BY ENLARGING RELATIONS BETWEEN THEM, WE ACCELERATE THE MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE MYSTERIOUS UNITY OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE HUMAN FAMILY UNDER THE SAME GOD

Rey continues his description of the blessing of the railway: “Then, unfolding a rapid picture of the developments Marseille was destined to undergo through its trade on the Mediterranean and through the railroad “which will bring it into contact, as it were, with all points of Europe,” the Bishop lifted his listeners’ minds to supernatural heights:”

“The finger of man could never have traced with such beautiful hopes this railway which unites us to the interior of the country, if a divine hand, after having dug in the bosom of the earth the basin around which it made Marseilles sit, had not given it in this place the very prominence of the Queen of the Mediterranean.

Providence, not content with adding new advantages to the material existence of peoples, wants to bring them closer together, to unite them in the moral order. By multiplying relations between them, we accelerate the movement towards the mysterious unity of all the children of the human family under the same God, the same faith, the same baptism.

Look at the legions of missionaries who, on the ships destined to carry the riches of the earth, set out everywhere to carry the riches of heaven! Soon the shepherds of the peoples, even more numerous than in the past, will be arriving among us from all parts of the world to go from here to strengthen the links of their churches with the mother and master Church, to bring all the rays of Catholicity ever closer to the center and nourish the conversion of souls, to inspire themselves ever more with the apostolic spirit before the tomb of the holy Apostles and at the feet of the successor of Peter, to whom it has been given to confirm his brothers in the faith…

May those who travel on this railway , wherever they go, not be at the mercy of the blind force that will drag them along, and be protected by the Angel of the Lord, messenger of this divine Providence, who always accompanies them and brings them back to their families after their journeys, happy at their return”.

Rey II p 264-265

REFLECTION

“If any occupation or association is found to hinder our communion with God or our enjoyment of spiritual things, then it must be abandoned. Anything in my habits or ways which damages happy fellowship with others or robs me of power in service, is to be unsparingly judged and made an end of– ‘burned.’ Whatever I cannot do for God’s glory must be avoided” (A. W. Pink)