"Let the holiness of God shine forth" (cf. Mt 5,16)

To be a saint and apostle was, for Pallotti, a constant desire and a force for missionary efforts for the proclamation of the Gospel in every situation.
At the beginning of the celebrations on the occasion of the 50° anniversary of the Canonization of St. Vincent Pallotti (1963-2013), the Rector General of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, Fr. Jacob Nampudakam, wish that, following the example of St. Vincent Pallotti, all the members of the Union of Catholic Apostolate renew their vocation to holiness of life and apostolate.

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We bring you also the homily of the Rector General at the inaugural Mass of the 3rd Ordinary General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate on 14th January 2012 at Grottaferrata, Roma.

The Gospel passage of today speaks about the call of Levi, the tax collector. He was a person apparently hated by the common people because he was seen as a collaborator of the Romans. Jesus, seeing him sitting at the tax office, said to him, "follow me" and he just got up and followed the Lord. Later Jesus had even dinner at his house with many tax collectors and sinners because many of them were his followers. The Scribes of the Pharisee party was certainly not amused by these actions of Jesus. They asked: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?". When Jesus heard this he said to them: "It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I came to call not the upright, but sinners".
Why did Jesus go against the well-respected social norms? Probably he could have found many persons who were better respected and accepted by the society to be his disciples. Yet he went for simple folks like fishermen and tax collectors. At the end, they did not fail him, perhaps except one. They remained faithful to their call to the point of giving their very lives for the Master.

In fact, the very earthly life of Jesus was full of such contradictions and paradoxes. The Son of God chose to be born in a manger amidst animals and pastors of the field. He lived this radical poverty until his death on the cross. He showed that it is only by losing oneself that one finds oneself, it is by dying that one finds life. The first will be the last and the last will be the first in God's eyes, he insisted.

This morning we begin the General Assembly of the Union of Catholic Apostolate – a moment of discernment and planning for the fuller realisation of the prophetic vision of our holy Founder, St. Vincent Pallotti. We pray to the Holy Spirit to illumine and guide us as we begin our deliberations. At this moment a few questions arise in my mind, following the message of today's Gospel passage.

Are we, the members of the Union, able to think and act in ways that are different from the accepted norms and practices, just like Jesus who dared to call a tax collector rather than the so-called good and just ones? Do we dare to be different as far as Christian life is concerned? Are we able to take the "path less travelled"?

The starting point of our new journey should be gratitude to God for what we have been able to achieve so far as far as the Union is concerned. Thanks to the President, Fr. Derry Murphy, the Secretary, Fr. Rory Hanly and all the UAC members around the world for their commitment and hard work. May God continue to bless our efforts for the realisation of our charism.

The work is far from over though. Going around the world, I have the impression that Pallotti, regardless of his greatness, remains very much still "an undiscovered treasure" in the Church and even in our own Pallottine world. At times I get an impression that we are too much "Rome or Italy-centred" and make our judgements elsewhere in the world on what we see and hear in this country. It is true that Italy and Rome in particular have special roles to play because we will not understand the spirit of Pallotti without understanding the Italian culture and people. Yet the Pallottine charism is sufficiently universal in its essence and should integrate into diverse cultures for effective realisation.

Experiences also show that we can never understand the UAC without knowing and experiencing the spirituality of St. Vincent himself. Placing the UAC or more specially the General Statutes of the Union before the person and spirit of Pallotti, would be like placing the cart before the horses. In all our formation courses here in Rome, whenever the spirituality of St. Vincent was explained, all were thrilled and attracted to it. But the discussions about the UAC without connecting that to St. Vincent and his spirituality have often led to mental blocks and resistances. Hence perhaps it is time to present the Union in a new way.
In re-proposing the UAC, I would consider these three points as very significant.

The first point is that we must focus on the spirituality of St. Vincent. We must even pay greater attention to the mystical and contemplative dimension of Pallotti's spirituality. What the world needs today is genuine God-experience and the first and most important element of Pallottine spirituality is the experience of the infinite love and mercy of God by St. Vincent. There is even a sort of mystical thirst in the hearts of people today. We may ask ourselves: "Do we seek God always and everywhere" as St. Vincent did? Is God really the centre of our lives and our activities? How far do we emphasise such a search for the divine in our Union groups? In fact, we have need of the "holy retreats" or "Cenacles" as St. Vincent insisted. As Pallottines, we need to become more and more contemplative and mystical in our pursuit of God.

