Every new association year invites us to begin again. But where do we begin?
For us, who desire to walk in the Divine Will, following the experience and teachings that Jesus gives us through the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, beginning again means returning to the source, renewing our Fiat, and allowing the Lord to guide us once more.
Our new association year officially begins on September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Yet, already on Sunday, September 13, we experienced an important moment together, almost like a threshold leading us into the new year.
We first gathered around the altar for the celebration of Holy Mass, entrusting to the Lord the journey that lies ahead, our lives, our families, and our activities. We then continued to spend time together in a spirit of fellowship and sharing, allowing us to reconnect, listen to one another, and renew our desire to continue walking together in the Divine Will.
The Feast of the Holy Cross, celebrated the following day, then pointed us toward the path we are called to follow.
The Cross is a path to be walked. It is on the Cross that Love gives itself, pours itself out, and becomes new life. When we look at the life of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, we understand how deeply the Cross was connected with her journey of conformity to Jesus. In her writings, Luisa recounts that on September 14, 1899, Jesus wished to unite her in a particular way to His Passion, granting her the invisible stigmata and leading her into the Spiritual Marriage of the Cross.
This helps us understand that the Cross can become an interior place for each one of us: a place where we learn to surrender ourselves to God, to trust Him, and to say our Fiat even when we do not understand.
The invisible stigmata also remind us that what God accomplishes within the soul may remain hidden from human eyes, yet become decisive in the life of the person who entrusts himself or herself to Him.
In his homily, Father Sergio Pellegrini, the Association’s spiritual advisor, helped us enter more deeply into the Word we had heard and recognize its connection with our journey in the Divine Will.
The Gospel placed before us the themes of forgiveness and mercy.
The parable tells of a servant whose enormous debt is forgiven, yet who immediately afterward is unable to forgive a much smaller debt owed by a fellow servant.
Father Sergio invited us to reflect on the contradiction that can also exist in our own lives: we continually receive God’s mercy, yet how difficult it can sometimes be for us to offer that same mercy to others.
Jesus tells us:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
He is not simply asking us to be good people. He is inviting us to allow the mercy we have received to transform us.
And this Word speaks directly to our own lives.
We, too, can experience misunderstandings, hurtful words, attitudes that cause us pain, and situations that create distance between us. We can hold on to resentment, withdraw into ourselves, judge, and turn away. Or we can choose a different path: the path of forgiveness, mercy, and communion.
Living in the Divine Will does not simply mean trying to do what God wants. It means allowing His Will to enter ever more deeply into our lives—into our thoughts, our words, our choices, and our relationships.
It is a gift, but it also calls for our response. It requires desire, knowledge, openness, and perseverance.
This is why formation is so important for us, the little children of the Divine Will. We cannot live what we do not know. Luisa’s writings help us to understand this gift ever more deeply. The more we come to know, the more we are called to become little.
True knowledge does not make us better than others. Rather, it makes us recognize even more deeply how much we need God. The more light we receive, the more clearly we understand our littleness.
This is a journey we can experience as moving “from dawn to midday”: a light that gradually increases, step by step. We cannot expect everything to change in a single day.
We need time, formation, and perseverance. We also need to begin again whenever we realize that we have taken the wrong path.
The new association year therefore becomes, for us, a new opportunity to make another 'round' in the Divine Will:
-another step;
-a new opportunity to grow in love;
-our third Fiat.
And here we return to a word we know well, a word we are continually called to rediscover: Fiat.
The Fiat of Jesus.
The Fiat of Mary.
And then our own third Fiat.
Our “yes” to God cannot remain merely a beautiful spiritual expression. It must become concrete in our lives.
It is seen:
in the way we relate to one another;
in the way we face difficulties;
in the way we respond to words that hurt us;
in the way we choose communion rather than division;
in the way that, when faced with something we do not understand, we are able to say: “Lord, I leave it in Your hands.”
Father Sergio also drew our attention to the image of the “newborn in the Divine Will.”
A newborn is small, fragile, and completely dependent. A newborn needs to be nourished, cared for, and accompanied. A newborn cannot live without his/her mother.
We, too, are called to recognize ourselves in this way before God.
We must not think that we have already arrived. We must allow ourselves to be formed, nourished by grace, and guided by His light.
A new year lies before us, rich in gatherings, formation, celebrations, and initiatives. We are also preparing for the journey toward the Fifth International Congress. But we want to remember that none of these activities is the ultimate goal. The activities are important, but what matters even more is what the Lord desires to accomplish in us and through us.
Our life together is also part of this journey.
We are different, with different personalities, sensitivities, and life stories. And precisely because of this, we may encounter difficulties and misunderstandings. Yet perhaps it is precisely in our everyday relationships that we are called to test the concreteness of our Fiat.
Walking in the Divine Will also means learning to walk alongside one another:
learning to forgive;
supporting one another;
beginning again;
recognizing in the other a brother or sister, someone who, together with us, is seeking to respond to the same calling.
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross therefore gives us a clear direction.
Beginning again from the Cross means beginning again from love: from the love of Jesus who, on the Cross, utters His complete and total Fiat to the Father.
And as we look to Luisa, we understand that the journey of the Divine Will does not take us away from the realities of everyday life. Rather, it teaches us how to live them in a new way.
Perhaps our most beautiful “sign” will not be something that others can see.
It will be a heart that slowly learns to forgive; a love that continues to give itself; a Fiat that, day after day, becomes ever more real.
Every gathering will be an opportunity to grow. Every moment of formation can bring us new light. Every difficulty can become an opportunity to mature. Every relationship can teach us something more about love.
Let us entrust this new journey to the Lord, together with Jesus and Mary. Let us entrust to Him our gatherings, our formation, our service, our community life, and the journey that will lead us toward the next International Congress.
May this new association year be, for all of us, a time of grace, communion, and transformation.