We belong to God, in the world

But let us return to the Work and to you, my children. You know that I, like our Lord, like to use parables, and especially those scenes of fishing – boats and nets – since they have the savour of the Gospel. We are like fish caught in a net. Our Lord has fished us with the net of his love, amid the waves of this unsettled world. He has done so, not to take us out of the world, out of our ordinary surroundings and work, but so that we remain in the world while being at the same time totally his. Non rogo ut tollas eos de mundo, sed ut serves eos a malo (John 17:15); I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

Moreover, this net, which unites us to Christ and keeps us united to one another, is very roomy and it leaves us free and personally responsible. This net is the (very small) common denominator that we share as Christians who want to serve God in his Work: the Catholic formation which leads us to follow the Church’s Magisterium with the utmost fidelity.

Not involving the Church or the Work in our political activity

Because we are as free as fish in water, and because we are in Christ’s net, we don’t confuse the Church with the errors of any individual. Nor are we prepared to let anybody confuse our own personal errors with the Church. No one has a right to drag the Church into politics, into their own political activity which, no matter how successful it may be, is always a matter of their personal opinion. It is a very easy approach to take – and very unfair.