Our Boat: Illuminated by the Sun of Charity and propelled by the Wind of the Spirit!

The image of a sailboat in August brings to mind vacations, relaxation, and the sea. But we would like it instead to serve as a point of reflection on the journey of the Thouret Foundation itself—from shore to shore, from continent to continent. The inspiration comes from a painting on canvas. It was gifted to the Thouret Foundation from Dr. Raoul Bendinelli, a Roman artist who, together with his wife Tiziana and other artists, turns his passion for painting into a tool for solidarity and brotherhood.Looking at the painting, we notice a sail billowing in the wind. It takes on a reddish hue as it is illuminated by the sun’s rays—perhaps at sunset. It stands firm, propelling a boat that cuts through a rough, dark sea, as if in a storm. This is a sea capable of churning up even the darkest depths in its turmoil. On the horizon, two mountain ranges are faintly visible as the clouds thin out, and a patch of blue sky heralds clear weather. Looking at the painting, we notice a sail billowing in the wind. It takes on a reddish hue as it is illuminated by the sun’s rays—perhaps at sunset. It stands firm, propelling a boat that cuts through a rough, dark sea, as if in a storm. This is a sea capable of churning up even the darkest depths in its turmoil. On the horizon, two mountain ranges are faintly visible as the clouds thin out, and a patch of blue sky heralds clear weather.

Let us quote Pope Francis’s words regarding the image of the sail, spoken during Pentecost 2023: “The ancient theologians said: the soul is a kind of sailboat; the Holy Spirit is the wind that blows into the sail to propel it forward; the wind’s impulses and thrusts are the gifts of the Spirit. Without His thrust, without His grace, we do not move forward. The Spirit…urges us to open our doors and go out, to proclaim and bear witness to the good life of the Gospel, to share the joy of faith and of our encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the soul of mission. It is the Spirit, the Paraclete, the “Comforter,” who gives us the courage to travel the roads of the world, carrying the Gospel! The Holy Spirit helps us see the horizon and drives us to the existential peripheries to proclaim the life of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is newness, harmony, and mission. (Pope Francis, Pentecost 2023) The boat is a very common image in the Holy Bibl. One need only think of Peter and the first disciples called by the “sea.” A sailboat appears particularly frequently in the Acts of the Apostles when recounting the journeys of Paul as he crossed the seas to travel from one region to another in his mission and preaching. The Thouret Foundation, too, founded with the mission of supporting and developing the missionary projects of the Sisters of Charity ideally sails across many seas. Indeed, it sails oceans to reach the most remote areas where the mission founded by our Foundress, Saint Jeanne Antide, is active. She herself used to say that she would have crossed the seas if she had understood that this was God’s will for her. As daughters of such a mother, we, too. are ready to sail across seas and oceans whenever we hear God’s voice calling us to serve Him among distant peoples.

The Thouret Foundation is like a boat that trusts in the Wind of the Spirit and does not fear the storm, because it knows that Jesus is sailing alongside it. It reaches many ports where it meets the Sisters of Charity. Together, the Foundation and Sisters begin to study the local situation, explore the area’s resources, consider possible collaboration with the local population and governments, listen to the cries of the poor, and recognize their needs. It develops projects that can support local initiatives, structures them, drafts them, and presents them to organizations that will back them. It accompanies these projects as they develop, intervenes when necessary, and follows through to ensure they are sustained and bear the hoped for fruit. May the wind of the Spirit continue to blow upon our red sail, illuminated by the sun of Charity. May the wind propel us wherever the Lord calls us to serve the poorest—in those distant peripheries that courageously appear on the horizon, piercing through the opaque veil of clouds.

Sr M.Luisa Caruso