In the celebration of the
Eucharist the memory of our deceased confreres is not only an act of suffrage, but
also an act of thanksgiving to God for having given to his Church so many generous
men who have responded to the voice of the Lord by committing themselves to
work with Saint John Bosco, in the practice of the evangelical counsels, for
the benefit of the young.
As our fathers and
brothers, they have passed on to us a precious heritage. Some of them are still
fresh in our memory; others are held in benediction; and there are those whose
humble and hidden lives are recorded only as names in the Necrology.
Rather than recount the
praises of their virtues, this holy assembly wishes to recognize the good they
were able to carry out in the Church through God's grace. This is an attitude
which stems spontaneously from faithful and grateful hearts also, when we
remember those with whom we have worked, believed, hoped, suffered and loved;
they are an incentive to us to continue with fresh enthusiasm in our own
vocation.
The redeeming death of
Christ has enlightened for us the mystery of death, and so the prayer texts invite
the faithful to make a profession of faith in the Father whose mercy knows no
limits, and who has promised unending happiness to those who seek first the
kingdom of heaven.
In entrusting our deceased
confreres to the Father, the giver of life, who sustains all things by his providence,
the assembly recalls that they have spent their lives in the service of the
Gospel, following the way marked out by Saint John Bosco; and that they worked
in the vineyard of the Lord carrying out their pastoral ministry in the service
of the young.
For them, as they await
the coming of the Lord, the assembly asks the reward promised to faithful
servants: pardon, joy, eternal light and peace and a reawakening to the glory
of the resurrection,' so as to enjoy for ever the vision of God's countenance.
But their memory, in the
sacrifice commemorating the death and resurrection of
Christ, is also a motive
for supplication that every confrere may continue faithfully on
his own pilgrimage in the
Church at the service of the Gospel.
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