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Christmas greeting of Br. Roberto Genuin
General Minister
of the Friars Minor Capuchin
Christmas 2018
Dear Brothers, it’s good to be in touch with you!
After some months since the beginning of my service as General Minister I have this chance to send you some Christmas greetings. At Mass this morning, the homily recalled ‘Emmanuel’ – of all that the Lord does for us, and how the simplicity with which God acts comes from his love for us. Not because God wants something from us, but because he loves us.
I believe that for each of us an experience of the love of God must have been, without doubt, the beginning of our story with the Lord, the origin of our vocation, the first moment of our journey of responding to him.
I imagine that it was those encounters, at once ineffable and wholly personal, that the Lord has had with each of us in different ways – in very individual ways – that are the moments in which we have met the love of God. I think also of how many times, in the course of the unevenness of our lives, in the various places we have lived, in the services we have carried out, how many times we have been given to realize in a personal way – and also through our brothers – how much the Lord truly loves each one of us.
So, if the Lord so loves us … it is impossible to be fearful with one who loves us. Have we ever been afraid? Fear comes easily; we find ourselves in difficulty and we distance ourselves from God. But we have also had the experience of the Lord who draws us in. We have had this experience many times in life. The Lord returns to tell us that he loves us. This unending presence of the Lord means to make us experience the nature of his love and the riches, life, meaning, and fullness it gives …
When I was thinking of what I would say to you in this message, it occurred to me to say: see that the Lord comes anew to find us, to give us this fullness. Ours is a marvelous life, so long as we do not forget Christ the Lord!
My heartfelt hope for all of you, in whatever the situation in which you live, is that you encounter this Lord who loves us, to meet him anew. Surely you have met him before, but the love of the Lord is always new, reaching a new place and a new effectiveness within. This is my hope for myself, for all the friars of the General Curia – which is a wonderful fraternity – and for all the friars that are going about everywhere in the world, all you good friars …
All the best! Meet the Lord! Merry Christmas to all!
Br. Roberto Genuin OFM Cap.
General Minister