ARNOLD JANSSEN...A SAINT FOR OUR TIMES
Dear Confreres and Sisters,
Last October 5, 2013 we celebrated the Tenth Anniversary of the canonization of Saints Arnold Janssen and Joseph Freinademetz. May this commemoration inspires us, members of the Arnoldus Family to continue their commitment to mission. We are challenged to REMEMBER, RENEW and CELEBRATE again and again the deep faith reflected in their lives. Thus I invite you to read and reflect again these uplifting stories about them.
In the Divine Word,
Romel Porillo, SVD
Saints are pointers to the presence of God in our life often surprisingly unwanted and uncomfortable ones.
The life and work of Saint Arnold indicate first and foremost the fundamental significance of prayer as the unceasing search for God’s will and at the same time trusting confidence in his gifts to us. He lived as Jesus asked: “Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God’s saving justice, and all this other things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33).
His intensive “searching for God” broadened his vision for the “signs of the (his) times,” making him so alert that he was able to judge opportunities with lightning speed when they arose, but also to wait patiently for the right moment to come to a decision. Saint Arnold’s unpretentious appearance and somewhat awkward personality show once again that God loves to call unpretentious, apparently weak and insignificant persons to collaborate in his kingdom and to bring about great things.
As a prayerful person he became a travelling apostle, and as founder of religious congregations a man of the universal church. “The pilgrim church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father,” as Vatican II was to state years after Arnold’s death (AG 2). With his intensive relationship to the triune God, Saint Arnold helped prepare the way for this understanding of the Church. (Arnold Janssen: Serving the Universal Church)
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