Originated by the Spirit to announce the Copiosa Apud Eum Redemptio

They [the Redemptorists] will never grow weary of invoking the Holy Spirit, so that they may always be able to co-operate more wholeheartedly in bringing the mystery of redemption in Christ to full effect. For the Spirit has command of every situation, puts the appropriate word on the lips of the preacher and opens hearts to receive it (Constitution 10).

288 years ago, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was born as another Religious Institute in the Church. In the course of almost three centuries, many other missionary works have disappeared, fulfilling their project. However, the Congregation continues its journey through history with its cycles and setbacks. Why does it persist? Why has it survived the period of division? Why does it continue to restructure? And what can we expect from the Congregation for the future? Certainly, if it has come this far, it is because there is a divine force that nourishes it and leads it to respond to its charism. Thus, in the heart of the Congregation, the Holy Spirit is weaving his work and guiding it along paths that we certainly often do not understand.

In the history of salvation, it is the Spirit who brings newness, provokes, renews life, converts hearts (Ez 37:1-14; Joh 3:1-15). It is he who works on the realities of death, vivifying them and inspiring us to sing a new song of joy and hope to all nations, through the proclamation of the Word and service to the little ones. It is the loving and fruitful force of God present in history, acting through contextualized men and women who are able to grasp the subtleties of his voice. In this sense, Alphonsus feels it from the wounded context of his time. The wounds of the goatherds are transformed by the Spirit into a redemptive and healing project in favor of those who were in deep abandonment. Alfonso was bold and capable of capturing the movements present in the depths of history and perceiving the kairós in the reign of kronos, going to the essence of prophecy and the Jesuit ministry, synthesizing the foundational spirit in the beautiful text that we know well. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk 4:18f).

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