​Cenacle Sisters Bilaspur
 
This congregation is a Pious Association founded by Rev. Fr. Tomy Churathil SAC and Rev. Mother Chandrika, on September 8, 2002; following the spirituality and life of St. Vincent Pallotti. The best source to find out more about this young yet thriving community is from Mother herself.
 
Mother Chandrika:
 
Our Motto: “Burning with love to heal the brokenhearted”; in the same magnitude of St. Vincent Pallotti. The Cenacle always leads us to the mission of spiritual animation and of communion with the Church, the body of Christ, and the whole creation.
 
Our Charism: Our charism is to strive towards one’s own renewal and to work for the perennial renewal of the people of God, especially the clergy, religious and laity, after the example of Mary, Queen of the Cenacle.
 
Our Vision: Led and directed by the Holy Spirit to build up cenacle communities of faith and love which heal, renew, and sustain individual persons, families and groups. Jesus is the Apostle of the Eternal Father and every baptized person is an apostle of Jesus Christ. The CSSH want to promote this co-responsibility of all the baptized to be apostles of Jesus the Apostle to carry on the mission He has entrusted to His Church.  
 
Being in the Cenacle: To be in the Cenacle means to be in union- we want to be together, to be one heart and mind, to be like Mary, an extraordinary apostle, and to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Every baptized person is called to be an apostle. Remaining in the Cenacle we experience the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which in turn helps us to go out as empowered apostles to make more to build up communities of faith and love, bringing out more co-operation and collaboration in the Church, in order to carry out the work of the Catholic Apostolate.
 
At present, four of our Sisters are at the service of the Peruvian people in collaboration with the Immaculate Conception Province, USA, and St. Paul Province, Brazil, and other Sisters in six provinces in India. We have 17 perpetually professed Sisters, 24 Junior Sisters, 15 pre-novices 10 Postulants and 24 candidates at different levels of their formation.
 
There is also much communion and co-responsibility with Priests and Religious, families, and the young people of our time. We preach a 40 day retreat for religious, and the Sisters are involved in regular visits to families. In most of our communities we also have 24/7 Adoration.
 
As the days pass by, the Cenacle spirituality and the spirituality of St. Vincent Pallotti become more and more clear to us. We learn that the whole universe is waiting to become one with the Blessed Trinity. 

“If there is one thing to be said about Jesus,” Pope Francis says, “it is precisely His capacity to welcome.”[1] What happens, though, when the one that stems from wealth is undeservedly on the receiving end? When the one who is well nourished is given tea with milk, while the bones of the little ones running around have a far greater need for the calcium? When the one who visits for ten minutes can do nothing but wrap her arm around the child, praying he is shielded with his innocence for as long as the Lord deems it possible?
 
With all of my heart, I can tell you that it is a most painful humility; for it was I who was that stranger, and they- your Pallottine Fathers and UAC members in Delhi- welcomed me into their homes. At Mary Queen of the Apostles Church, under the pastoral care of Fr. George Thattamparambil SAC and Fr. Bibin Sebastian SAC of the Epiphany Province, they are the very Church that Pope Francis seeks to intensify; “a field hospital after battle,” with “the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful.”[2] The UAC flock they shepherd “allows us to meet Jesus; not so much with words but [their] whole life. And [they] bear witness to the importance of small gestures, within everyone’s reach, that help to build peace, reminding us that we are brothers and sisters, and God is the Father of us all.”[3]
 
As our founder writes, “it is Jesus who brings love to wherever there is want and need,” which is precisely why He carried the Pallottine Fathers to Sangam VIhar, Delhi, in July 1997. On September 7 of that year Mass was publicly celebrated for the first time in a two room house, where over 70 people came to receive the Eucharist; the following Sunday, even more. These heavenly fruits from the Holy Spirit continued to multiply each time bread was broke, and in 1998 a larger structure was quickly built to accommodate its needs. However, the structure now seen today was only recently blessed on November 5, 2016.   
 
