A FOUNDER IN HIS OWN WAY
Aniversario de la Fundación de la Congregación C. M. F.
The Gospel breaks the rules of human logic, “If someone wants to be the first, let him be the last of all” (Mk 9, 34), “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mk 10, 43), etc. The person who has converted his life into a living gospel finds such behaviours as innate.
The paragraph for our meditation points out Claret´s attitude towards the priests who founded with him on this day, the Congregation of Missionaries. And he will write something similar about his collaborators in Cuba, “The conduct of all of them was above reproach. …. they were all a great comfort to me….. I had something to learn from all of them because they gave me such a good example in all virtues, especially humility, obedience, fervour, and a constant readiness to work” (Auto. 606-607).
“Nobody is hero for his valet”, as the saying goes; the constant presence helps to demystify the persons, we perceive their defects, likes and dislikes, etc. But this does not help in the case of the eyes of a saint who has got a gospel view. One of the cofounders of the Claretian Missionaries fell sick a few weeks after the foundation and Claret stayed in the house with him as the infirmarian while his companions were going about thier different ministries. Claret kissed the feet of his collaborators in Cuba every year after the annual retreat (Auto. 611).
The gospel view sees things positively and grasps the profound truth of the reality. Claret was seeing his companions as sons of God fighting for the cause of the Gospel. “Hats off” to them.
How do we look at our brother? Do we want to serve him or he has to serve us? Do we insist above all on his beauty as a child of God or we become blind because of his insignificant physical, psychological or spiritual limitation?
