TO THE AUGUSTINIANS: HARMONIZE CONTEMPLATION AND MISSION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received a group of 30 Augustinian Sisters, Servants of Jesus and Mary, at the close of celebrations in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the death of their foundress, Mother Maria Teresa Spinelli.

John Paul II urged the religious to strive "to harmonize the contemplative dimension and missionary impulse, which form the two fundamental pillars of your religious identity, according to the dedicated example of Mother Spinelli."

"One who remains in constant contact with the Lord, is better able to respond to the expectations of men, especially of those in difficulty. ... Only someone who has personally encountered Christ can speak of Him effectively to the hearts of the brethren and lead them to such a profound experience of His friendship that they are interiorly touched and transformed by it."

The Holy Father called the sisters to follow the example of their foundress and her first companions, who, "imbued with Augustinian spirituality, could realize a model of communion resembling that of the first apostolic community."

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