Thursday, October 18, 2012
My Thirty-day Retreat – Part 9
Dear Friends,
I will soon come to the end of the 30-day retreat. The last days were spent celebrating Holy Mass at the Most Holy Places which are at the crucifixion of Jesus and at the place of His burial and resurrection. Indeed these have been great events which I will never forget. In reading these passages, unite with me in these experiences.
Father Melvin
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12th May 1990 – At 6:30 a.m. we made our way to Calvary for the celebration of the Eucharist at 7:00 a.m. The whole group was there as Fr. Luc began the celebration at the Catholic altar next to where Christ hung on the Cross. Fr. Luc invited us to contemplate Jesus on the Cross and to remember that the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John were there too. What a privilege for us, priests, to concelebrate with Luc on the spot where Jesus wrought our Redemption – where the Sacrifice we were offering to the Father happened at this very spot. I prayed for the salvation of the whole world, especially Africa. I offered myself to Jesus again that He may do with me as He wishes. After about an hour we returned home. At the prayer from 8:45 – 9:45 I reflected on the stoning and martyrdom of St. Stephen. At this point Jesus spoke to me, “Melvin, don’t be astonished if some members of the Society are persecuted; it will be a sign for you that the Society is genuine. Indeed, the evil one will do all he can to destroy this creation of mine. Don’t worry, he will not succeed. If anyone hates you, or tells all sorts of lies against you, or chases you away, do not revile him, do not hate him in return, do not be bitter against him, but instead bless him, ask me to bless him and all his loved ones. If such things happen, joy should fill your heart like the Apostles and Saints who found it an honour to suffer for my name.”
In the afternoon for a few hours I had a splitting headache. It must be something I ate which did not agree with me. But at 4:00 p.m. I had my regular hour of prayer. During this hour Jesus spoke to me again saying: “This afternoon I would like to talk about the manner of life of the members of the Society. As I said previously, they will work with the poor and the neglected areas. They are not to go among the poor with such things as big TVs, big cars, hi-fi’s, etc. They are to practice poverty. They are to wear their religious habit in the house, in church and in their ministry. They will eat what the people eat, to identify with them. They should have what is necessary for their work. They are to be close to the people and easy of approach. The Brothers and Sisters will not smoke, and they will avoid alcoholic drink. They should join the Pioneers of Total Abstinence, and what example they would be to the Christians. This movement will be explained in the Novitiate, and the novices will be invited to join. There will be a group at the monastery made up of members and the public. The members of this movement will meet every first Thursday of the month, and they will hold a Holy Hour in church on that date. They will celebrate the first Friday of the month in a solemn way. You will especially meditate on my Agony, Passion and Death on the Cross. One who wishes to follow me must be ready to deny himself, and not be afraid to suffer for me and for his fellow men. Remember my words: no greater love does a man have than to lay down his life for his friends. Love is tested by suffering.” My director, Fr. Luc, would like me to rewrite my election by stating the spiritual motives why I have written what I wrote.
So now I rewrite my election with this in view: During this retreat Jesus has called me in a special way to share His Agony and holy Passion. He made me undergo in a very real way the suffering, the pain, the fatigue, the feeling of abandonment, the great distress and sorrow which He felt during those hours from Thursday evening to Friday afternoon, until He died on the cross. I relived this time of our redemption over a period of 12 days, in a very close union with Jesus. I wish to thank Jesus for this great privilege which I did not deserve, for I am a sinner. Taking into consideration the words of Jesus “Not my will but thine be done” and “into your hands I commit my spirit” and to those who killed Him “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing”, I wish to offer myself together with Jesus to the Father in complete oblation that He may do with me as He wishes. I take up my cross and desire to follow only Jesus. I wish to do only God’s will and I ask only for the grace to accomplish it. I believe it is God’s will that I return to Zambia to work for the Church there. I wish to work in obedience to the Bishop in whose Diocese I will work. I will dialogue with my superiors concerning the inspiration of founding the Society, and to let them know the lights I receive in this 30-day retreat. I believe the Lord is calling the Church in Zambia during the time of its centenary to deepen the faith She has received, to follow Christ more closely and to produce new fruit that will ripen for the glory of God through a new evangelization of the people. During the hour of prayer from 5:45 to 6:45 as I meditated on the conversion of St. Paul in Acts 9, 1-19, Jesus spoke to me again saying: “It is about time for the establishment of the Society. You will have to be ready to explain the Society to everybody that comes to you. You will explain in detail the inspiration of 1977 and the further inspiration you received in this retreat and the confirmation I will give you in the future. I ask you to write all this so that you will be ready to explain it without difficulty. You should be ready to explain it to Bishops, priests, religious and any man or woman in order that this idea spreads throughout the country.”
