the man who silently crossed frontiers
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A reflection by Fr Mark Grima - MSSP Superior GeneralTRANSCRIPT
THE MAN WHO
SILENTLY CROSSED
FRONTIERSFR MARK GRIMA MSSP
In a time where traveling was slow he appeared everywhere.
When the means of communication were minimal he found ways
how to pass on his spirit.
This is Joseph De Piro, a devout man of faith,
a priest and the founder of the
Missionary Society of Saint Paul.
He belonged to everybody
Born in Malta in 1877, he hails from a noble and
influential family. The 7th out of 9 siblings. Quite a
simple young man, sociable and determined in his
ways. If priesthood was his call, then that was what
he was going to follow even if he had to wait.
But priesthood was not another status to add to his
inherited ones. Priesthood was to become his being,
the soul through which he reached out to the others.
God’s call to become an ordained minister was not a
goal to be achieved but an instrument for service. In
but there were economical, political and cultural ones
that followed closely.
A noble of origin who loved so much the orphans.
An established priest in his country who longed to
become a missionary.
A man of great financial means who lived in tattered
clothes like the common man in the streets, many a
times driven to beg for them.
A man of modest intelligence asked to enter the
Crossing barriers for Joseph De Piro came
at a very big cost. It meant his reputation,
his personal achievements and his life...
Crossing boundaries requires wisdom which very few people posses.
the multitude of activities and
responsibilities which
accumulated in his life he
ministered faithfully as a simple
priest, with no pretension or
hidden motivations.
What is that thing that most of
us look for in life?
Establishing ourselves! Maybe
we do it for our families or maybe
we do it for our self-fulfillment.
This comes at a price. We will not risk our neck if the
end result is not compensative. We tend to build our
castles, high and impenetrable and then protect our
status quo.
Joseph De Piro followed the opposite route. Born in a
castle, with so much means at his disposal, he crossed
the drawbridge into the common world as if that was
the most natural thing on earth to do. Never taunting
his origins, his story and his background he embraced
the other side of reality, to what most of his
contemporaries might have thought, naively.
If I were to describe our founder in one sentence
I would say that he was a man who silently crossed
frontiers. The most obvious were the social barriers,
current political field with
so much intricacies and
implications.
A man of weak health becoming anything for the needy
Crossing barriers for Joseph
De Piro came at a very big cost.
It meant his reputation, his
personal achievements and his
life. His death at the relatively
young age of 56 is just one indication.
Crossing boundaries requires wisdom which very few
people posses. Joseph De Piro did it in a particular
way which is noteworthy. While many great saints had
given up everything and served the poor, De Piro kept
on bringing his everything and repeatedly making it
available for those who had no access to it. His position
in the church hierarchy was used to promote peace
in politically turbulent times. He used his position
to promote the foundation of the 1st and only
Maltese missionary and religious congregation. His
material means of the family became available for the
dispossessed who seem to be always at his heals.
There was a way that De Piro did all these frontier
crossings: silently. There was no pomp about his
giving, about his patient suffering, about his
sacrifices and about his oppositions. Humility was
the order of the day and the virtue which made his
life an authentic one.
If crossing barriers was his lifestyle this was very
much based on the one true model: that of the
incarnation. God, silently crossing the barrier
between heaven and earth giving us his all as if that
was the most natural thing to do and trusting us
that we will make the most out of it. In the process
we nailed him to a cross and as if to press the point
further he uses this betrayal to rise us up with him to
heights which we are still struggling to comprehend.
Joseph De Piro’s intimate relationship with Christ
transformed him into another incarnation of God for
us. And as with the original incarnation we are still
struggling to comprehend and assimilate in our lives.
Let me just share with you one example of this.
When Joseph De Piro, in 1933 at the age of 56, crossed
the last frontier that from this life into the next, he
was sure that he will carry with him the Missionary
Society which he gave his life for. He was sure that we
will flourish after his death, the time when this poor
noble man will plead for us once again in front of
the heavenly Father. Characteristic of his life he died
silently during a liturgical service. The small
congregation he left behind was too shocked to
take the reigns in its hands. He was everything
for the first members and they seemed to have
lost their soul. For decades our Society was left
in the hands of leaders outside of its charism
and the founder started to fade away into the
distant past – as if humbly letting go and trusting
others.
Yet holiness lasts and is passed on. 100 years after
our foundation we can say that Joseph De Piro is
becoming more alive and his spirituality more
recognized. We are his dream and we feel privileged
to be carrying on this flame and humbled by its
We are his dream and we feel privileged to be
carrying on this flame and humbled by its intensity.
But if we are to carry it forward in his style we have to do this
by risking our lives and doing it silently.
intensity. But if we are to carry it forward in his style
we have to do this by risking our lives and doing it
silently. De Piro always called us the small Society of
Saint Paul. There is something about being small and
that is flexibility. Today we are looking at this reality
as a responsibility rather than a handicap. Like our
founder, 100 years of existence is showing us that our
missionary call is not about establishing ourselves
but about sharing all our available resources with
those who are dispossessed. This includes bringing
beyond the frontiers our faith, our experience, our
compassion and our talents. And may we do this
silently, as silent as that time when God entered
humanity and when Christ carried us out of death
into life on the dawn of the 1st day of the week.
Today we are gathered here because years ago a man
dared to see the bigger picture. Rather then making
sure that he protected himself, he shared his all with
those who needed: the country he knew, people he
met on the road, children not cared for, and nations
beyond the frontiers of his nation. Like many dreams
it could have simply faded away, but Joseph De Piro
dreamt with God and that became a different dream.
He brought young man to dream with him and led
them to generously cross frontiers with him.
Today’s MSSP is not the sole effort of its founder, but
I firmly believe that from heaven he proudly points
his finger towards the many members who brought
all their gifts and pooled it into this dream. I imagine
him today encouraging us to give our all, but
silently and joyfully. And above all reminding us that
whatever goodness we pass on to others has its soul in the
compassionate God of ours.
Today we are in the privileged position that the
Missionary Society of Saint Paul crossed another
frontier. We no longer limit this charism for the priests
and brothers who belong to its communities, but
joining us in this mission are a number of lay people
from a wide range of life commitments who also feel
in their hearts the call to bring God’s love to others.
This is encouraging and we gathered here with
you, our friends, today to witness that the Spirit of
God is very much alive and active. This centenary
celebration is not simply about commemorating
history but mostly about dreaming a future, not ours
but that already in the mind of God.
“Put on the mind of Christ” 1Cor; 2:16 Paul says to
the Corinthians, and this is what Joseph De Piro did
with his whole being. And to us he repeats what he
stated in his secret testament to remain in mutual
love in Christ, because nothing may procure the glory
of God, one’s spiritual good and that of the neighbor
than this love which builds us up.
In humility let us be the pioneers in crossing the
frontiers which separate man from man, carrying in
our hearts that deep love for humanity witnessed to
us by Jesus Christ.