Dec 2005 ENGLISH 2 Per

December 2005 December 2005 Volume 3 · Number 3 Canossian International VoluntaryVolume Service 3 · Number Newsletter 3 In this issue… 22 Witnessing in ommunion Will you come talk about voluntary service? ence the need for others and, at the same 33 VOICA Brescia Takes Off What are the summer projects for 2006? time, we are a gift for others. Voluntary service endures and transforms into a lifestyle 44 Distance Adoptions These are the questions I often hear, a when each volunteer, in his/her turn, becomes sign that something is alive within the spheres a life-giving spring through the gift of self. 55 VOICA Membership of interest for voluntary service and that VOICA In brief, what we hope from the Canos- is journeying into peoples’ hearts. In this issue, sian Volunteer is the lasting fruit of a personal- 66 Taking Root in the UK we focus on how to be VOICA in various ity; a fruit that continues even after voluntary environments and places. service. It is a temporary commitment trans- 77 The History of VOICA Poland Regarding voluntary service, young formed into a lifelong commitment; from the people immediately think of what to do, accord- logic of choosing a profession to the logic of ing to initiatives, and the sisters push the point 8-98-9 Four Pillars of VOICA vocation and mission; from acting in favour of of formation. From the international coordina- persons and situations in need to the discov- tion standpoint, we seek to create a balance ery of the joy of the permanent gift of self. 10 10 Uganda - Summer 2005 between identity and action. These are the two In good company individual strands that interlace in ‘service’. I did not know what to give Gazing at the moon Sometimes we begin by doing something in order not to get something in return. and consequently discover how to be some- The heart asked from me the 1111 Brazil - Summer 2005 body. Other times, we are motivated by a immense freedom that lives in nothingness Fuelled by joy - Praia Grande feeling inside. We question who we are and yet grows beyond measure. seek an answer. Our actions - our choices - By now the heart was no longer content 12 Summer Projects 2006 12 validate this self-discovery. So we start from with smaller ventures, different points, involving ourselves in the web the minute attempts of giving. 1313 Called to Serve of true life. I woke up and had to answer VOICA provides a framework for building the desire that was burning within me, 1414 After the VOICA experience an individual identity through the spirit it pro- to go and seek the lowly, poses and in the concrete service it suggests. those who could ‘pay’ me with only a smile. 1515 Reflections from the Mission Truly, we cannot be authentic unless we look I left and travelled far, Living in solidarity ad intra and ad extra, inside and outside seeking, curing, embracing sorrow ourselves. Contemplation and action must in the hearts of the poor. 1616 St. Bakhita Clinic Inauguration work together. I was left with nothing, Lomè, Togo Then we have yet a further passage to impoverished as they were, make: understanding that participating in but joy was the shelter of my soul. service activities is not the same as making a gift of one’s life. Assuming the responsibility of MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL others by meeting their needs is certainly a VOICA Sr. Patrizia Livraga, FdCC Via Aurelia Antica, 180 required step in making a gift of oneself, but it VOICA International Coordinator 00165 ROME - ITALY goes further than this. In mission, we experi- Tel. +39 06 39375103 Fax +39 06 6385885 http://www.voica.org www.voica.org Make sure to visit the VOICA Website [email protected] for the latest news and updates on VOICA or for more information on our missions and becoming a volunteer. December 2005 Volume 3 · Number 3 “I am the vine and you are the branches…” - Jn 15 “we are many parts…but we are all one body.” - 1 Cor 12 As Church, we are called to communion. VOICA is an expression of that Universal Christian communion: international volunteers coming together to serve those in need. To date, we are 76 long-term volunteers from eleven countries, over 500 short-term volunteers, and groups of volunteers (some mentioned on the following pages) that serve in their own countries and/or support the VOICA missions abroad. We come together to raise funds for our projects, to give of ourselves to those in need, and to do our best to share our motivations and experiences of mission with others. Communion represents both the source and the fruit of mission: communion gives rise to mission, and mission is accomplished in communion. John Paul II, Christifideles Laici Several branches produce more fruit than one; a body cannot function with