Though perhaps what truly allows Fr. George and Fr. Bibin to press their fingers to the “flesh of Christ” is the St. Vincent Pallotti School they run. Its classrooms house 385 of God’s most precious children, who though come from the slums, are a gift from above. They ran into my arms as if I was Pallotti himself, offering me their extra pencils and hair clips, anything in their capable and immediate grasp to shower upon me. How many times- I thought to myself- did I refuse the brother of my own blood a piece of my food, a taste of my ice cream?! St. John Paul II said it himself: “Is not Jesus pointing to children even as models for grownups?”
 
Maybe it is indeed this saint’s model that our Pallottine Fathers follow; for their work at the school is nothing short of inconceivable and remarkable in Delhi’s largest unrecognized slum. Even above the physical needs of the children, they promote an atmosphere of peace; not an easy feat when religious tensions under Hindu Nationalist Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, continue to rise. Yes, our Fathers feel this strain in their ministries, yet they continue their work with even greater strength and force. It is now our job as a Pallottine family to pray that they may be sustained.
 
“O priest, who are you?” St. Vincent Pallotti asks.  “You do not serve yourself, because you are the bridegroom of the Church. You do not belong to yourself, because you are the servant of all.” How vividly our fathers live these truths in Delhi! Truths which Rector General Fr. Jacob Nampudakam writes, “express the image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,”[4] in whose “heart we see that His love is boundless; it never tires and never gives up. We see that it continuously gives of self, without limits, and we rediscover its humble love ‘right to the very end’ (John 13.1).” [5]
 
 
 
 


[1] ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF POOR FROM THE DIOCESES OF THE FRENCH PROVINCE OF LYONS
[2] Interview with Pope Francis by Fr. Antonio Spadaro
[3] ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF POOR FROM THE DIOCESES OF THE FRENCH PROVINCE OF LYONS
[4] “The Spirit of the Priesthood According to St. Vincent Pallotti,” Nampudakam, Jacob 2017, pg 24
[5] The Spirit of the Priesthood According to St. Vincent Pallotti,” Nampudakam, Jacob 2017, pg 28

​On March 4, 2016, Fr. Thomas Uzhunnalil- a priest hailing from Kerala, India- was captured by terrorists when working for a home for the aged with the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen. Exactly two years later, he celebrated Mass at St. Vincent Pallotti Church in Bangalore, India, a part of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province. 10 Pallottine priests and one decaon were alongside him.
 
Uzhunnalil was somehow spared in Yemen attack, which killed 4 Missionary sisters and 12 others. He was held in captivity for 557 days, kept alive by asking God to spiritually grace him with bread and wine as he peacefully celebrated the Eucharist by memory.
 
He shared his harrowing experience during the sermon, which many members of the UAC community were blessed to hear first-hand. Member Leena James said that he “emphasized on how God protected him from the terrorist, and that the terrorists never tortured him.” Though he witnessed first-hand the martyrdom of his fellow sisters, he never had “nightmares about the incident because he knew that they were in Heaven with God.” And while he was praying for the very mercy of their souls, so too did he ask “god to have mercy on the terrorists”.
 
Teresa Kattukaran, vice-president of the Local Coordination Council, also seconded his testimony as a true force of “the boundless mercy of God. It emphasized the immense power of prayer; for hundreds of thousands of people had been praying for his safety and release during all those 557 days he was in custody.”
 
St. Vincent Pallotti Church, under the care of parish priest Fr. Manohar Noronha, partakes unceasing ministry activities and acts of charity in the spirit of our founder. Members of their UAC group meet weekly to promote these works of charity, whether it be administering Communion to the sick or medicine and food to the poor.
 
Its community as a parish is thriving, with the Church filled each evening, and celebrates Mass in 6 different languages on Sundays. Their activities are a testimony that it is through our missionary actions infused by the Holy Spirit that allow the heart of our Pallottine family to beat.
 
