Gospel: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. (John 15:9-10)

St. Vincent: "If all Christians must imitate ourLord Jesus Christ, with how much greater perfection ... must we imitate him, who enjoy the gift of having the life of our Lord Jesus Christ as the the fundamental rule of our little Society?"

Our Constitutions: "The Gospel is the rule of life that the Founder gave us. Our spirituality is centered upon the faithful imitation of Christ, obedient to the Father and always eager to fulfill the work entrusted to Him." (#8)

Called to follow Jesus, Apostle of the Father, we have no clearer guide than the Gospel. The ways of Jesus become clearer to us when we read and pray the inspired words we find there. If our spirituality is to be centered on the imitation of Christ, we have no better guide.

While we recognize the necessity of rules, of Constitutions and the like, we know that without living a Gospel life, conformity to such rules will have little meaning. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is alive and active penetrating to the very marrow of our spirit. It is this aspect of God's word that has the power to transform us if we let ourselves interiorize its message.

St. Vincent calls on us to become "evangelical trumpets!" We cannot trumpet the Good News unless we have allowed ourselves to become absorbed by its truth. As individuals and as community we need always to drink from this spring and to share with one another the fruit of our prayers.