Spirit of the Cenacle Newsletter
SPIRIT OF THE CENACLE: Advent
“Blessed be Jesus Christ, King of the World and Center of all hearts”
The month of November for the Missionary Cenacle Family is one of grace and celebration for Christ is the King of Kings. It is to Him that we give Honor and Glory on all of our missions, in all of our apostolates. In November the Missionary Cenacle Family meets and shares who we are – men and women, male and female religious, each and every one consecrated, all on mission, living as missionaries in the providence of everyday life.
From Trinita in Conneticut, to the Shrine in New Jersey, the Motherhouses in Philadelphia, and Maryland, missions in Holy Trinity, Alabama, Los Angeles, San Bernadino, California, Arizona, Seattle, Washington, Michoacan, Temascalapa, Huitzila in Mexico, San Jose and Puerto Jimenez in Costa Rica, Blanquizales, Guamal, Medellin in Colombia, Luquillo, Loiza, Canovanas, Rio Piedras, Coamo, Ponce, Mayagüez, Cabo Rojo in Puerto Rico we meet as the Missionary Cenacle Family to celebrate the King of Kings.
We not only celebrate a Feast of the Church, but we also celebrate the meetings in which we see and recognize that you and I are Church. It is on the occasion of this celebration that we terminate the liturgical year. It is with this Great Feast that we begin Advent in pilgrimage once again to the Child God, the bearer of life. We enter a time of waiting, walking once more with Christ the King as our leader.
Christ the King gathers us to ask us: “Where are we? What are we doing? What will we be doing? Yes, this is the time to ask ourselves, to challenge each other as to what we are doing. This question goes beyond my particular apostolate, beyond the small gathering of a Cenacle, where we know each other and seem to be doing well. This question is to touch the internal call as to where the Holy Spirit is directing us, as to where the apostolic and missionary impulse is leading us.
Contemplating the icon of Father Judge that shows his hand extended from which a great flame arises and seems speak with great emphasis: “My son, my daughter, the Missionary Family of the Church, it would seem that the flame, the all-embracing fire, the evangelical, apostolic and missionary impulse continues to burn on in the heart of the Cenacle, and yet not aflame in the hearts of so very, very many children and young people in the world. Christ the King should reign in every mind and heart. What are you doing to communicate this missionary idea, this impulse of our Beloved? How are we passing along the flame?
“An apostle does not rest, is restless, concerned and busy. You were not trained and formed to be a group of friends, nor to take care of buildings and parishes, nor trained to remember me, nor to quote me. The Holy Spirit called you to make of your lives a continuous mission of dedication to the gospel, trained to look and work, searching to find where the faith is being lost, where the Holy Name of God is not known nor praised.” “Without a doubt I see many laity, men and women, in and not of the Cenacle doing much good, so many movements and groups of laity in the Church. What a blessing! What source of good for the Church! But…. What a lack in promoting a United Family for which you can be an influence and a reflection of unity. The fire is lit in your hearts. Celebrate an alive journey, and concern yourselves about opening a new road. Give life to apostolic holiness, the forgotten mystery, communion and community. Praise to Christ the King!
In love and service:
Alma Robles, MCA
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