Today, on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the approval of the General Principles by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, given at the General Assembly in Guadalajara.
As the approval text says: “It is highly significant that this pontifical approval of the “General Principles of the Christian Life Community” occurs precisely in the Jubilee year, which celebrates the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Ignatius Loyola and the 450th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. therefore all the members of the Christian Life Community should take to heart what has been written in the letter of Rev. Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach when he points out that “the Ignatian year has no other purpose than the renovation, in the Spirit, of the apostolic life, both personal and at community level”, associating with this celebration in a special way “all those men and women who collaborate most intimately with the Society or who take their inspiration from Ignatian spirituality” while embracing “the Spiritual Exercises in all their rigor and authenticity”. This we ask of the Lord through the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, to whom the Christian Life community regards itself as profoundly and traditionally united from its very beginnings and in whom it has always wished to inspire its fidelity to the Lord and its apostolic and missionary zeal “for the greater glory of God”.”
We thank God for so much good received and so many possibilities to carry out our deepest desires of service, during these years.