The Spirituality of Saint Guido Maria Conforti
I Looked at Him. He Looked at Me. It Seemed that He Told Me So Many Things!
G
uido Conforti, as a child and throughout his lifetime, often queried about himself with the Lord. There was a large crucifix in a chapel along his way to school, where he would often visit. In later life, his selfquestioning and his visits to the Crucified Christ would almost merge together and provide answers to his queries about the plight of peoples of his day. These were a profound concern to his mind and heart and absorbed his priestly and pastoral attention throughout his life. The stark crucifix, which he visited, represented the life of Christ, His death, and the measure of His love for all—and it beckoned: “come, see, reach out, respond”— “Love one another.” In Omnibus Christus! “Christ In All!” was his motto when he was called to be Archbishop of Ravenna. Caritas Christi urget nos! “The love of Christ impels us!” was the calling card which he passed to his Xaverian family. The Crucifix, before which he paused, gazed and wondered, “seemed to call him by name” and “attract his attention.” Christ was central to his life. Christ gave him his vocational call. Christ invited him and enabled him to contemplate his lifetime as he worked in the seminary of Parma, and when Christ was heard as a constant cry from the “fields afar” in distant China. Our times are challenging and varied. The world is one and diverse. Our points of reference are varied and changing. The Founder’s statement: “He told me so many things.” provides us with fundamental and basic insights. The Lord had told him many things and continued to guide his life: For him, Christ was ever and always in charge, until the Lord called him home in 1931. Caritas Christi remains a refrain, a challenge. It helps us to better understand who we are, to whom we have been sent, and what truths have been imparted anew to enable us to become a single family of Xaverians the world over and to share our lives, love, gifts to those who also look to the Crucifix and listen.
Father Bob Maloney, SX
8
Xaverian Mission Newsletter ▪ November 2011