The second point is that we need to have attractive and effective formation models for the Union. In fact, the Cenacle provides the best model for UAC formation. The presence of the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of formation, the constant and maternal presence of Mary, Queen of Apostles, the sharing of the Word and the bread in the context of a community of faith, the internal transformation of the simple persons into apostles of Jesus, going out to the whole world to preach the Good News etc., are elements of effective formation models for the Union. It must be remembered that the persons who make their apostolic commitment in the Union need not only the two or three years of initial formation but also an ongoing formation in order to ensure that their apostolic zeal is renewed constantly. Formation is an area where we can enrich each other. We need to have opportunities to share our experiences and learn from each other.

A third point to be considered is our missionary vocation and commitment as members of the Union. The apostles never remained enclosed in the Cenacle but they went forth to share their experience of God. In the same way, the members of the Union need to engage in concrete missionary activities in order to make the Union an effective instrument in service of the Church. The Union should not be just a self-contended and self-contained group with no missionary outlet. If it happens, the Union will certainly die out. "The harvest is plentiful and the labourers are few". There are so many pastoral needs in the world, spiritual and temporal. It is the missionary spirit that keeps the Church dynamic. The UAC is an apostolic force in the Church and in the world and hence it should engage in spiritual and corporeal acts of love and mercy. Each Union group needs to see what can be done in its respective place and situation, always in the spirit of the Catholic Apostolate. If charity does not translate itself into concrete actions in service of God and fellow human beings, it is not real charity, because charity in its very essence means self-giving.

In short, there are at least three challenges before us today: make the UAC founded on genuine God-experience in a mystical and contemplative way; develop effective models of apostolic formation of members of the Union, always in spirit of the Cenacle; and engage in concrete missionary activities as avenues to experience and express God's love and mercy and to share the message of salvation to our fellow human beings. Pope Benedict XVI says, "Faith without charity bears no fruit, while charity without faith would be a sentiment constantly at the mercy of doubt...May Christians dedicate their lives with love to those who are lonely, marginalised or excluded, as to those who are the first with a claim on our attention and the most important for us to support, because it is in them that the reflection of Christ's face is seen" (Porta fidei).

An event like the General Assembly of the Union should really dwell on such essential elements for the growth of the Union. These four days should not be filled with trivial matters, which can be easily dwelt with by the UAC Secretariat. My brief experience of some of such events has shown that much time is spent on small issues at the cost of serious discussion on vital matters related to the Union. If the General Assembly or the meeting of the General Coordination Council are not prepared to deal with these important issues, where else can we deal with them? It is good that we are going to focus on the question of "New Evangelisation" in the current Assembly. In fact, this is the opportune moment for the Pallottines to offer their charism to the Universal Church as a fitting response to the needs of the present times. "New Evangelisation" means the Church's renewed efforts to meet the challenges which today's society and cultures are posing to Christian faith. In this new project to revitalise the faith, the Church makes the Person of Jesus Christ and a personal encounter with him central to her thinking, knowing that he will give his Spirit and provide the force to announce and proclaim the Gospel in new ways which can speak to today's cultures.

"To revive faith and rekindle charity" as authentic apostles of Jesus Christ in this changing world – as the theme of the XX General Assembly of our Society suggested – is the real challenge before us. It is a matter of joy that the Immaculate Conception Province of our Society is establishing a "Catholic Apostolate Centre" in Washington in order to face the challenge of "New Evangelisation" in the spirit of our Founder and in collaboration with the Church in the United States of America. In the last week of September 2012, I, in my capacity as Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Union, plan to organise a seminar in Rome precisely to deepen our reflection on the Pallottine charism as a response to the challenge of "New Evangelisation".

The charism remains vibrant and relevant only when it is a fitting response to the sign of the times. Otherwise it remains stagnant or will eventually die. The Union of the Catholic Apostolate is God's gift, through St. Vincent Pallotti, to the universal Church. Today we are the ones to show to the Church that we have indeed a treasure with us to revive and renew the Catholic faith and the apostolic spirit in the Church. It will depend much on our courage, vision, creativity, collaboration and trust in God to transform and translate the prophetic vision of our Founder into an evangelical trumpet in service of the entire Church. May the Holy Spirit inspire and guide us in all our efforts. Amen.

Fr. Jacob Nampudakam SAC

Grottaferrata, 14 January 2012