This is a teaching from our founder, Br. Ephraim, during the jubilee of the Community of the Beatitudes, in Rome, in August 2000.

Beloved brothers and sisters,

I am undoubtedly the poorest among you, or I should say the worst, because poverty is a virtue and I have no virtues, being at a place where, defeated, I accept that my only virtue is Christ, just like Little Therese. Yet I am addressing you as your Founder, knowing that if I have received this charism, it is not because of any personal merit on my part. If the Lord had found someone poorer than me He would have chosen him, so that all the fruit, all that we see flourishing may be attributed to Him and Him alone. The Community is not a work of human hands, it is something that goes completely over our heads, and this is good. It pleases God to put the treasure of His graces in jars of clay. Today, we can see the splendor of the Community and we celebrate its fruits and accomplishments, but if we were to place the weaknesses of its members end-to-end, what a sight we would have. May we say in all honesty, just as St. Paul did: I pride myself in my weakness.

As for me, I believe that God still imparts His vision through me and I would like to share it with you.

The Virgin Mary and a Marian Community

In a letter that Martha Robin wrote to me, the Community belongs to the Virgin Mary and it strives for unity of the Church. But have we really understood what it means to say that the Community belongs to Mary? For me, it is a subject of great joy and a source of unlimited trust. Those who are in the hands of the Virgin Mary cannot be separated from her, which is why I am unconditionally optimistic even in the face of all the combats, the attacks, the apparent failings. The Virgin Mary intervenes whenever we need her help, as strong as an army prepared for battle, and we triumph even in those situations which seem insurmountable. She crushes the head of the serpent under her feet and sin will not have the last word, whatever that may be in our lives, in the history of the Community or in the Church.

But this implies that we must be logical in our Marian spirituality. She is the one who chose us before we were able to say, in the words of St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort: "I choose you for my Mother and Queen." If we state her royalty, we can also state her motherhood. The secret of Mary, the Marian way, is a way of childhood where we do not take the road of grandeur nor wonders which surpass us, but where our souls are kept in peace and silence like children cradled on the knee of their mother. The Marian way demands that we seek to be little and to have peace of heart, being absolutely trusting and confident. So let us not be afraid! We do not have the right to worry about the Community if we take refuge under the shelter of Divine Mercy which is the Mother of God.

This road may appear easy, and it is, even though it is difficult to be abandoned and remain 'little' uncertain and relying on Providence, which is the ever-watchful gaze of the Father upon us.

Foundation stones

As well as the Marian way, unity of the Church is another foundation-stone for the Community and I would like to remind us of this so that we may be who we are. In the words of Msgr. Coffy: "Be who you are." This means that we must not try to adapt to those things that are passing-away. Let us remember what that great prophet Thomas Roberts said to us: "Geneva to Rome and from Rome to Jerusalem, passing through Byzance." Our liturgy, our prayer, our customs, all reflect this very hope in an eschatological tension toward unity of the Body of Christ. Contemplating in advance the beauty of the Spouse without stain…celebrating the wedding feast of the Lamb…anticipating the harmony of the Heavenly liturgy. We have contemplated in advance the Light of the Orient. We have precipitated the ecumenical work of John Paul II in its etymological meaning, that is placing the desire for unity in the context that all men will be reconciled with God. Our Pope, the beloved son of the Virgin Mary, has multiplied the efforts toward Reform, the Orthodox, the Jews, and toward all religions. Even though we were unsure of our own feelings about steps of repentance such as visiting oriental liturgies, and that of the Jews, to whom worship and the covenants belong, the events have over-taken us.

Overwhelmed by Prophecy

The Bible shows us that the prophets are often overwhelmed by their prophecy, which makes them poorer still and more dependent on the Spirit which inspires them. But they must remain as prophets, keeping watch at the tower. It isn't enough to say: "We were right to offer evenings of repentance on behalf of a Church whose splendor is recognizing herself poor and vulnerable. It isn't enough to rejoice at seeing the effort John Paul II displays in mobilizing his last strength, or rather, letting the Holy Spirit make up for his weakness. We must make every effort to live what the Holy Father has put into place and meditate on his writings and declarations, taking refuge in the safe harbor he as opened. He continues to watch the horizon, looking out for the one who is coming out of the desert, resting on her beloved. She is the Mother of the Church, Mother of all humanity, whatever their religious affiliation. Yes, we have been overwhelmed by what John Paul II has initiated regarding inter-religious dialog. Once he has left us, we will have the task of incarnating all that he has said and written, coming to understand the prophetic depth of it all.

