LAY LA SALETTES' VOCATION

Lay La Salettes Defined The life of the Lay La Salette is really a special calling.  Some have been known to classify it as a vocation. There is no denying that the spiritual dimension of the behavior of a Lay La Salette defines a person who is living a response to a special invitation from God, through His Holy Mother.   This invitation is delivered initially by the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, “Do not be afraid.  I am here to tell you that you have been blessed by God.” Indeed, we are living in the line of Melanie and Maximin, charged with the call to “Make this known to all my people.”

The calling to reconciliation came to us from the original priests who made it their way of life to go to

the Holy Mountain to accommodate the flocks of pilgrims who were going there seeking spiritual

healing. 

This led to the introduction of the invocation “Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of sinners, pray

without ceasing for us who have recourse to thee.” This, thanks to Father Perrin, the pastor of the

church at La Salette, and the founder of the Confraternity of Our Lady of La Salette.  This confraternity

was a community of devout lay people (May 1, 1848).  

It is from there that the text of the rule of the La Salette Missionaries states: The original spirit that

dominates the community of the Missionaries of La Salette is that of “reconciliation.” 

Our clearest understanding of the theology of reconciliation comes from the writing of St. Paul.  Paul lives

reconciliation as a person who came to see life in a new way based on the encounter he had with the

living Lord on the way to Damascus.  For Paul, this was a personal relationship experience. He lived the

grace that flowed from that experience for the rest of his life.  

Melanie and Maximin did the same thing.  They lived the grace that flowed from their meeting with the

Beautiful Lady.  They were called, “Come near my children, do not be afraid.” They, like Paul, “Made

this known to all People.”  

We, Lay La Salette Laity have been called.  We are striving to “Make this known to all my people.”

( Page 2

Quoted by pope Francis during his meditation introducing

the Urbi et Orbi blessing

M Marc 4; 35 - 41:  “Lord, don’t you care that we are drowning?”

I suggest that there is a defining lesson for us La Salette Lay disciples of Jesus and Mary here?  Are
we tempted to wonder about our spirituality of reconciliation when we occasionally wonder, “Lord,
aren’t you supposed to be protecting me under your pinions?  (Psalm 94;4)
Is it proper for me to talk to Jesus that way when His mother warns me that His arm is so heavy that
even she can hardly hold it back anymore?  Is it proper for me to wonder out loud if my lifeboat (my job)
and I will fall to the bottom of the Covid-19 sea? Of course it is, We are human, are we not?  Like the
apostles, we have faith in Jesus.  We believe that He can save us. We have to work on strengthening

our trust in Him.  We have to develop a trusting faith in Him.  As missionaries grounded in the
spirituality of reconciliation, we are called to live a faith that is grounded in the conviction that God
cares about what happens to us.  The tempest that is now rocking our boat is ripping the wrapping off
our prepackaged ideas of just what it is that nourishes our soul.  In this storm the personal stereotypes
that we count on to protect ourselves are being ripped away. Our egoistic self image with which we
protect ourselves has fallen away and we find ourselves accepting the truth that it is our sense of
belonging in the community of God’s flock is stronger and more reliable than our stand-alone ego.
Jesus has a come-back: “Why are you afraid?  Have you no faith?”
He could perhaps have quoted the prophet Joel: 
“...return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping
and mourning.  Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return

to the LORD, your God, For he is gracious and merciful, slow to

anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment.”

(Joel 2;12+13)
Pope Francis invites us to a reconciliatory moment:
“Lord, you are calling out to us, calling us to faith.
This is a faith that is not so much believing that you
exist, but coming to you and trusting in you.

This Lent, your call reverberates urgently: “Be converted!”

  “Return to me with all your heart.” (Joel, as above)
You are calling us to seize this time of trial as a time of
choosing.  It is not a time of your judgement, but of our
judgement:  a time to choose what matters and what
passes away, a time to separate what is necessary

from what is not.

(To be continued)

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Questions proposed for meditation, taken from current seasonal Scripture.  Start with the question proposed by Pope Francis: 

“Lord, don’t you care that we are drowning?” Marc 4; 35 - 41

“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” John 11; 8

“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”John 13; 6

“Master, who is it?” John 13: 25

“Master, where are you going?” John 13; 36

“Master, why can’t I follow you now?” John 13; 37

“Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the                way?” John 14: 5

“Whom are you looking for?” John 18; 4                                                      

“Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?”  John 18: 1 ss

“What are you discussing as you walk along?” 

“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there these days?”

“What sort of things?”   Luke 24; 17 - 19

It is intriguing to consider these questions away from the black and white context of the Sacred Scriptures but in the context of our personal relationship with God and the community of the saints.  When I read them, or even just visit them in my memory I have a tendency to turn them over in my mind according to the mood that I imagine was the drive behind them. I find myself forming my prayer life in the orbit of Biblical questions.  There is a lot that we can learn about our relationship with God by analysing questions. Try making conversations between you and God discussions about a question that you found in the Scripture.

We children of the Beautiful Lady of La Salette have chosen to live with our answer to her question, “Do you pray well, my children?”  I have been seeking information about the surprising fact that Our Blessed Mother, in so many other apparitions, doesn't seem to have ever asked the visionary(ies) if they prayed, let alone “prayed well.”  We have to put ourselves at her feet and think about our answer to the question.

BTW - I was smiling at the passage where Peter swears while denying Jesus, despite his Galilean accent giving him away.   Mother Mary took to the local dialect for the sake of making her message known, all the while telling not to swear, especially not to abuse her Son's name.

Let us not distance ourselves spiritually.  This is not the time to rock the boat, to use the imagery of our Dear Pope.  Let us all talk the same language