Items filtered by date: April 2025

The Question

(Fourth Sunday of Easter: Acts 2:36-41; 1 Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10)

In world literature, arguably the most famous quotation is: “To be or not to be: that is the question.” Shakespeare’s Hamlet was at a decisive moment in his life.

There is another important question that turns up at decisive moments in the New Testament. It is asked by the disciples of John the Baptist in Luke 3, verses 10, 12, and 14; by Saul on the Road to Damascus in Acts 22:10; and in today’s first reading: “What shall we do?”

The moment of truth had come. The people listening to Peter had been made aware of their error in crucifying Jesus,. They knew that something had to change. The answer to the question was vital.

On that day, the answer was: “Repent and be baptized.”

Actually, this question ought to arise more often than it does. Any time we hear the Scriptures we might wonder what it means for us.

For example, in today’s Gospel Jesus says: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” Ask the Good Shepherd, “What shall I do?” In other words, what difference should this make in my life?

Or, many of those who did repent and were baptized in Acts 2, found themselves persecuted for their faith and may well have asked again, “What shall we do?” Peter responds, in our second reading, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example.”

From 1846 down to our own day, many people hearing the story of La Salette for the first time have asked, “What shall I do?” It is a turning point, but where to from here? For some, the answer includes “Repent.” For others, it may be a call to dedicate themselves in some way to the cause of Reconciliation, which lies at the heart of Mary’s message.

If you have not read the story of La Salette recently, it might be a good idea to reconnect with it. As with the Scriptures, we hear the Message differently as we age and the circumstances of our life change. See what part of the story or the Message strikes you in a new and deeper way.

Then ask, “What shall I do?”

The General Council of Missionaries of La Salette, created the International Coordinating Team of La Salette Laity, composed by the National Coordinators of La Salette Laity of Provinces / Regions. To Coordinate This Team was indicated Mr. Mario Apone, La Salette Laity from Brazil. The first Team meeting happened between March 20-23,2017, in the General House of the Missionaries of La Salette , in Rome, Italy, and was attended by the Fathers Silvano Marisa and Adilson Schio, respectively General Coordinator and Vicar General of Missionaries of La Salette.

The participants of the first meeting were:

Mario Apone – International Coordinator of La Salette Team Laity.
Antonella Portinaro – National Coordenar (Italy)
Maria Clélia Pinto – National Coordinator (Argentina-Bolívia)
Vilmari Aparecida Pedrozo – National Coordinator (Brazil)
Sunil Mathew – National Coordinator (Índia)
Wojtek Chudziak –National Coordinator ( USA ).
Maria Aparecida Ercolin Apone – National Secretary (Brazil )

(Third Sunday of Easter: Acts 2:14,22-33; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35)
If the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus had owned cell phones, they might never have engaged in conversation with the mysterious traveler who joined them. In their world, however, it was normal to welcome him as a companion along the way. They talked with him, listened to him and invited him to supper. And then, suddenly, he was gone.

On a mountain, far away from any road, two children encountered a mysterious and beautiful lady. She calmed their fears, spoke to them, encouraged them to pass on her words. And then she was gone.
The disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread. The children at first thought that the lady was a battered wife or mother; after she disappeared, they guessed that she might be a great saint, but it was an elderly woman of the locality who recognized that it must have been the Blessed Virgin.

The most significant element these two stories have in common is what happened to the disciples and the children. They were changed, transformed.
Despite the lateness of the hour, the disciples ran back to Jerusalem to share their experience. They had changed from “downcast” to men on fire. “Were not our hearts burning within us?”
From all accounts, Mélanie and Maximin both had burning hearts as well but, tending eight cows, they couldn’t hurry back down the mountain. When they did return to the tiny hamlet called Les Ablandens, the girl had her chores to do, and said nothing. The boy, on the other hand, on being asked by his employer about his day, eagerly told him and others what had happened.

But not only the children, nor only the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, were transformed. The fire that burned in their hearts spread well beyond them.
Others “caught fire,” so to speak, among them the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette, the Sisters of Our Lady of La Salette, and large numbers of laity around the world, all eager to spread that same fire, to share the Good News of the Risen Christ, echoed by the “Great News” of the Beautiful Lady.