September Reflection
The following is the September MCA newsletter reflection from Alma Robles, General Custodian of the MCA.
September 14th, Exaltation of the cross
The Grace and Peace of the Most Holy Trinity be with us always!
“We are to bring together men and women of an apostolic spirit out of the ordinary way of life that they become associates of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate.”
How did you come to the Cenacle? What motivated you to enter the formation process? If we ask ourselves these questions, we will hear many and totally varied stories yet having the same drive – the Holy Spirit who called us – and we gelled in a beautiful apostolic relationship. It seems easy to put this down on paper, but the experience, as we know, requires a good bit of docility, open arms to the cross and a sense of gratitude at all times. All of us upon entering formation, candidacy, and consecration as members of the MCA did not think of being invited or called to roles of leadership. Rather we felt at home and attracted to the small apostolic activities that we quietly performed. We always thought that God would be calling others, but not me. I learn from day to day that for God nothing is impossible.
In the course of the last fifteen years “Don’t be afraid!” is a phrase that I have repeated over and over. We have all been called from the ordinariness of our lives to say “Yes, Lord, I am here!” Our fears will not disappear, nor our uncertainties, nor our weaknesses. Rather we come to learn to value these, and despite our fears we offer ourselves in service with all that we are, confiding alone that God knows and speaks to the heart of each one. For each “Yes, Lord. Here I am, Lord” we open ourselves to the gift of the Love of God.
I remember when I served as a local Custodian how I learned to pray, to live and to sense responsibility for the uncertainties of our small apostolate, as well as the hardships and joys of my brothers and sisters in this small community that we have come to know as Cenacle. However, as Regional Custodian I felt responsible not only to pray, but to serve as a communication and formation bridge between the Cenacles. I discovered the grandeur of the apostolic spirit, not only in my region, but also in the other regions of the MCA as well as the time and treasure dedicated to the regional meetings, the area meetings and the General Council meetings of the MCA and the MCF as a school of humility, sacrifice, council and communion. The Regional Custodian learns to incorporate into his/her ordinary life a new family – the MCA and the MCF. And what am I learning as Custodian General? I learn to contemplate as to how the One and Triune God move us, push us and call all of us. He calls one and all. I am in the school of listening, of fidelity to service and responsibility. I discover the privilege of belonging to the Family. Not only the Family of the Missionary Cenacle, but also to the great family of God, to our Catholic Church. I learn to discover and value the apostolic dimension of the role of leadership within and outside the MCA.
To say “Yes, Lord, I am here” is to grow closer to inherit responsibility and collaboration for the future of the Cenacle. This legacy is not only a prophetic vision of Father Judge, it is an necessary apostolic action in order that the Church renew the collaboration of one and all among the clergy and the laity. In order to build the Church it is necessary that every effort is valued and that we respond out of our diverse callings to a unity with the perfect Trinitarian community. Let us be one, Father!
In love and service,
Alma Robles, MCA
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