Blessed James Alberione

"Outdo Me"

By Sr. Margaret Kerry, FSP

There will be others who feel the same way I do." Alberione was sure of that. He launched a plan that could only be of God since it was not possible to achieve it without grace. As the Pauline religious orders took shape, Fr. Alberione expanded his family to include institutes for laymen and women along with the Association of Pauline Cooperators. Each time he founded an institute, he felt the call of God. And each time he also acknowledged of himself, "A less capable instrument could not be found." Did he really have such a poor estimation of his own abilities? After all, James Alberione was a genius of organization. He was also a genius of the spiritual life. The Bishop of Alba had chosen him as spiritual director of the seminary. How could Alberione stand before others and claim to be the least capable?

In James Alberione’s life we can find clues that explain this characteristic demeanor. At the same time we find a man who was insistent when it came to carrying out what he considered to be God’s will. As a young seminarian he was given the nickname "matchstick" for his ability to be provoked easily and respond quickly. Can these two seemingly divergent attitudes be reconciled in one person?

As a young priest, Fr. Alberione’s health was frail, despite his healthy country upbringing. Those who knew him were convinced he would not live a day past 30. They would smile knowingly when talk of his founding a religious order entered conversations. Alberione foresaw an organization of Catholic writers, technicians, book dealers and salesmen. Later this plan, encouraged by his spiritual director, Venerable Canon Chiesa, became clearer as Alberione considered an organization of consecrated religious. He actually started gathering young people around himself, inspiring them with his ideals of evangelization with the good press.

The men and women who followed Fr. Alberione were "generous souls," and he knew they would feel the "same way he did." He presented his apostolic project to them as a project of wholeness. First he encouraged his followers to harmony within themselves, with others and with the world through an experience of communion with Jesus the Divine Master, Way, Truth and Life. The first Paulines would testify that Fr. Alberione worked toward this harmony in his own life. Even as he would continue to contend with his strong personality, he always believed in the path that he had resolutely set out upon—following Christ. "Walking this path," he said, "is not unlike driving a car. What would happen if the driver loses control of the car? He must always be attentive to steering. We have to drive our interior, our thoughts, and thoughts are the most difficult thing to control. We need to manage our heart. Be always in the driver’s seat, always in control of ourselves."

Fr. Alberione spoke of maturity in the spiritual life. He regarded maturity as interior freedom. The Pauline would not look for titles or honor, would not seek esteem and distinction, would not be preoccupied with a salary (aside from the divine salary!). Rather, the apostle would discover the freedom that would take him to all of humanity. Alberione found the treasure worth selling all to obtain. His striving for interior liberty led him to consecration. This was the freedom he also wanted to bequeath to his sons and daughters. Not only this, but he wanted them to outdo him in holiness, talent and apostolic expansion. "I am happy," he wrote, "when my sons and daughters outdo me."

A lived experience of death and resurrection is a life-changing experience. Alberione’s experience of death though the course of an early illness was followed by a strong sense of God’s presence. Jesus reassured him through what he later referred to as a dream. This reassurance was not unlike the words spoken to Abraham and Moses: "You will be a great nation"; "I will go before you." To the young Founder, sick and lacking in so many things, Jesus promised: "I will be with you. Do not be afraid." Pointing at the tabernacle, Jesus assured Alberione: "From here I will enlighten." Alberione understood Jesus saying to him, "From where you are—here before me—I want to give light in all of your circumstances." The only condition placed on such a promise was that Alberione and his followers allow themselves to be loved, enlightened, and filled, to become the salt of the earth. The experience of divine love is first of all passivity, parousia, letting oneself be filled. Before loving, we are loved. Alberione learned to accept the gift freely given. He died to his false certainties in order to be satisfied and quenched by God.

Jesus asked Alberione for "hearts that are penitent," that "remember." The Latin expression cor penitens tenete means to keep a heart which carries the pain inside. "Remember, you were once a slave" is the Biblical exhortation (Ex 20:2). These words spurred Fr. Alberione to constant vigilance for the fledgling Pauline family. They encouraged him to trust in the One who calls.

"The Lord poured out on me wisdom equal to love," he said. The Pauline mission is among the most challenging offered to any group of dedicated people. Committed to communicating the gospel message with new technology means learning the language of the times. Language carries culture with its positive and negative values. For this reason Alberione not only accepted the challenge of using the media but also joined it with a deep prayer life. "Speak with Jesus the Teacher, and tell him: these are your souls more than mine. I tried to sow, you give the growth." The fruit comes from God’s intervention.

Communion is accomplished during a lifetime culminating in a paschal celebration with God, others and ourselves. St. Peter invites us to "put all hope in that grace which will be given when Jesus Christ will be revealed" (1 Pt 1:13). Alberione likewise encouraged his followers to await this vital meeting with Christ by nourishing themselves on His Word, the Liturgy, and prayer.

"You may say the gospel is difficult. No, it is not. The Lord made it for us as he made bread for the stomach. When you are sad, open the Scriptures and you will find consolation. When in doubt, when afraid, do as many holy people before you did—when in doubt or fear, they went to the Source. God directs and leads: so many times I saw it!"

Alberione considered the Liturgy a river flowing through the year—a river of graces, of light, of blessings. He invited all his followers to gather around the altar, to return to their vital Source, to worship and enter into communion with Jesus Master and Shepherd who came to bring "grace and truth": "Tell Jesus simply, ‘You are my Master; you give me the example; I want to do as you did."

His exhortation to prayer, adoration, liturgy and liberation for the kingdom was directed to this goal: Jesus Christ is Way and Truth and Life for all men and women and, first of all, for the person who is announcing him." Prayer for Alberione was the excelsior of life that circulates through the whole person changing him or her into Jesus. "Prayer," he said, "is like blood starting from the heart that goes to all the limbs, nourishing and giving life to the entire body."

These invitations of Alberione were a sincere way for him to express the hope that members of the Pauline family would outdo him in many ways. This way of looking at his "disciples" developed over time and is reminiscent of the words of Jesus: "When I am gone, you will do far greater things than this" (cf. Jn 15:15). A true father and a good leader, like a fine farmer, looks for the potential in others and does all to prepare the best soil for growth toward a good harvest.

One hundred years ago, a dream took root in a young seminarian’s heart. Pauline priests, brothers, sisters, and lay faithful grown from this seed planted before the tabernacle witness to this annunciation from God. James Alberione said "yes" in complete confidence; in so doing, he gave birth to a mission as ancient as God’s call and as new as God’s presence in our midst. Just as "Mary edited, brought forth the Word of God, Jesus," Alberione wrote, so "we clothe the Word in print, visual, and audio media. We bring Jesus to the people of today." We do this first of all, he reminds us, through our allowing Christ to transform us into himself. So go forward and "outdo me!"

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