Five Invitations

to the Heirs of

Father Louis Querbes

Br. Toms Villalobos Herrera, c.s.v.

Province of Chile

VIATOR WEB No. 79 May 2017

The Congregation of the Clerics of Saint Viator and

the Viatorian Community find themselves at an
ideal moment to embrace the changes necessary
for responding with greater faithfulness to the new
demands of the new evangelization. This openness
to what is new, just as in any other process of
transformation, will not be exempt from certain
major challenges. It is for this reason that I wish
to dedicate the following lines to providing an
overview that might support the pathway to chan-
ges that we have already undertaken and that we
will surely see advanced even further in the next
General Chapter.
In the first place, I believe that, as a Viatorian
religious, it is most appropriate to speak about
those aspects that are associated with the life of
the Congregation as such. Then, in a second stage
and as a member of the Viatorian Community, I
will share a couple of reflections about the life of
that entity.
To My Religious Brothers:

As a Religious Congregation, I feel that we are being called upon today to welcome three invitations
that God, speaking through the world and especially through the signs of the times in the Church,
is firmly extending to us: a new form of understanding community life, of responding to the present-
day requirements of the vow of poverty, and of striving to have a deeper encounter with Christ. In
the following lines, I will describe the ways in which I perceive those three invitations.
The new form of understanding community life is not a question of comparing the viewpoints of
older religious with the viewpoints of younger religious. Fraternal life will be lived in an authentic
and modern way only if, in each community, all the religious are ready to give up some of their

personal moments in order to convert them into community moments wherein all the members can
meet as equals and share their daily experiences. That sharing will be genuine if, when we gather
as brothers, we are interested in what each of the others is experiencing in his pastoral ministry, in
his prayer life, and even in those monotonous tasks that are usually not very attractive. In this way,
we would be experiencing a concern for others by virtue of the fact that we are brothers in faith.
A second invitation to the Congregation could be that of delving more deeply into the requirements
of the vow of poverty that come to light through our world and through the directives of our Church.
Especially in Chile, where the inequality between the rich and the poor is very greatly pronounced,
religious life today can offer a prophetic testimony that is a faithful response to the Gospels sell
what you have, share it with the poor, and follow me (Luke 18:22). This point, as well as the

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preceding one, always remains less complicated on paper than in reality. It is for that reason that,
in order to move forward deliberately, we must be united with Christ so that we can find in him the
strength that makes it possible for us to change our hearts of stone into tender human hearts (cf.
Ezekiel 11:19).
By reason of the preceding point, we can already perceive the third point: allowing ourselves to
meet and to be transformed by the Lord, which is certainly the most difficult of the three invitations.
We can act with the highest standards of respect for, attentiveness to, and concern about our
brothers; we can despoil ourselves philanthropically of everything material that suffocates us in
our fraternal life and in our mission, without, however, having any guarantee that those actions are
animated by genuine Christian feelings. If we do not feel the presence of Christ, if we do not live in
Christ, if we do not place Christ as the motivating factor and the goal of our lives, all of those
apparently good actions will not succeed in profoundly transmitting the love with which we were
first loved (cf. 1 John 4:19).

To My Brothers
and Sisters in the
Viatorian Community:

Now I would like to share a couple

of reflections with respect to the
Viatorian Community. As is evident,
the three invitations to the religious
of the Congregation can also be
applied, with greater or lesser
precision, to the life of the
Community. For that reason, rather
than repeating what I have said
previously, I wish to point out two
invitations that I feel are urgent
today for the Viatorian Community
and to which we, as both religious and associates, are invited to respond.
The first invitation to the Viatorian Community is that Viatorian religious and Viatorian associates
mutually welcome one another. If in every house, if in every Viatorian ministry, we religious and
associates are able to live in Christian friendship, that would provide an excellent sign that the
Viatorian Community is a place to live humanity deeply and to have an encounter with Christ. The
differences that are inherent in lay, religious, and priestly vocations are also a reflection of the
diversity that is present in the world on the cultural, political, and religious levels. If we are capable
of assuming such a rich diversity in our Community, we will also be empowered to assume the
diversity that is present in the world.

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A second challenge, in line with the preceding one, is that we be able to grow in sensitivity with
respect to the signs of the times, especially in everything that affects the lives of so many of the
children and young people who participate in Viatorian ministries. We cannot forget that the mission
inherited from Father Louis
Querbes is especially directed
toward young people, especially
those who are in greatest need
(cf. Constitution No. 8). In order
to be better able to accomplish
the task of the new evangeli-
zation, we must be attuned to
what those young people are
living every day, since the joys
and the hopes, the sorrows and
the torments of people today,
especially the poor and those who
are suffering, are, at the same
time, the joys and the hopes, the
sorrows and the torments of the
followers of Christ (Pastoral
Constitution Gaudium et Spes,
No. 1).

My Closing Words

Perhaps many of the ideas that I have attempted to put forward with fraternal humility come forth
from the specific reality of Chile and can only be applied analogically to the reality of the other
countries in which the Viatorian Community is present. It is for that reason that I ask for your
understanding and open hearts so that you will be able to capture the invitations and the suggestions
that you feel provide the best response to the life and the history of each of your local communities.
I have not had the opportunity to meet many of you in person and, very probably, that will not
change in the future. So I pray to God that, in spite of distances and the fact that we cannot meet
one another in person, we can always be united in the love of Christ and in our fervent commitment
to our wonderful Viatorian mission.
And let us never forget that the beautiful treasure that we carry in earthen vessels (cf. 2 Corinthians
4:7) can only be cared for and nourished through the grace of Christ, who strengthened us in the
past, who strengthens us today, and who will continue strengthening us in the future (cf. Philippians
4:13).
Adored and Loved be Jesus.

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