only one part. We need each other’s support - moral, spiritual, financial - in order to be mission. The fruit that comes from this is the joy of sharing with the people we serve in mission. Beginning with communion, we become the salt and light for others, beckoning them to join us on the journey together. ‘Communion’ speaks of a double, life-giving participation: the incorporation of Christians into the life of Christ, and the communication of that life of charity to the entire body of the Faithful.” Paul VI, General Audience at conclusion of Second Vatican Council Communion is a life-giving participation… it’s not just an experience, and it doesn’t end with an experience. We constantly seek to live in Christ…to discover Him within ourselves. By this discovery, we are strengthened to bring Him to others through our living witness of charity. Essentially, as laypersons, we must embrace our duty to become ‘Christian leaven’ in our secular world. You are called; we are called to be that living witness...to be the Universal Church. “grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift…. And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers…” Eph 4.7,11 St. Magdalene of Canossa involved the laity from the beginning of her works of charity. She recognized that “In the Lord’s vineyard, all are called to serve but not all in the same manner and in the same state of life.” She called upon the generous lay- people of her time to act as teachers, formators, and benefactors of charitable works. VOICA follows St. Magdalene’s initiative into mission, where volunteers collaborate with Sisters in ‘making Jesus known and loved’ through the ministries to which they are called. What is your role? What gifts can you share as a member of Christ’s body, as a branch among many that are unified in Christ? We have a responsibility to work together, to make that extra effort to begin…continue…to start again on our journey in 2 bringing Jesus to others through a life of charity. Jenny Brink Wisconsin, USA Malawi 2002-2004; Rome 2005 December 2005 Volume 3 · Number 3 The idea of forming an official group The first introductory and came from people who’d had various planning meeting was 21 Septem- VOICA experiences. Many of the current ber. In the following meeting on 28 VOICA Brescia participants were present October, we had a bit of formation at the 2005 Convention held in Rome with the theme ‘VOICA… a little during the summer. The Convention was history’. For about a half hour, we a way of sharing and getting into contact explained how the Canossian with others, particularly with the Polish missions work, discussing the first participants, who had formed a group official VOICA document in 1995 up called ‘VOICA Poland’. Their faith, until the establishment of the strength, and the initiatives that they had VOICA Onlus [non-profit] Association in obviously, relatives and friends! created gave us great motivation. 2004. It was necessary to emphasize We strongly feel that promoting Upon leaving this new enthusiasm these milestones in order to understand VOICA membership is of fundamental we encountered at the Convention, we that it’s not only the work tied to the importance. It was a demand born from decided to form a stable VOICA group projects that’s important, but it’s important the ‘Guidelines & Commitments’ we that would have regularity and continuity to remember that we belong and work created at the 2005 Convention, where in meeting. Until then, the people that had according to the Canossian charism, we all felt the necessity to be much more participated in the VOICA initiatives expression of the love and charity of God. connected to VOICA. It’s one tool that will (apart from the volunteers directly in- enliven volunteers and supporters in volved in the projects) were involved on Among the initiatives that the group assisting us or in receiving information. an ‘as needed’ basis, for instance in promotes are, in general, all that the Membership will also help make possible fundraising. This was a great act of good- VOICA Onlus proposes and particularly: a concrete list of contacts and secure a will but certainly didn’t develop a sense of line of communication over the years with • various distance adoptions according affiliation to VOICA. each person that has been involved with to the needs of the missions; The objective, then, was to create a VOICA; it could be one way of achieving • long-term volunteer adoptions; group with a structured identity, clearly an active Consultation of VOICA Volun- referenced to the Canossian charism, • local initiatives; teers, a fundamental part of the Associa- that could sustain the development of • VOICA membership campaigns.

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