Saint Arnold Janssen is the essence of spirituality, whose feast we celebrate on January 15. Within the framework of this celebration, it is opportune that we can reflect on the great spiritual wealth that Saint Arnold Janssen gives us, the great missionary founder of three Missionary Congregations: Missionaries of the Divine Word, Missionaries Servants of the Holy Spirit and Missionaries Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration. Our Saint invites us to trust in God, in the face of life’s adversities, and put our projects and dreams to be guided by God’s will.
Saint Arnold Janssen, had great admiration and devotion for the Holy Trinitywhich inspired him to live in community and promote the formation of missionary communities in the five continents. His life was a permanent search for God’s will, trust in divine providence and hard work.
Testimony of the divine blessing on his work, we see it in the more than 10,000 missionaries and hundreds of lay collaborators who live their spirituality in more than 70 countries. This holy missionary encourages us to know God’s project, to share his divine life with humanity.
The Triune God is a God of communion, unity in diversity, surrender and mutual acceptance. May the Triune God live, mold and transform us together with the people we serve and with whom we share life on a daily basis.
In a world so divided by selfishness, he encourages us to live a profound interior transformation to be people of communion, capable and willing to open our hearts to accept, respect and promote others. We can become people who come to see beyond their own interests and concerns, who live in solidarity with others. It is necessary to always remember that we are all in the same boat, traveling together in this world and building history.
Saint Arnold summed up his spirituality in this prayer, which at the same time was his motto: Long live the Holy Trinity, One God in our hearts and in the hearts of all people! Certainly, seeking, listening to and living the will of God in his daily life was a priority for Arnold Janssen, and something that he wanted to transmit above all to each of his spiritual sons and daughters.
From this trinitarian spirituality, he invites us to “walk in the presence of God”as an ideal of life. It is the permanent awareness of the presence of God at all times of our lives: in moments of joy and celebration, in moments of adversity, failure, pain and suffering; and in the moments in which one is projected towards the future. It is a living in God and from God in all moments of life.
Arnoldo’s love for God and the search for his will was a constant, in all the circumstances of his life. The struggle to know the will of God flows as the main axis of his own interior life. This combination of closeness to the world and closeness to God is an outstanding characteristic of Arnold Janssen. In his life of prayer and closeness to God is the source of his strength, both for his work and for his suffering. Inspired by Franciscan spirituality, he encourages us to recognize in all of creation the presence of God’s love. In these times of so much destruction of our environment, Saint Arnold Janssen invites us to take care of our common home.
On this feast of our Saint, let us ask for your intercession to live our faith with passion and share it with our loved ones. As he always did, let us ask today: “May the One and Triune God live in our hearts and in the hearts of all people.”