The administration of the Province of the Assumption of the BVM is currently entrusted to Fr. Pedro Camilo, Provincial, as well as Councilors Fr. Arockiasamy Santhiago, Fr. Victor Prasanna Martis, Fr. Sahaya Anand Clement, Fr. Joji Reddy, and Mission Secretariat Fr. Manuel Raj.
 
The province is home to 6 schools, all of which continue to grow and thrive due to the passion and dedication of the Pallottine Fathers and Sisters.
 
Link to photos:
 
https://cletusrebello.pixieset.com/revfrtomuzhunnalilsdbstvincentpallottichurch/

Dear members of the V General Assembly and of NCCs, and leaders in the Communities founded by St. Vincent Pallotti and the other Communities of the Union.

Greetings from Rome. As you know, the Fifth Ordinary General Assembly of the Union took place from January 24th to 27th, 2018 in the Casa di Esercizi Spirituali Padri Passionisti, Piazza Ss. Giovanni e Paolo, 13, 00184 - Roma (RM), for which was chosen the General Theme “Communion and Co-responsibility” (cf. General Statutes, art. 1), with particular application to the areas of family, young people and mission.

As stated in the letter sent out before the Assembly to introduce the General Theme, “Communion is at the very heart of all that we are called to be and to do as a Pallottine Family, a deep communion with our Triune God incarnated in our relationships with one another, a communion in co-responsibility [which] is of its very nature directed towards mission. The UAC, bearer of the charism of St. Vincent Pallotti (cf. Pope Francis, Address to Participants in the General Assembly of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, 10 October 2016), is constantly and dynamically urged to make the journey towards co-responsibility be more widely and deeply appreciated and given practical application in its life and mission in the Church and the world”.

Guided by this spirit and vision, the members of the General Assembly met and strove to discern some concrete priorities for the next three years for the General Coordination Council and its Commissions and for the entire Union.
​
Fr. David Kinnear Glenday, MCCJ, Rector General Emeritus of the Comboni Missionaries and General Secretary of the Union of Superiors General (USG), addressed the General Theme of ‘Communion and Corresponsibility’. He prayed that the Lord, through his word, would lead us to what is most essential and life-giving regarding the Union. In his talk, “Celebrating the Joy of Communion, of Collaboration, of Corresponsibility”, he proposed five verbs to explain what it means to celebrate such joy: to remember, in a way which rekindles our awe, the origins of our charism and our own very personal origins in discovering it, and also to remember the story of new beginnings in the history of the charism and in our own personal history in the Union; to discern, with increasing attention, the action of the Spirit in the present, what moves us, and gives us joy in the Union; to desire, nurturing the good desires through which the Spirit wishes to lead us forward as Union; to serve, putting our good desires into action to serve God’s people, to sow joy, going out to the peripheries, not remaining comfortable spectators, not seeking to solve everything now, but rather to put in place processes which will grow and bear fruit over time; to console, through increasingly becoming that Union of Catholic Apostolate which by its very name is called to be a consolation for so many people, developing that communion and corresponsibility of different vocations working together which has been there right from the beginning of the founding charism. He also encouraged us to experiment courageously, humbly and intelligently by beginning projects where communion and corresponsibility are to be expressed, while continuing our reflection as we go in the light of the lived experience which such projects will bring.
 
During the working sessions there were reports given by the President, the Ecclesiastical Assistant, the Superiors General of the CSAC and SAC Pallottine Sisters respectively, the General Secretary, the General Bursar and the Chairs, respectively, of the International Formation and the Juridical Commissions, and of the Mission and the Family Subgroups. There was a report from each NCC, given by the President, Vice-President or NCC representative, which highlighted the areas of growth in the Union in the territory and the joys and struggles encountered in the efforts to live and develop a communal apostolic life and mission. There were also reports from each of the three invited members of the General Assembly.
In various ways, all the reports made a precious contribution to recognising all that the Pallottine charism is doing in the world and to deepening our sense of identity as UAC.
 