The Church is Only Just Beginning

The Church of the New Millennium is 'she who is coming out of the desert'. I used to be shocked each time Msgr. Coffy said that we were at the dawn of Christianity and that the Church was yet to be born, because I thought I saw a contradiction with that and eschatology. I was very much mistaken since, if the Spirit and the Spouse say "Come!" it is so that Christ may be all in all. Fr. Alexander Men made me understand that "the Church is only just beginning," confirming the founding intuition that the Finite Church resembles the Primitive Church which it still embellishes so as to instate the Definitive Church in Parousia. The body must resemble the head: The Church must resemble Christ, like the disciple resembles the master. The Church has never been so poor but in this ecclesial, marian, and pentecostal spring-time, we are going to see her flourish. The Church will be more evangelistic than ever, far removed from all triumphalism and all compromise with the ruling powers of this world. She will be gentle and humble, as well as persecuted, so that her blood will water this earth as a way of saying that it is loved to the point of death. As a result, I believe that God wants a poor Community for a Church which is poor. We can already see in the Holy Father the image of St. Paul when he said: "I have come before you weak and trembling, but my preaching has been an example of the Spirit and of strength." The Church has never been so evangelistic, not for centuries. We need to recognize the work of the Spirit and not worry that she is becoming weaker. She will be more and more beautiful, more and more the Body of Christ whose wounds radiate with glory as a source of healing for the world.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees

I would like us at this point to meditate a little on the warning Jesus gave: "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees." (Mt 16:6) The Pharisees and the Sadducees share the same attitude: the refusal of the Kingdom that Christ came to offer us, and of the Good News of salvation announced to the poor and those who accept it with simplicity and contrition, like numerous public sinners; pagans like the centurion; prostitutes; the socially unacceptable such as lepers; the shepherds who were not used to expressing their worship, to the Three Kings who adored the stars. It is like the refusal of becoming like little children, renouncing the desire to save oneself and to fall into the arms of mercy, entrusting oneself to God's plans.

What is the yeast of the Pharisees? The Pharisees were motivated by fear, frightened at the prospect of religion disappearing in what was a difficult time, where the spiritual and actual existence of Israel was threatened. Their reaction was to increase their religious observances, believing that this would provide a defense of God. They were conservationists who thought they were acting wisely in defining an orthodoxy to which only they, in their eyes, were capable of being faithful. But out of this, they closed themselves off from the new-thing the Spirit wanted to operate, immunizing themselves from the Kingdom of God and rendering themselves sealed-off from the merciful love of God who desires that all men be saved.

This yeast of the Pharisees is also that liberal attitude which consists in making ourselves out to be God and judging what is good and what is bad for humanity. This liberal humanism ignores the divine precepts and, believing that it is acting for the best, replaces them with the ethics we find in today's post-modern society where Man is the only point of reference. It is true that Man is the Creator's only reference, but He alone knows what is best for Man and he shows this to us out of His immense love for us. This second yeast comes out of a sense of despair: the past shows that religion has been incapable of resolving the world's problems, so let us re-invent religion, get rid of the guilt-inducing idea of sin and do away with those magical aspects such as the Sacraments ! The Church is divided between liberalism and conservatism, which may cause her to struggle during times of hardship. If we are truly disciples of Christ, we should be unable to recognize ourselves in one camp or the other. We should not succumb to fear nor to discouragement. I would go even further by suggesting that we should also beware of the yeast of Essenians, about whom Jesus does not talk and rightly so: they were completely absent from public view. This temptation consists of wanting to build the 'ideal' community, fully-protected from the pollution of the world, where great care is taken in choosing its members, believing that we are the only ones 'in the light' and the others are children of darkness.

Pharisees and Sadducees alike refused the signs from Heaven, the former in the name of a tradition closed-in on itself, rejecting anything new; the latter because anything irrational was unacceptable. We must keep the idea of Tradition, with a capital 'T' well and truly alive. It is a work of the Holy Spirit in the history of the Church, and we must not despise the intelligence as a means of sanctification but use it as a way of staying open to what the Spirit is saying to the Church today. Signs from Heaven are being multiplied through the numerous Marian apparitions so let us listen attentively to the Virgin Mary. We need to recognize the signs of our time when the Holy Father has recently shown these Heavenly signs to be authentic by His public revelation of the last secret of Fatima.