By Sr. Teresa Joseph, FMA –
We have experienced the love of God in a personal manner and we feel the urgency to communicate this experience to all especially to the women and young people through our life of commitment according to our specific walk of life. The Missionary Spirituality is colored by this deep conviction.
In the Indian Context, characterized by variety of cultures and plurality of religions, the missionary spirituality undoubtedly has a marked attention to the sacerdotal prayer of Jesus: make them one as we are one. The challenge for us is not to remain any more as cautious spectators but to participate actively in a world of religious diversity.
In the past, India has been blessed with a vast number of missionaries. It is sufficient to mention, St. Francis Xavier, our pioneer missionaries and others who have given origin to a missionary and catechetical spirituality.
A Flowering of Missionary Vocations
In the footsteps of such great missionaries, now we are witnesses of a flowering of missionary vocations. The missionary spirituality of religious men and women and lay persons has been blossomed into missionary vocation both at home and in far away mission lands. This spirituality is so contagious that today we have many who without any fear are courageous to make their missionary applications.
The Lectio Divina
The Lectio Divina well prepared and participated has become a regular feature among religious communities and families. It is indeed a personal and communitarian encounter with the Lord. It is the Lord who makes us to be with Him and with our people. The missionary zeal of yesterday is relived today in the humble service to women, migrants and those in need.
Mission is an Event of Communication
The mission is an event of communication and today it calls for more than ever the capacity to change, strong convictions, zealous ambitions and energetic apostolic work. In the footsteps of great missionaries like St. Francis Xavier we have to with our personal contact and a simple language ‘make ourselves loved.’ From the building up of Christian Communities to the formation of Catechists and Pastoral Workers, there is much to be done in our land. Therefore it is appropriate to ask ourselves: What is the missionary motivation that sustains us today? What is the methodology to be followed in our missionary commitment? Towards what prospectives are we journeying? How can we make the contemplative prayer truly our very own?
Pope St. John Paul II has expressed it eloquently: “Blessed with the gift of faith, the Church, after two thousand years, continues to go out to meet the peoples of the world in order to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. She is a community aflame with missionary zeal to make Jesus known, loved and followed. There can be no true evangelization without the explicit proclamation of Jesus as Lord” (Ecclesia in Asia no. 19). We do this in India, becoming companions of journey with our poor. Respect for the person and the action of the Spirit are the principles that guide us.
The “Politics of an Open Door”
We continue to strive to create the “politics of an open door” through which to meet the people in the name of Jesus and allow them to enter into dialogue with us. We see in the people of India, desires, questions, anxieties and hopes that are universal to the human family and therefore we can become more active collaborators in the common mission of the Church. It would be wonderful to explore new horizons for a fruitful exchange at academic and experiential level among nations.
A Fresh Flow of Intercultural Knowledge
In a world of today, where many Universities are crying because of lack of professors for various reasons, we need to ensure that in our Theological Colleges and Formation Institutes there is a fresh flow of Intercultural knowledge and experience of life. The catechetical and missionary spirituality are integral part of various curriculums of study. We have to strive to make our Institutes of Study open to the world, a cenacle of culture that is experienced, lived and witnessed. A marked attention to the missionary dimension of our vocation can facilitate this.
Our pioneer missionaries were sons and daughters of their time and actual teachers; entrusted with the mission of being witnesses of the Kingdom of Jesus and being called to collaborate with Him for the diffusion of it in prayer, in daily offering. Let us ask for the strength to accomplish whatever we are called to do.
- Towards what prospective are we journeying towards?
- Cultivate a profound spirit of research to the point of becoming an expert in integrating native values in the Good News
- Perceive the seeds of the Word present in other religions
- To participate with persons of good will in various types of dialogue
- Encourage networking in the field of mission
- Network with people of other religions to create a renewed awareness on the dignity and role of women: from empowerment to transformation
- Rebuild our religious identity in the context of dialogue
Insights for today from our missionary experience:
- Create a vision of exchange
- Explain the values in the light of inter-religious dialogue
- Christ as gift and share Him with the world
- Strengthen the dialogue of life and of witness
- Learn to navigate in the pluri-religious horizon
- Generate in the Church a new meditative and contemplative life
- Open the way to others, attention towards migrants, tribals and women
Frontiers of mission:
- Truism
- Migrants
- Seekers of meaning of life
- World of Media
- Commitment to peace
- Welcoming attitude
- Solidarity
Pope St. John Paul II in (Redemptoris Missio no. 40) highlights: “Today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church.” Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium no. 25 calls for a pastoral and missionary conversion: “I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that they are quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, I want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here has a programmatic significance and important consequences. I hope that all communities will devote the necessary effort to advancing along the path of a pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are. “Mere administration” can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be “permanently in a state of mission”.
To Mary Mother and Inspirer of our mission, let us entrust ourselves that guided by the Spirit like Jesus the missionary of the Father, we also can offer our entire being to the Lord at the service of the poor. We have experienced the personal love of the Father and we cannot keep quiet…
Sr Teresa Joseph, FMA is a Salesian Sister of the Bombay Province. She holds a masters degree in Science of Education with specialization in Catechetics from Auxilium Rome and a PhD in Missiology with specialization in Inter-religious Studies from the Gregorian University Rome.
Sr Teresa is a freelance writer and contributes articles for various journals in India and abroad. Her recent publications include Dream Big Dream True and Family of Truth: The Liminal Context of Inter-Religious Dialogue. She has launched and co-edited an animation book for the family titled Stay Connected in the Circle of Love (2007).