Finally, the Juridical Commission presented a draft document regarding Guidelines for Professional Standards for Adult Pastoral Relationships. The Commission will continue preparing a document for GCC approval to be sent out for wider consultation and feedback within the Union and with competent professionals, with a view to eventual approval by the next General Assembly.
 
Since the General Assembly “is the highest body of consultation and decision making in the Union” (GS 91), it focused on some specific areas that are to be addressed by the UAC. On the final day, with regard to the specific areas of formation, evangelisation and finance, the General Assembly approved the following decisions and recommendations, which are now presented to you.
 
 
DECISIONS APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 
Formation:

1. MANDATE

The V General Assembly of the UAC mandates the International Formation Commission to update the guidelines for an integrated formation for all UAC members by May 2019.
 
Evangelisation:

1. MANDATE

The V General Assembly of the UAC mandates the GCC to make evangelisation a concrete priority at all levels of the Union in these three years, and to support each NCC in organising courses of kerygmatic evangelisation (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, nn. 164-165, 177ff.) to help the members to become courageous and effective evangelisers according to the Pallottine charism in response to the call of the universal Church in our times.
 
Finance:

1. MANDATE

The V General Assembly of the UAC mandates the GCC to implement and circulate the budget plan prepared for the next 5 years and to ensure that all NCCs contribute to the UAC International Common Fund.
        2.  MANDATE
The V General Assembly of the UAC mandates the GCC to promote and initiate an annual collection in all Pallottine parishes. This collection will contribute to the expenses of the UAC at the International level. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Formation:

1. RECOMMENDATION

The V General Assembly of the UAC recommends that the GCC realize a one-month Formation Course on the Pallottine charism in the various languages in Rome from 2020 for members of the Union. The program will include visits to places where the charism originated and developed.
Furthermore, the Assembly suggests that the organisation of the Course be entrusted to the International Formation Commission.
 
Evangelisation:

1. RECOMMENDATION

The family is one of the privileged expressions of life in the Union. The V General Assembly of the UAC requests all members of the Union to focus on the reality of family as it is lived and expressed. Therefore, we ask you to create resources based on Evangelii Gaudium and Amoris Laetitia, to be used creatively in a variety of ways to bring the Joy of the Gospel and the Joy of Love to the peripheries in family life in your locality.

Such resources could include liturgies, prayer, music, activities, reflection, contemplation and the support of a listening heart and ear, in the spirit of compassion and mercy as outlined in Amoris Laetitia.

It is our common challenge and mission to give shape and expression to this in and through the Union of Catholic Apostolate.
 
Finance:

1. RECOMMENDATION

The V General Assembly of the UAC recommends that the GCC entrust the International Economic Commission with exploring the possibilities for conducting Pallottine pilgrimages and producing relevant religious books and articles by November 2019.
        2. RECOMMENDATION
The V General Assembly of the UAC recommends that the results of these initiatives be reported to the next UAC General Assembly.
 
Some of these matters pertain to the structures of the Union at the General level and do not require any implementation on your part; others require further planning and development regarding their implementation and the General Secretariat will be in contact with you again as these come to fruition; still others are recommendations that the NCC, LCCs and Communities and groups of the Union in each country can already begin to think about and implement. You are asked to inform the members and collaborators of the Union in your country of this communication and seek to reflect together on and implement the issues which are pertinent to your situation.

We wish you every inspiration and guidance as you reflect on and implement these important matters for the life of the Union.
 
We also take this opportunity to express our gratitude and recognition to everyone in the Union, since you have accompanied the General Assembly with your thoughts, prayers, blessings, and also with your own suffering, and for the witness to the charism which you give in your daily lives in service of the Church and wider society as members of the Pallottine Family.
 