13th May 1990: Day of repose – Today is our third break in the retreat and the last one. So, at 8:00 a.m. we boarded our bus from NET and left for ABUGHOSH on the way to Tel-Aviv. This place is only 12 km. from Jerusalem. We had passed by on our way to the Kibbutz, and on our way back from there we had stopped at the Church of Our Lady of the Ark, which is on the hill overlooking Abughosh. Today we went to the beautiful church of the Benedictines. It was built by the Crusaders in the 12th century, and its walls are about four to five feet thick. We first went to the basement to see the spring. Water is a great commodity here, and often scarce. They have plenty, and so close. We then proceeded to the main church, and we were surprised to see that it was so similar to St. Anne’s where we lived. St. Anne’s, though, is larger and has a dome. Ten Benedictine monks live here – 7 from Bec in Normandy, France, and 3 from Zaire. Just like St. Anne’s, the whole property here belongs to the French Government. After saying some private prayers, we went to their store where they sell their pottery – they make all sorts of things in ceramics. From Abughosh we went to a ruin of a Christian church called Emmaus, and there we celebrated the Eucharist, and we used as Gospel the Emmaus story. We took pictures of our little group in a corner of the ruins. Before returning to Jerusalem, we went to the beautiful Trappist monastery of Latrun where they are celebrating 100 years of their foundation. Fifteen monks live in this place. Near Jerusalem we stopped at Mont Joli to see the tomb of the prophet Samuel – many say however that he is not buried here. By 12:15 we were back at St. Anne’s.
14th May 1990 – This morning the whole group on retreat went to the Holy Sepulchre for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Fr. Richard Dandenault was the main celebrant, and we all concelebrated with him. The consecration took place on the stone where Jesus’ body rested from Good Friday until Easter morning, and the co-celebrants were in the adjoining room. This was a great honour for all of us. In my second period of prayer 9:15 – 10:15, Jesus took me to the Father and offered His sacrifice together with my oblation for the conversion of the Jews and the Moslems. He asked the Father that these come to know, love and serve Him, for He loves them very much. In reply, the Father graciously accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, and my oblation, and sent the Holy Spirit upon all the Jews and Moslems, that their heart may be opened, and that they eventually come to believe in their Saviour. He said the Moslems are in bondage and only the Holy Spirit can free them, and the Jews are in darkness till the time that He will lift this darkness. The Father then turned to me and said, “Melvin, you are to play an important part in the conversion of both the Jews and the Moslems, especially through the Society. They will be instrumental in bringing these people to believe in Jesus. Your role will be explained at a later date.”
During the afternoon hour of prayer, I took the text: Acts 11,19 – 30: the Church spreads from Jerusalem to Antioch. During this hour I was given a great grace of intense joy and fervour which kept me focussed on the subject the whole time. Jesus spoke very clearly saying, “This is an important message for the Society. The Society must become international as soon as possible. You will, as soon as possible, establish a monastery in Rome and in all the other continents. The members of the Society will know more than one language, and will do further studies. You will also start the Sisters of Jesus, a religious society for women, that is the complement of the Brothers of Jesus. They will follow the same Rule as the Brothers. You will attract the youth by getting them to join the association: Youth for Jesus. Through this movement many youth will join the Brothers and Sisters. You will as soon as possible establish a house in Israel and in the Arab countries, and get the youth to turn to me.
In my last period of prayer Jesus spoke to me about the youth. He said, “The new Society has to be concerned with the youth and animate them. You will begin the ‘Youth for Jesus’, a movement for boys and girls. The organization will revolve around the following points:
(1) The youth group – about 20 or so, who will meet every week around the Bible, to deepen their knowledge and love of me. This meeting must be arranged in such a way as to attract the youth – singing, banners, hats, badges, etc. It must be practical and attuned to the youth, but with a bias for the poor and charitable work. They will also work for the improvement of the environment. Their slogan will be “Let us transform the world.”
(2) Prayer – they will pray every day, and on Sundays they will come to church and their catchword will be “Love like Jesus”.
(3) Youth rallies – every year they will attend youth rallies either in their parish, diocese, or even on a national level. As immediate preparation to join the Youth for Jesus, there will be an intense 3 or 4 day period of introduction.”