Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Today as in the past, Saint Vincent Pallotti can teach us a great lesson. A disciple of Christ who comes from the Upper Room of the Holy Spirit, aflame with the fire of love, cannot be inactive, inert, indifferent or idle, in front of a world with a dramatic thirst and hunger, conscious or not, for salvation. At apocalyptic moments of human history there resounds once again the grave warning addressed to the Church in Laodicea: ‘how you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth’ (Rev 3,16).” This was part of a homily given by Archbishop Henryk Hoser, SAC, secretary adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, during a Eucharistic Concelebration which he presided at the church of S. Salvatore in Onda, in Rome, on January 21 on the occasion of the feast day of St Vincent Pallotti.
The Archbishop recalled “the one we call apostle and mystic”, “filled with the inspiration of the faith, consumed by Infinite Merciful Love, sought to extrapolate and address together two truths: who is God and who am I?”. A fine theologian and excellent shepherd, Pallotti “was able to bring combine spiritual, catechetical and homiletic elements in an audio-visual picture which captivated but above all revealed, the profundity of the faith, the riches of Revelation and the importance of mission and apostolate ”.
Using mystical language, Pallotti frequently refers to the image of fire, symbol of God's presence and power: the fire of damnation and purgatory, the fire of the kitchen - which the Saint tried so hard to use sparingly -, the fire of charity, the fire of infinite love which “becomes apostolic fire, in response to the Saviour's ardent desire and to purify us ”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 30/1/2008; righe 22, parole 289)