We are certain that Mary, Queen of Apostles and Mother of the Pallottine Family, will help us go forward together on the journey towards communion and co-responsibility in the life and mission of the Union of Catholic Apostolate worldwide in the spirit of our Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti.
 
 
Donatella Acerbi                                                           Frank Donio, SAC
President                                                                        Vice President
 
 
Rory Hanly, SAC
General Secretary
 
 
Charity exercised as described by the Apostle forms all the substantial constituent of the Union; if this were to be lacking the Catholic Apostolate would no longer be in it; therefore [...] the more perfectly the Union will exercise the charity of Jesus Christ through the action of its members, the more luminous and fruitful will be its success in all of its evangelical undertakings (OOCC III, 137-138).

We ask God’s powerful blessing on the 13 members of the new General Coordination Council of the Union of Catholic Apostolate (constituted according to GSt art. 80), those continuing - Fr. Jacob Nampudakam SAC, Sr. Ivete Garlet CSAC, Sr. Izabela Świerad SAC (ex officio members), Miss Donatella Acerbi, Fr. Derry Murphy SAC, Miss Cheryl Sullivan and Mrs. Sonia Saldana (elected members), - and those beginning this mission of service for the entire Union - Sr. Bożena Olszewska SAC, Fr. Gilberto Orsolin SAC, Sr. Beniamina Tropiano CSAC, Fr. Florent Eloundou SAC, Mr. Michal Grzeca and Mrs. Linda Barikmo (elected).
​
May the Spirit of the Lord be upon you, sustaining and guiding you according to the charism given through St. Vincent; may He bring about in you a profound spirit of unity in communion and of corresponsibility in mission and help you to spread it throughout the Union and beyond in service of His Kingdom in the Church and the world, especially in service of those who are most in need.

Heartfelt thanks and every blessing to Fr. Frank Donio, SAC for his years of dedicated service and leadership as a GCC member and for the last three years in his role as Vice President of the Union.

And a heartfelt word of thanks to the other members of the outgoing General Coordination Council of the Union who are not continuing in this service - Sr. Salete Cargnin CSAC, Fr. Stanisław Stawicki SAC, Mr. Marek Kalka Sr. Martha Lohi Ayaqhoda SAC and Fr. Eugene Niyonzima SAC - and to the substitutes, who were frequently called into action - Mr. Corrado Montaldo, Sr. Stella Marotta CSAC and Sr. Bożena Olszewska SAC. May God reward you for your generosity and commitment, and bless you as you continue to serve the life of the Union for the good of the wider Church and world in your other ministries and commitments.
 
Fr. Rory Hanly SAC,
General Secretary
​

Casa D’Esercizi Spirituali dei Passionisti, Rome, Italy 24th - 27th January, 2018

Communion and co-responsibility – celebrating and transmitting the joy of communion and co-responsibility

The 5th Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate took place from January 23rd to 27th 2018, at the Retreat Centre of the Passionist Community in Rome. We were 39 participants: Members of the GCC, Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the National Coordination Councils, 2 representatives of NCC Presidents, the General Secretary and secretarial assistant, the General Bursar, the 3 invited members, the moderators, translators and secretaries.

Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, Rector General of the SAC and Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Union led the opening Eucharistic celebration and it was centred on the general theme of the Assembly. In his homily he outlined four aspects which contribute to, and reinforce among us, communion and co-responsibility: God – the source of communion and collaboration; the will to understand and respect the diversity of vocations and of gifts; a knowledge of, and experience of, the spiritual and mystical way of our holy Founder; the Union as a public association of the faithful at the service of the mission of the Church. Fr. Jacob noted later in his report that “the Union must not become an exclusive club of a few like-minded persons but open to all the members whether they agree or disagree with it.”

We were very happy to know and to see from the reports of the President, the two Mothers General, the General Secretary and General Bursar, the NCC Presidents and the three invited members how the charism of St. Vincent is continuing to spread in the world as a unifying force between lay persons, sisters, brothers and priests. The President of the Union, Ms. Donatella Acerbi, reminded us that “the charism per se is God’s, it belongs to Him. It’s not ours, not even St. Vincent’s. He and we, his children, are its bearers.” God asks our collaboration to live, safeguard, deepen and continuously develop this charism in harmony with the body of Christ which is perennially growing.

