The Counter Reformation of the Vatican's Jesuit Order did not end back in the 1600s - or more accurately, the Roman Catholic Inquisition did not end during the 1800s -------------------------------------------------------------
open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. Acts 26: 18 NKJV
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Arturo Sosa Abascal S.J. Friday October 15, 2016 Homily
Speech given by the newly elected Jesuit Superior Genera at the Gesu
Entire [here published]
text
of
the
homily
of
Fr.
Arturo
Sosa,
SJ,
on
the
occasion
of
celebrating
and
giving
thanks
for
his
election
as
Superior
General
of
the
Society
of
Jesus.
Roma,
Chiesa
del
Gesù,
15/10/2016
Dearest
Brothers,
A
few
days
ago,
in
this
very
Church
of
the
Gesù,
where
the
remains
of
St.
Ignatius
and
Pedro
Arrupe
are
laid
to
rest,
Fr.
Bruno
Cadorè
invited
us
to
have
the
audacity
of
the
improbable
as
the
distinctive
stance
of
persons
of
faith,
who
seek
to
bear
witness
to
such
faith
in
the
complex
reality
of
human
life.
He
invited
us
to
leave
behind
our
fear
and
to
row
out
into
the
deep,
as
a
kind
of
attitude
for
being
at
once
creative
and
faithful
during
the
General
Congregation.
Certainly,
the
audacity
that
we
need
in
order
to
be
servants
of
the
mission
of
Christ
Jesus
can
flow
only
from
faith.
For
this
reason,
our
gaze
is
directed
first
of
all
to
God,
since
you
have
only
one
Father,
and
He
is
in
heaven
,
as
the
passage
from
the
Gospel
which
we
have
just
heard
reminds
us.
And
as
the
Formula
of
the
Institute
reminds
us
at
paragraph
no
.1:
“Let
(the
Jesuit)
have
before
his
eyes,
as
long
as
he
lives,
before
anything
else,
God,
and
then
the
form
of
this
his
Institute.”
In
fact,
it
is
the
whole
heart
that
we
wish
to
have
in
tune
with
the
Merciful
Father,
the
God
that
is
only
Love,
our
Principle
and
Foundation
–
the
heart
of
each
of
us
and
also
the
heart
of
the
body
of
the
Society.
If
our
faith
is
like
that
of
Mary,
Jesus’
own
mother
and
the
Mother
of
the
Society
of
Jesus,
our
audacity
can
go
even
further
and
seek
not
only
the
improbable,
but
the
impossible,
because
nothing
is
impossible
for
God
,
as
the
Archangel
Gabriel
proclaims
in
the
scene
of
the
Annunciation
(Luke
1:37).
It
is
the
same
faith
held
by
St.
Teresa
of
Avila,
or
St.
Teresa
of
Jesus,
whose
memorial
we
celebrate
today.
She
too,
without
fear,
entrusted
herself
to
the
Lord
in
order
to
undertake
the
improbable
and
the
impossible.
Let
us
ask,
therefore,
for
this
faith
from
the
Lord,
so
that
we,
as
the
Society
of
Jesus,
can
also
make
our
own
the
words
of
Mary
in
her
response
to
the
extraordinary
call
that
she
received:
“Behold
the
servant
of
the
Lord:
Be
it
done
to
me
according
to
your
word.”
Like
Ignatius
and
the
First
Companions,
like
so
many
Jesuit
brothers
who
have
fought
and
who
fight
today
under
the
banner
of
the
cross,
in
service
only
to
the
Lord
and
to
his
Church,
we
too
desire
to
contribute
to
that
which
today
seems
impossible:
a
humanity
reconciled
in
justice,
that
dwells
peacefully
in
a
well
-‐
cared
-‐
for
common
home,
where
there
is
a
place
for
all,
since
we
recognize
each
other
as
brothers
and
sisters,
as
sons
and
daughters
of
the
same
and
only
Father.
For
this
reason,
we
reaffirm
even
today
the
conviction
of
Ignatius
as
he
wrote
the
Constitutions:
“
Since
the
Society
of
Jesus
was
not
instituted
by
human
means,
it
is
not
through
them
that
it
can
be
preserved
and
increased,
but
with
the
all
-‐
powerful
hand
of
Christ,
our
God
and
Lord
;
in
Him
alone
must
our
hope
be
placed.”
With
our
hope
placed
in
God
and
in
God
alone
the
General
Congregation
will
proceed
with
its
deliberations
and
it
will
contribute
to
its
duty
to
preserve
and
grow
this
whole
body
(
Const.
719).
The
preservation
and
growth
of
the
body
of
the
Society
is
tightly
bound
to
the
depth
o
f
the
spiritual
life
of
each
of
its
members
and
of
the
communities
in
which
we
share
life
and
mission
with
our
companions.
At
the
same
time,
it
is
necessary
to
have
an
extraordinary
intellectual
depth
in
order
to
think
creatively
about
the
ways
in
which
our
service
to
the
mission
of
Christ
Jesus
can
be
more
effective,
in
the
creative
tension
of
the
Ignatian
magis.
