The La Salette Reconciler remains close to the people and reaches out to all of them. He seeks out those who never appear at any function, who are far away, the alienated. He lets them know that they are desired, invited, wanted, not because they are prayerful, cultivated people, but because they are valuable in themselves.

The Lady gave a vivid example of this kind of seeking. Maximin and Melanie were the “ideal” unchurched people. As far as the Church and the world were concerned they lived in the black hole of oblivion. They were the alienated, people who were totally indifferent to the existence of God and Church. They were textbook examples of uninterested and uninteresting people – normally undesirable – practically useless in any church organization. They were invited not just to come around but to come near. They were summoned to intimacy.

The Lady chose Maximin and Melanie in order to tell the world that God loves and chooses people not by virtue of rank or accomplishment but in view of a special mission God has reserved for them. They were asked to belong. People love to be asked. They love to belong to something or someone greater than themselves. The Lady’s first words corresponded to a very normal human desire — more than that – a craving to belong and to be used importantly and especially lovingly.

Throughout the many centuries of turbulent relationship between God and people, God has always invited people to return. No offense was able to create the definitive break. No matter how many bridges humanity blew up, God always rebuilt them. The Lord is always and in many ways saying “Come near.”

The Thread

There is an old Rabbi’s teaching that states that our relationship with God is like a thread joining us and God together. Each time we sin the thread is broken and God alone can tie the two ends together again. But then, the thread is shortened. Reconciliation, besides renewing the bonds between two parties, very frequently deepens them and strengthens intimacy.

(from Face of a Reconciler: Bringing the La Salette Charism to Life

by Fr. Normand Theroux, M.S., pg. 6)