A Word of the Postulator

Pope Francis is in the midst of inviting the entire Church at once to respond to three urgent calls, if it wishes to be credible and wishes to bring the gospel to today’s world: the option for the poor, bringing the gospel to the margins of society, and the mission to all. In his own time Fr. d’Alzon knew how to respond, with boldness, creativity, and, especially, great faith, to these same urgent calls. In recent issues of Signs of God we tried to show d’Alzon’s appreciation for the first two challenges and what he did concretely to respond to them. In the present issue we would like to draw attention to his missionary zeal. He tells us that the vocation, the very raison d’être of the Assumption, his religious family, is the extension of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ; this is the greatest of all causes. Our mission is that of the Church: to gather all men and women into the People of God. Every Assumptionist, whether religious or lay, must possess a missionary spirit, like that of the apostles, d’Alzon would say, where every inkling of laziness or false prudence is ruled out: Have a faith that is bold; don’t worry if it is characterized by a certain careless concern. Happy are those who embrace the whole world in their ambition, because what they’re really ambitious about is the extension of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ everywhere! This is the challenge, ever current, to which he calls us.

Fr. Julio Navarro Román, A.A.

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