Fr. David Kinnear Glenday, MCCJ, Rector General Emeritus of the Comboni Missionaries and General Secretary of the Union of Superiors General (USG), the guest speaker invited to enlighten our sharing, provided us with a very incisive reflection which opened our reciprocal dialogue. His starting point was from chapter 10 of St. Luke’s Gospel and he drew a comparison between the work of our Assembly and the dialogue between Jesus and the 72 disciples on their joyful return following the mission Jesus had entrusted to them.

Fr. David invited us to live with intense and justified joy the real life of the Union; his presentation centred on 5 verbs which characterised the life of our Assembly – they were: to remember – our own personal story as disciples; to discern – from what moved us; to desire – the good that is coming to birth in us; to serve – to serve the joy of the People of God in going out, as Jesus did; and, to console – all those we meet in our apostolic mission.

Five verbs, five stepping stones, on which we trod and on which we can continue to journey with confidence. We looked closely at some of the different aspects of the Union which were chosen by the GCC, they were: formation, finance and evangelisation, and this was done in a sincere and open manner, as we sought to move towards a greater harmony in the life of the Union: it is our hope that the fruits of our discussion will lead to incisive action by the new General Coordination Council and by the National Coordination Councils, because, as Fr. David Glenday, pointed out to us – “the first step in co- responsibility is to experiment with courage and humility.”

The third day of the Assembly saw the election of the ten members (and the three substitute members) who, together with the three General Superiors of the Communities founded by St. Vincent Pallotti, form the new GCC. Their mission is to oversee and carry forward the life of the Union in the next three years. As is our custom, we all gathered in prayer around the altar of our saintly Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti, in the Church of Santissimo Salvatore in Onda, for the closing Eucharist which was led by the General Secretary, Fr. Rory Hanly.

We wish to thank all of you who have accompanied us during these days with your prayer, sacrifices and encouragement. Thank you for all the good you do and for the witness of selfless service which you offer to the entire Pallottine charismatic family. We conclude with the words of Pope Francis, which resounded strongly in the Assembly: “Try to act personally instead of just looking and criticising the work of others from the balcony.” (Address in Cesena, 1 st October 2017).

Yes, and with this spirit we wish to walk, yes, to walk and to journey together as missionary disciples and protagonists of the mission of Jesus, in the footsteps of St Vincent who walked firmly in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

The Members of the 5th Ordinary UAC General Assembly 2018

During January 22-27, the Union of Catholic Apostolate had elections for the new General Coordination Council. Here are the results of the election:
​
Ex ufficio:
Fr. Jacob Nampudakam SAC        
Sr. Ivete Garlet, CSAC        
Sr. Izabela Świerad, SAC        

Elected:
Ms. Donatella Acerbi    Italy    Lay Person
Sr. Bożena Olszewska, SAC    Italy/Poland    
Fr. Derry Murphy, SAC    Ireland    
Ms. Cheryl Sullivan    Australia     Consecrated Lay Person
Fr. Gilberto Orsolin, SAC    Brazil    
Ms. Sonia Saldana    India    Married Lay Person
Sr. Beniamina Tropiano CSAC    Italy
Fr. Florent Eloundou, SAC    Cameroon
Mr. Michal Grzeca    Poland    Lay Person    
Ms. Linda Barikmo    USA    Lay Person

Substitutes:
Ms. Rosa Colucci    Italy    Married Lay Person
Fr. Alexandre Pietrzyk, SAC    Italy/Poland    
Fr. Norbert Sequiera, SAC    Italy/India    

​

Dear Brothers and Sisters  in Christ,
 
Hearty welcome to this inaugural Eucharistic celebration of the fifth Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate.  Let us thank God for the safe journey that we made from distant lands. There is no better word than “family” to describe the nature of our group: a family of sons and daughters of St. Vincent Pallotti, gathered together this morning to break word and bread together, in the spirit of the Cenacle.

