Servants of Charity

Dear loving Confreres, DSMP sisters, GC and GLM members, seminarians, benefactors, Parishioners, staff and residents of our facilities,
I send my simple and sincere wishes and greetings in the name of the newly appointed provincial council of Divine Providence Province. 
We are not makers of history; rather we are made by history – Martin Luther King Jr.
I believe that what we are today as the Divine Providence Province is what our veterans and pioneers dreamt, toiled and shaped. It is good to recall that some of the pioneers went back to the Lord telling Him, “I have finished the race. Give me the crown prepared for me,” (2 Tim. 4: 7-8). Some others for different reasons are not able to be physically present in the province, yet we sense their countenance amongst us. 
At this historical juncture, I would go unjustified, if we are not grateful to you, dear confreres our veterans. My mere thank you is a small way in which the entire province repays you for what you are to us. 
Thank you dear Rev. Fr. Alfonso Crippa (Former Superior General) and his council for your paternal guidance and charismatic presence.
Thank you dear Rev. Fr. Gustavo De Bonis (Link councilor for DPP) for your edifying personal accompaniment.
Thank you dear Rev. Fr. Soosai Rathinam (former Provincial of DPP) for your simplicity and prudent leadership.
Thank you dear fathers Charlton, Visuwasam, Kulandaisamy, Dennis Weber, and Silvio De Nard for your encouraging animation.
Thank you dear Rev. Fr. Joseph Rinaldo for your tireless journeys and for your fatherly prodigality. 
We are stepping into this new month of October, a moment very close to our heart. It is the moment when we bring back to our memory and relive the heavenly birth of our beloved founder St. Louis Guanella and the official recognition of him from the part of the church. We would be already in preparation for the festivities and dinners. At the same time we cannot be blindfolded to the fact that these are the days when our founder was bedridden and underwent pain and suffering. These last days of our founder are the touchstone of his program of life ‘pray and suffer.’ In other words, his yesterday’s pain has become my today’s joy. His carrying of the cross then is my exultation of the cross now. His fast has turned into my feast today. How apt it is to quote our founder at this moment “The Lord works in our soul little by little, like the chisel of the artist on the marble he wants to turn into a statue.”
I encourage all of you to continue this legacy of charity and relive it in our times. I thank you dear confreres for the religious witness you show forth and for being ‘fiery swords’ in your missions. My special thanks go to all those who take up new assignments for your generosity and availability. 
Let me wish you a fruitful preparation and happy feast of our Founder.

Fr. Ronald J, SdC

Provincial Superior