantly #eginning and #eginning again in their

interior life.

*esides, we only need to lift up our eyes to heaven. %he great solemnity of the Assumption

of our "ady that we will cele#rate on the 95th is another invitation to have this certainty.Anchored in the intercession of Christ, who is constantly #eseeching &od the ather for all of

us,9> how great is our consolation, how secure our refuge when we contemplate our Mother, who

is ever solicitous for the salvation of Christians and of all manind! n our "ady, the Church

reached the perfection in virtue of which she is holy and without #lemish. ;? e, all the faithful,are still striving to succeed in this no#le tas of attaining sanctity, completely distancing

ourselves from sin. %herefore we raise our eyes to Mary, who is a resplendent model of virtue forthe entire community of the elect.;9 "et us turn to her, then, in all the vicissitudes of the Churchand in the needs of each one of us. “Mother! Call her with a loud voice. 0he is listening to you'

she sees you in danger, perhaps, and sheIyour holy Mother MaryIoffers you, along with the

grace of her 0on, the refuge of her arms, the tenderness of her em#raceK and you will findyourself with added strength for the new #attle.”;;

May the clamor of this prayer rise up to heaven forcefully from the whole world as we

renew the consecration of (pus )ei to the sweet and immaculate $eart of Mary on the upcoming

95th. Closely united in prayer, let us as &od for all the graces that the world, the Church, andeach of us need.

ith all my affection, #less you,

9E Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 9>5.

9G 0t. Josemara, 'he (ay, no.5BB.

9 #$id%, no. 5B>.

9> Cfr. )e$ G:;5.

;? Cfr. *ph 5:;G.

;9 Cfr. 4atican , )ogmatic Const. Lumen gentium, no. E5.

;; 0t. Josemara, 'he (ay, no.59E.

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-our ather,

L Javier

0itio da Aroeira, August 9, ;?9@

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