Dear Jubilarian confreres, priests and brothers who have completed 25, 50, 60 and 75 years of religious profession, and those who are celebrating 25, 50, 60 and 70 years of priestly ordination. I would like to mention each of your names, but there are so many that it is not possible. But I want you to know that you are in my heart and in my prayers.
I am sure you will receive my letter of congratulations. With you, the General Council thanks the Lord for your vocation and rejoices in the gift of your perseverance. You are a gift for the Church and the Congregation! I repeat: you are a gift for the Church and the Congregation!
During these years of your vocational journey, you have experienced moments of difficulty and sadness, but also moments of great joy with your confreres and the People of God. You have persevered and celebrate this beautiful experience of living and proclaiming the fullness of redemption. Always remember the day of your religious profession, the day of your ordination, recall your memories of the Redemption during all these years and give thanks to God.
Dear confreres, share with our formandi your vocational and missionary experiences, the difficulties you have overcome and the joy of being Redemptorists. And encourage confreres who are going through a crisis in their vocation, so that this moment may be a time of learning and vocational strengthening.
Thank you for the life you have offered in the Congregation and for the good you have done, are doing and will continue to do through your consecration and priestly ministry.
May God bless you all, and may Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help, our saints, martyrs and blessed, and the Redemptorist community be a safe haven for you. Go forth, with courage and perseverance, as missionaries of hope in the footsteps of the Redeemer!
