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Answering Our Call to Sanctity The married, single and widowed members of Miles Jesu who live in their own homes are called 'Vinculum members'. Vinculum is the word we have chosen, for in Latin it means 'bond' or 'union'. Why did we choose this word? Because we are united in faith, in spirit. We want to form a faith family. St. Angela Merici was the first saint who tried to start a secular institute, but it was still too early in history and she was not understood. Because of the historical circumstances, she was forced to change her idea from a secular institute to a group of Sisters. I think they became cloistered Sisters whom she put under the patronage of St. Ursula. In the Divine Office (the prayer of Christians), there is a letter which she herself wrote to her daughters and Sisters. In it, she says one very interesting thing, 'We sanctify ourselves in our state of life'. That's very important. In our Miles Jesu constitutions, at the beginning, there is an invitation that is similar to the invitation that St. Benedict made in his rule, to be soldiers of Jesus, to fight for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. In this invitation there is one very important thing that i want to explain. The Father calls us above all not to be clerics or laymen, but first to the perfect love of Jesus and, as a necessary fruit of this love, to the unconditional service of His Church, to introduce the kingdom of the Father in the world. That is really the essence of Christian life. When we die, God is not going to ask us, 'Were you a cleric or a layman? Were you single or married? Were you a bishop or a cotton picker? Were you a president or a nobody?' As St. John of the Cross says, 'We are going to be judged on our love.' He is going to ask us the same question he asked St. Peter, 'Do you love me?' That is the essence and the spirit of the law. Did i love God and did i love my neighbor? That is the fulfillment of life. As St. Paul says, a life without love, even if it looks very spiritual, is not spiritual. It is neither divine nor human. This brings me to a very important point ' the purpose of Miles Jesu ' the sanctification of everyone in every state of life in whatever vocation; in a very special way for lay people, to make it practical and to emphasize that everybody has a right to sanctity, an obligation to sanctity. This brings us to the second purpose of Miles Jesu. Being generous with God and answering our call to sanctity, we work for the sanctification of others. This is the service of the Church. Today there is a great need for this, an immense need. Our Spiritual Father, St. Anthony Mary Claret, more than a hundred years ago said, 'The future of the Church will depend on the layman'. And he was not saying this because of the negative idea that there are not enough clerics. When the Sacred Heart appeared to St. Margaret Mary He said, 'In these last times I want to show the world the fullness of My Love.' It is very important that everyone realize that each of us is called to sanctity regardless of what state of life we are in. We are called to the fullness of love, to the greatest degree of love. |