Maxim Monday: ZEAL to Embrace the Whole World & Soundings Update

In the manifestation of zeal characteristic of your very humble vocation, imitate the fervor of the most zealous and embrace in desire the salvation and perfection of a whole world in a spirit replete with a true humility and a generous courage. This will bring you to wish to do everything, to suffer everything, and to undertake everything for the advancement of the glory of God and the salvation of the dear neighbor. Maxims of the Little Institute, #7

As we move into these weeks of the Easter Season, I'm mindful that Easter is a feast of 50 days. We spend 40 days living the season of Lent but the zeal we read of in the Acts of the Apostles during these 50 days is not unlike the zeal described in Maxim 7. It was just over a month ago that I reflected on this maxim so I hesitated to use it again. However the more I think about it, the more I realize that it's the nature of zeal to keep on keeping on...to keep on expanding. It's just one more example of the timely message and rich spirituality of this and so many of the Maxims of the Little Institute.

Our scripture readings during this Easter Season tell of the zeal of the first disciples. Imagine the zeal of the earliest Sisters of St. Joseph as they reached out to the needs of the people of LePuy in mid-seventeenth century France -- an era of severe famine, social inequality, and civil unrest. Imagine the zeal and fidelity to God's call that brought Mother St. John Fontbonne and her companions through the challenges of the French Revolution.

There are countless stories of how the Sisters of St. Joseph -- this "Little Design" of Jean-Pierre Medaille -- eventually spread across France and across the world and today is alive in over 50 countries. These examples are just the beginning of all the stories of zeal evoked by Maxim 7.

As I look at the latest issue of Soundings Update, I realize how plentiful today's stories of zeal continue to be. In this issue alone you can read about one of our associates who is in India at this moment. You can view pictures of those who participated in Tenebrae and the liturgical enactment of Jesus' Passion as well as our Good Friday Peace Prayer Vigil. This is just one little issue of Soundings Update. How many other stories are there in the global "Joseph family?"  Many can tell stories of the zeal of sisters, associates, and partners in ministry, and those we serve now in 2010. Can you share a story of zeal as descibed in Maxim 7?