Pope: Francesca Cabrini's charisma is of extraordinary actuality

Audience to the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on the occasion of the centenary of the death of their foundress, Apostle of migrants. Migrants need good laws, development programs, but "also and above all of love, friendship, human closeness". Although she wanted to go to China, Pope Leo XIII said to her: 'Not to the east, Cabrini, but to the West!' The devotion to the Sacred Heart "made her able to look at the heart of those whom she approached and assisted".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The charism of Francesca Saverio Cabrini, the saint who has dedicated her life to migrants, "is of extraordinary relevance", Pope Francis said this today during his meeting with the missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded by the saint, on the occasion of the conclusion of the centenary of her death. 

Returning to one of his most cherished themes, the pontiff continued: "Migrants need good laws, programs of development and organization but, above all, they always need love, friendship, human closeness; they need to be heard, looked in the eye, accompanied”. They need God, he said, “encountered in love that is freely given ".

The Pope outlined some aspects of the vocation of Mother Cabrini, a woman who for the care of migrants "crossed the ocean twenty-four times to assist the migrants in the Americas, and who, tirelessly, went as far as the Andes and also to Argentina", dying in Chicago on December 17, 1917.
"Saint Cabrini - he continued - was a true missionary. She had grown up keeping before her the example of St. Francis Xavier, the pioneer of evangelization in the East. In his heart he had China and in that distant land he hoped to bring the proclamation of the Gospel. He did not think of the thousands and thousands of emigrants who, because of hunger, lack of work and the absence of a future, embarked with their scant belongings to reach America, driven by the dream of a better life. As we know - and as she said - it was the vision of Pope Leo XIII who, jokingly, made her change course: "Not to the east, Cabrini, but to the West!". The young Mother Cabrini, who had just founded the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, needed to see where God was sending her on mission. Not to where she wanted to go, but to where He had prepared the way for her, the path of service and holiness. Here is the example of a true vocation: to forget oneself in order to surrender oneself fully to the love of God."

Addressing the missionary sisters, he added: "May the Lord renew always in you the attentive and merciful gaze towards the poor who live in our cities and our countries. Mother Cabrini had the courage to look into the eyes of the orphaned children entrusted to her, the unemployed youth who were tempted to commit crimes, the men and women exploited for the humblest jobs; and therefore today we are here to thank God for her holiness. In each of those brothers and sisters, she recognized the face of Christ and was able to put to good use the talents that the Lord had entrusted to her. She had a strong sense of apostolic action; and if she had such great energy to accomplish extraordinary work in a few years, it was only because of her union with Christ, following the model of St. Paul, from whom she took her motto: "I can do all things in Him who gives me strength"".

"Saint Cabrini - he concluded -  lived the spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Step by step, hers was an existence wholly intended to console and make the Sacred Heart known and loved. And this made her able to look at the hearts of those who approached her and to assist them in a coherent way. This important anniversary is a powerful reminder to us all of the need for a faith that knows how to grasp the moment of grace that is lived. As difficult as it may seem, she tells us that we must do as she does: be capable of responding to the signs of our time, reading them in the light of the Word of God and living them in such a way as to provide an answer that can reach the heart of every person."