To
think
about
ways
of
deeply
understanding
the
unique
moment
of
human
history
in
which
we
are
living,
and
to
contribute
to
the
search
f
or
alternatives
for
overcoming
poverty,
inequality,
and
oppression.
To
think
so
that
we
never
cease
posing
pertinent
theological
questions,
and
so
that
we
continue
to
deepen
our
understanding
of
the
faith
that
we
ask
the
Lord
to
increase
in
ourselves.
We
are
not
alone.
As
companions
of
Jesus
we
too
want
to
follow
the
journey
of
the
incarnation,
to
identify
ourselves
with
the
human
beings
that
suffer
the
consequences
of
injustice.
The
Society
of
Jesus
can
develop
only
in
collaboration
with
others,
only
if
it
becomes
the
least
Society
that
collaborates.
Let
us
be
attentive
to
the
linguistic
pitfalls
here.
We
want
to
increase
collaboration,
not
just
to
seek
that
others
collaborate
with
us,
with
our
own
works,
only
because
we
don’t
want
to
lose
the
prestige
o
f
the
position
of
who
has
the
last
word.
We
want
to
collaborate
generously
with
others,
inside
and
outside
of
the
Church,
in
the
awareness,
which
comes
from
the
experience
of
God,
of
being
called
to
the
mission
of
Christ
Jesus,
which
doesn’t
belong
to
us
exclusively,
but
whom
we
share
with
so
many
men
and
women
who
are
consecrated
to
the
service
of
others.
In
the
journey
of
collaboration,
with
the
grace
of
God,
we
will
also
find
new
companions
to
increase
the
number,
always
much
too
small
no
matter
how
great,
of
collaborators
who,
along
with
the
others,
are
invited
to
be
part
of
this
body.
There
is
hardly
any
doubt
about
the
need
to
increase
our
prayer
and
our
work
for
vocations
to
the
Society,
and
to
continue
the
complex
commitment
to
provide
the
formation
that
makes
of
them
true
Jesuits,
members
of
this
multicultural
body
that
is
called
to
testify
to
the
richness
of
interculturalism
as
the
face
of
humanity,
created
in
the
image
and
likeness
of
God.
Let
us,
therefore
,
today
make
our
own
the
words
of
the
Apostle
Paul:
may
the
God
of
patience
and
consolation
grant
you
to
be
like
-‐
minded
one
toward
the
other
according
to
the
example
of
Christ
Jesus,
so
that
you
may
give
glory
to
the
God
and
Father
of
Our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
with
one
heart
and
one
voice.
(Rm.
15
:5)
In
the
Church
of
the
Gesù
in
R
As reported by the Jesuit General Convocation 36 site:
The afternoon of Friday, October 14, after the election, the
congregation members were able to take a well deserved break. They met
this morning at the Gesù Church for the second time in two weeks. They
had the joy to be around their new Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa,
who therefore had the opportunity, in his homily, to offer for the
first time a spiritual message inspired by the Holy Scripture.
The first reading was taken from the wisdom tradition, the book of
Sirach. It emphasized how the search for wisdom provides the
intelligence and opens the way for just decisions. Whoever has this
wisdom coming from the Lord will spread it to all nations. Psalm 88
reminded that the Lord is pleased by the fidelity of his servant. An
excerpt from the letter of St. Paul to the Christians of Rome exhorted
them to avoid causing scandal and division, but mainly to show
perseverance and hope by doing everything for the good of their
neighbour. In the Gospel of St. Mark, Jesus invited his disciples to be
watchful at all times.
In his homily, the new Superior General first recalled that a few
days earlier, at the opening of the General Congregation, the Master of
the Dominicans had invited the Jesuits to the audacity of the
improbable, something that characterizes a person of faith. Fr. Sosa was
even more daring: referring to Mary, he opened the way to the audacity
not only of the ‘improbable’ but also of the ‘impossible’, because
“Nothing is impossible for God”, had said the angel Gabriel.
The General added: “We ask the Lord for that kind of faith, because
we can make it our own, as Society of Jesus, the faith expressed in
Mary’s words in response to receiving the extraordinary appeal: ‘Behold
the handmaid of the Lord, all be done according to thy words.’ As
Ignatius and his first companions, like so many brothers who fought and
lived under the banner of the cross in the service of the Lord and his
Church, we also want to contribute to what seems impossible today: a
humanity reconciled in justice, living in peace in a common house well
kept, where there is room for everyone because we recognize that we are
siblings, son and daughters of the same and unique Father.”
Father General then stressed the fact that we are not alone to
accomplish this task; we do it in collaboration. Not only that of
collaborators in our works, but by making ourselves collaborators of
people, inside and outside of the Church, who are involved in a mission
that is not ours exclusively, a mission we share with many men and women
dedicated to the service of others.
You can read the original homily in Italian by clicking here.
Official English translation here.
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