Solemnity of St John of God

Circular Letter of the Prior General

   

Your elderBrother, John of God

To all Brothers and Co-workers, members of the Hospitaller Family of StJohn of God

Lookingforward to the Feast of St John of God, our Founder, I send you my greetingsand very best wishes hoping that all of us will celebrate the Solemnity of ourPatron with great joy.

In this firsthalf of the year we are celebrating the Provincial Chapters throughout theOrder, and many of them have already been concluded. The central theme of theChapters that the Central Government has been driving forward in recent years ineach case is: The future of Hospitalityin the Province. This involves engaging on a crucial process of discernment,looking at the present and the future in order to continue being faithful toour Lord, the Church, the Charism and mission of the Order, and to the poor,sick and needy people in our world, who are the beneficiaries of our mission.It is a challenge that will peak next year, at the General Chapter.

I thereforegreatly appreciate the boldness shown by certain Provinces who have already embarkedon this process of discernment, and the progress that has been made. Inparticular, I would like to mention the Provinces of Spain and Latin America whoseChapters, after three years’ work, have resolved to create one single Provincefor the whole of Spain, and another one for the whole of Latin America, giving themselvesabout two years to prepare the new Provinces before they are canonicallyerected. Throughout this period, their sole purpose will be to remain true tothe legacy of our Founder.

St John ofGod is the inspiration for all of us, for the whole Hospitaller Family. In hiswritings, biographies and other documents on his life, we see many experienceswhich can serve as inspiration for our own life, and for all those who approachhim.

I would liketo dwell, if only briefly on this occasion, on the words with which John of Godsigned off some of his letters: your lesserbrother, John of God. They have always struck me. It is not a stock phrase.Sometimes he added the word disobedient toqualify lesser. This expresses aprofound experience of humility before God and before humanity, typical ofthose who have experienced God’s love and His mercy. Only those who live inthis way can discover the greatness of God’s love, and our smallness as humanbeings, and feel humble before Him and before the other people to whom theycommit themselves to love, placing themselves at their service.

Indeed, it isan outstanding human and spiritual experience which was most conspicuous in StJohn of God, and I urge all of you to experience it for yourselves, or at leastto cultivate and grow in it. True humility begins there. When it is true, it laysdown the foundations on which to build a fully meaningful life of service tfGod and our fellow men and women, particularly the most vulnerable and needyamong them.

Humility isnot only a fundamental human and Gospel-inspired virtue at the personal level,but also at the ecclesial and institutional level, and in our case, at thelevel of our Order and our Family. The temptation to be great and appear strongare always present in human beings and in our human institutions. There is alwaysa temptation to strive for greatness, strength and social recognition. But theyshould not be our concern, and we must be very careful not to fall into thistemptation, which in fact is not real at all, but a blind desire, divorced fromreality.

This is alsohow we should see it. We are not great, nor strong, and if we do winrecognition thanks to the testimony of so many Brothers and Co-workers we mustaccept this as part of what we are duty-bound to do, with no more merit thanthat. And on some occasions we have to be humble and recognise our failings andask forgiveness. This forms part of the humility which St John of God, our lesser Brother teaches us. And eachand every one of us must also be your lesserBrother to everyone else.

I am surethat if we grow in this virtue, the future of each and every member of theHospitaller Family of St John of God will become much clearer to us, becausehumility lies at the heart of charity and hospitality. And here we have theexample of our Founder to follow.       

As usual atthis time the year, I would like to announce to the whole Hospitaller Familythe results of the 2017 campaign for the project “Supporting the re-establishment and improvement of the quality of careat the Quito Albergue San Juan de Dios” in Ecuador. The campaign raised atotal of 410,708.73 euro, thanks to the solidarity of all, for once again Iwish to offer you my sincerest thanks.

And I wouldalso like to announce the campaign for 2018 for the Akassato (Cotonou), in theVice-Province of Saint Richard Pampuri (Benin-Togo)” project for anoutpatient clinic and rehabilitation centre providing ozone therapy. I thankyou in advance for your generosity and I urge you to support this cause so thatwe can continue upgrading the service we provide to so many sick, poor andneedy people in this part of Africa.

I wish youall a very happy Feast of Saint John of God. May St John of God’s invitation to humility drive us on to grow as theSaint John of God Family and to dedicate ourselves radically to the least andvulnerable members of our society, by making God’s love present to them throughHospitality in the manner in which our Founder lived and attracted others topractise.

United in OurLord and Saint John of God I send you all my fraternal best wishes.

 

Brother Jesús Etayo

Superior General

 

 

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