Fr. Alberione, ahead of his time

Archbishop Levada's suggestion at the Synod for a kind of correlation between the Sunday lectionary and key elements of the Catechism reflects (almost to the letter) Bl. James Alberione's ideal for the publishing apostolate. Here's what the Zenit news service reports about the Archbishop's intervention: 

"The archbishop suggested that the synod 'request the preparation of a pastoral program that is not imposed, but proposed, to those who preach in Sunday's Eucharistic celebration.' 'This program might follow the division in three years of the Lectionary, relating the proclamation of the doctrine of the faith with the biblical texts in which such truths are rooted and making reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its recently published Compendium,' he concluded."

Father Alberione, for his part, oversaw the publication of Bibles with catechetical footnotes, and urged the Paulines to foster "Bible studies permeated with liturgy and catechism; homilies permeated with Bible and catechism; catechesis permeated with Bible and liturgy." (That is a quote from memory, so I can't give a reference for it, but you get the picture.)

There was something else that came up within the past week or so that struck me forcefully how very prophetic Alberione was. Ah, yes. One hundred years ago, Alberione felt personally the need for a teacher who was more than a teacher: a guide, a model, a support, a mentor, a helper. He found that teacher in Jesus the Divine Master, the Way, the Truth and the Life. And now in the field of Biblical Spirituality the hot topic is Jesus as Master, Teacher, Guru (to use the Asian word, about which our departed Sr. Veritas Grau wrote her doctoral dissertation). That means that the Pauline Family has close to 100 years of studies already on the theme of Jesus the Teacher. Our society keeps asking, with a collective shrug of the shoulders, "What is truth?" Does it matter? And yet what is our fragmented, postmodern society aching for more than someone who can bring it all together? That's what Jesus does, as Way, Truth and Life. He doesn't offer a "truth" outside of himself, or point to a way that is separate from himself, or promise a life that does not come through him. He sums it all up, all our highest and deepest needs, in himself.

So a big week for highlighting how well Alberione intuited the needs of the future. And how much we need to activate in our own charism.