The present Assembly deals with some of the key words and concepts connected to the Pallottine charism: communion, collaboration and co-responsibility. The various Pallottine resource materials and the General Statutes of the Union explain very well these key concepts and hence there is no need to repeat them here. The Church has acknowledged and accepted several times the authenticity and relevance of our charism for the Church and for our times and hence the task before us is to nourish and nurture it.
               
From my little personal experience, I wish to point out four points that could foster and strengthen the ecclesial communion among us, the core of our charism.
               
First of all, it is to be remembered that God alone is the source of communion. The Blessed Trinity is the most perfect example for it. Hence we have no other option but to be rooted in the life of the Most Holy Trinity. The more God-centred we are in reality, the more the life of Jesus becomes the fundamental rule of our life and apostolate, the greater will be our spiritual communion.  The Union is not just a social gathering; it is the gathering of the disciples of Jesus in the Cenacle. Hence we say with our Founder: “My God, my All forever”.
               
Secondly, we realise that collaboration will be most fruitful when we are able to understand and respect the diversity of vocations and gifts and use them for the common good of the Church. A lay person is a lay faithful in the Church; a religious sister has her legitimate place in the Church and so also an ordained minister. Consecrated individuals and communities too have their place in the Union. At times I find a certain exaggerated effort from some within the Union to establish equality of all the members, bordering at times even on ideological considerations. By being the image and likeness of God and as baptised Christians we all share the same dignity and responsibility in the Church, also as emphasised by our Founder. But equality does not mean that a man should become a woman, a lay person must take the place of an ordained minister or a religious sister should act like a lay person. If such efforts are made, that can only be expression of insecurity and a low self-image regarding one’s own vocation and state of life. The Union has a complex juridical composition and hence overlapping and overstepping into the rights and responsibilities of the various components of the Union can only lead to confusions and conflicts. As St. Paul says, “there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all” ( 1 Cor. 12:4). No single component alone makes the Union; all of us together, form that apostolic force intended by our Founder.
               
Thirdly, the Union of Catholic Apostolate is best understood when we know and experience the spiritual and mystical itinerary of our holy Founder. Starting with his experience of the infinite love and mercy of God, there is an entire spiritual journey to make for anyone interested to be part of his spiritual family. We need to return to his original writings if we wish to absorb the spirit of Pallotti. This means, above all, we need to kneel and pray, and spend hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and must engage in divine contemplation of the most divine model of perfection: Jesus Christ. These words might sound old fashioned and not in tune with the tenets of a modern way of living Christian life. Yet the simple truth is, as our Founder showed through his life, that only a holy life, modelled after the life of Christ, that bears fruits for the Church, whatever may be our state of life. “Let our life be always at the foot of the Cross, for in Him, we shall find ever greater happiness”, prayed St.Vincent.
               
Fourthly, the Union is a public association of all the faithful in service of the mission of the Church. As Can. 298 §1 states:  “In the Church there are associations distinct from institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life; in these associations the Christian faithful, whether clerics, lay persons, or clerics and lay persons together, strive in a common endeavor to foster a more perfect life, to promote public worship or Christian doctrine, or to exercise other works of the apostolate such as initiatives of evangelization, works of piety or charity, and those which animate the temporal order with a Christian spirit”. Following the charism of St.Vincent Pallotti, all of us have received the mission to promote the co-responsibility to revive faith and rekindle charity in the Church and the world, bringing all to unity in Christ (cfr. General Statutes, n.1).  It is here we are united, as an apostolic force in the Church, as missionary disciples of Jesus. If I may confess my conviction, we have no time to focus on our self-interests but we need to listen to the cry of God’s people anywhere in the world. Endless meetings, discussions and planning will serve very little if we are not ready to dirty our hands and get into the actual field of the Church and the world. The Union is no luxury club but a group of the faithful associating themselves in service of the mission of the Church, concretely and not in merely in words.
               
