By Rev Prakash Mallavarapu
Archbishop of Visakhapatnam –
Within the limits of the unique persons that each of us are we have to keep striving to follow the way of Jesus and his teachings. Our lives proclaim Jesus and His Gospel! At the community level we need to take some concrete steps to manifest the mercy and compassion of God.
At the parish level initiatives should be taken to involve the faithful in reaching out to the people, especially the poor and those on the margins that we find in the vicinities of the parish. Visiting the sick, the widows, children in the broken families, assisting in educational needs, providing some food or provisions to the needy families, etc. are among the possible actions through which the parish or village community bears witness to Jesus Christ and the Good News we are called to follow and proclaim.
Our Missionaries in the past generations have done these things along with the generous involvement of people of good will. They went out to the people! Today each local community should go out to reach out in such concrete ways, proclaiming Good News of Jesus in words and actions!
We have to imitate our past missionaries in “responding to Life and real life situations of people: On the occasion of the celebrations in the Visakhapatnam urban deanery to mark the closing of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October, 2019, the contribution of the three Religious congregations to the mission in Visakhapatnam was presented, the MSFS, Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy, and Sisters of St. Anne, Luzern.
Along with the proclamation of Jesus Christ and the Good News of the Kingdom, the missionaries of these congregations and their collaborators responded to concrete life situations of people, especially those in poverty and those on the margins of the society. By and large it was proclamation of the Gospel in action!
Not only because the first missionaries were from Europe that people were attracted to Christ and the Church, but because the missionaries were loving and compassionate in rendering service in the fields of education, health care, and in socio-economic uplift. What is said is of the Lord could be said of the missionaries: “Jesus went about doing good”; “the missionaries also went about doing good,” responding to life and life situations of people. In going about doing good, they trusted in the Divine Providence and the generosity of those who could assist in their apostolate.