Pentecost Letter
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Dear Sisters and members of our Nicolas Barré Family,
I am with you wherever you may be in the world. When I think of you and the people who are part of your lives, my heart is filled with joy and expands to embrace our entire worldwide family. I am filled with hope for the dynamism that the legacy of the 2025 General Chapter is inspiring throughout the Institute.
Now, as the Solemnity of Pentecost draws near like a breath of fresh air, our hearts turn with confidence to the invocation of the Spirit. Let us echo the words of our founder, Father Nicolas Barré: he urged us to “allow ourselves to be possessed by the Spirit”, not as passive spectators, but as pliable branches that allow themselves to be guided by the hand of the Vinedresser. Let us ask that He, the one true driving force behind every mission, may guide our steps today, as we seek to bring the Chapter’s guidelines to fruition in the furrows of our daily lives.
In St. John’s Gospel, 20:19-20, we read that the Risen Lord passes through the closed doors of the Upper Room, greeting them with the words: “Peace be with you”. Those barred doors reflect our human fears: the fear of leaving the safe confines of our habits and our attachment to our small certainties. And yet, precisely in the fragility of our fear and our barren soil, the Spirit acts as a liberating and transforming force, capable of bringing life to sprout where everything seemed locked tight.
Just as fire is heat, light and love, He burns away the obstacles that hold back our growth. This transition, though marked by the pain of loss, is the very essence of Easter: to die to who we were so that we may blossom into a new and radiant creation.
The same Spirit that stirred the disciples, driving them towards the horizons of the world, calls us today. In a time scarred by the shadows of war, loneliness and anguish, we are called to become “guardians of springs”, building oases of peace and offering the water of life to those who thirst for hope. How? By returning to the simplicity of the Gospel and living out the Words that gave life to our history: “God so loved the world...” and “Whoever welcomes a poor and abandoned child welcomes Jesus twice over”.
Father Barré invites us to seek God not only in the heavenly heights; He dwells in the places of humility, suffering and everyday simplicity. God is closer to us than our own
innermost being, and yet He transcends us infinitely. Let us surrender ourselves to Him, let us allow ourselves to be ‘consumed’ by His divine fire: we will no longer need to seek God far away, for we will rediscover Him as the very breath of our lives and in the faces of our brothers and sisters.
Like the Twelve gathered around Mary, let us rediscover the beauty of walking together. From the warmth of that first Upper Room, the Church was born; may our unity today give rise to realities of communion and fraternity, where every person can feel at home, welcomed and loved.
As Pentecost draws near, we stand on the threshold of that mystery which Blessed Nicolas Barré lived out until his very last breath: total surrender to the Love that possesses us.
O God, by whom everything is
O foundation of all that exists,
O divine milieu, in whom everything has its existence,
O King, the master of all that is,
O pure and sovereign Spirit,
Whose hand holds all in being, Life which enlivens every soul,
In your bountiful goodness,
Be for us the spirit, the source and the flame
Which inspires our will.
(Spiritual Canticle, 45)
‘The Spirit must take possession of us.’ These words are not merely an invitation, but a mystical threshold. Father Barré reveals to us that Pentecost is the moment when we allow the Spirit to dwell within us and, like him and the sisters who have gone before us, we run towards this Fire to be consumed by it.
As we await that breath which transforms all things and knows how to read the signs of the times, I embrace you all,
Marina,
in union with Celina, Béatrice and Kitty
Comments