In these last 30 days, I have visited two demanding missionary areas of our Society. The first one was in Bolivia, with extremely high mountains, treacherous roads and extreme climates. I was particularly touched not only by the works of our confreres but also by the Sisters of the Marian Institute of Saint Vincent Pallotti. I visited most of their communities and was amazed by the work they do for the little children and the youth. Life is hard and risky but the joy of the Gospel is found in abundance. Secondly, I visited our Province Lumen Christi in North India. Again, life is hard in many ways. Twenty one thousand children study in our 28 schools, all the schools titled after St. Vincent Pallotti. Besides, there are also hundreds of children in our boarding and hostels. Similar works are done also by the Pallottine sisters all over India.  Once again, we realise that it is only the radical living of the Gospel that brings joy and apostolic fruitfulness. For me, the Union means very little if it is not engaged in the mission of compassion of Jesus.
               
Declaring the World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis said: “Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18).  These words of the Apostle John voice an imperative that no Christian may disregard.  The seriousness with which the “beloved disciple” hands down Jesus’ command to our own day is made even clearer by the contrast between the empty words so frequently on our lips and the  concrete deeds against which we are called to measure ourselves.  Love has no alibi.  Whenever we set out to love as Jesus loved, we have to take the Lord as our example; especially when it comes to loving the poor.  The Son of God’s way of loving is well-known, and John spells it out clearly.  It stands on two pillars: God loved us first (cf. 1 Jn 4:10.19), and he loved us by giving completely of himself, even to laying down his life (cf. 1 Jn 3:16).
               
The Holy Father continues in these words: “At the heart of all the many concrete initiatives carried out on this day should always be prayer.  Let us not forget that the Our Father is the prayer of the poor.  Our asking for bread expresses our entrustment to God for our basic needs in life.  Everything that Jesus taught us in this prayer expresses and brings together the cry of all who suffer from life’s uncertainties and the lack of what they need.  When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he answered in the words with which the poor speak to our one Father, in whom all acknowledge themselves as brothers and sisters.  The  Our Father is a prayer said in the plural: the bread for which we ask is “ours”, and that entails sharing, participation and joint responsibility.  In this prayer, all of us recognize our need to overcome every form of selfishness, in order to enter into the joy of mutual acceptance.

I ask my brother Bishops, and all priests and deacons who by their vocation have the mission of supporting the poor, together with all consecrated persons and all associations, movements and volunteers everywhere, to help make this World Day of the Poor a tradition that concretely contributes to evangelization in today’s world.

This new World Day, therefore, should become a powerful appeal to our consciences as believers, allowing us to grow in the conviction that sharing with the poor enables us to understand the deepest truth of the Gospel.  The poor are not a problem: they are a resource from which to draw as we strive to accept and practise in our lives the essence of the Gospel”.

We are all poor in one way or the other. It is a spirituality of the poor, of the missionary disciples of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve, that will make us equal and dignified before God. If we follow such a spirituality, there will be no struggle to look for a place to sit in the right or left side of Jesus in his Kingdom, as the mother of Saints James and John desired; in this case, there would be no fear of UAC becoming a third order of the three Core Communities of the Union nor should these  Communities fear of losing their identity and juridical autonomy. In all these, St. Vincent Pallotti, the Roman priest, the mystic and prophet of communion must be our model and inspiration. May Mary, Queen of the Apostles, St. Vincent Pallotti, our Blessed Martyrs and Blessed Elizabeth Sanna intercede with God all the necessary graces for a spiritually and apostolically fruitful General Assembly of the Pallottine Family. We pray together: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and renew the face of the earth. Amen.
 
Jacob Nampudakam SAC, Rome, 24th January 2018