IMC Newsletter N°32

The General Council – Rome IMC Newsletter N°32 Rome, December 08, 2015 Feast of the Immaculate Conception, beginning of the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy! INTRODUCTION Dear brothers, our vocation of people consecrated for the mission is very beautiful but also very challenging; it drives us on new and unknown paths and processes. But throughout this process the most important aspect is the love of life of which our vocation should be a sign and a witness, a life lived with others, especially the poorest and neediest. «The multitude of those who believed was of one heart and soul, and no one considered his property all that he owned, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and all enjoyed great favour. None of their members was ever in want, as all those who owned land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet; then it was distributed to each according to his need» (Acts 4,32-35). Pope Francesco during his visit to South Korea spoke of consolation. Let us meditate on his word: «There is a word that attracts me a lot: consolation. Consolation: the presence of God in any of his modalities. Our Holy Father Ignatius always tries to confirm the decision of the reform of life or of the election of the status of life through the second way of “election”: the consolation. Consolation is a beautiful word for those who receive it. But it is difficult to give consolation. When I read the Book of Consolation of the Prophet Isaiah, added Francesco, I read that to console, to console his people, is a work proper to God. When one lives a painful situation, if he can face it with love, it becomes a seed of consolation for this person». God’s people, the Pope explained, «need consolation, to be consoled, the “Consuelo”. I think that the Church is a field hospital at the moment. The people of God ask us to be consoled. Many wounds, so many wounds that need consolation... We must listen to the words of Isaiah: “Comfort, comfort my people.” There are no wounds that cannot be comforted by the love of God. We have to live in this way: looking for Jesus Christ so as to bring this love to console the wounds, to heal the wounds». 1. Protector of the year: BLESSED IRENE NYAATHA “Very Dear Consolata Missionaries: Sisters, Fathers and Brothers, During this new year dedicated to mercy we want to continue praying and look at Blessed Irene as our annual protector. Papa Francesco presenting the Jubilee year of Mercy explained: «A question is present in the heart of many people: why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the Church, in this time 1 of great changes, is called upon to offer in a more evident way the signs of the presence and closeness of God. This is not the time for distraction, but rather to remain vigilant and to awaken in us the ability to look to the essentials. It is the time for the Church to rediscover the meaning of the mission that the Lord entrusted to it on the day of Easter: to be a sign and instrument of the Father’s mercy (cfr. John 20, 21-23). Blessed Irene Stefani is characterized precisely by her mercy. It is the name that without her knowledge was given her by the people of Gikondi: Nyaatha, and she is still called so.” This is the way that the exhortation letter that the Mother General of the Consolata Missionaries Sisters, Sister Simona Brambilla, and myself have prepared to accompany us through this year. At the end of the letter that you will receive in a few days there are even specific proposals; I invite you to attend to them and put all the possible effort to carry them out. May Blessed Irene be the one who leads our steps towards the renewal of the Institute and of our mission with a spirit of mercy. Good Walk! Prayer Blessed Irene: Blessed Irene, Nyaatha , our sister, Intercede for us the gift of Mercy! 2. TOWARDS SOME LEGAL DECISIONS The Direzione Generale, considering the legal status (under Church Law) of a number of missionaries and countries falling under its jurisdiction, as well as the continental process undertaken by the Institute, is oriented to create some new Delegations, to modify some others in order to encourage the Continental process which was started by the Institute and thus achieve the definition of the legal belonging status of some missionaries who feel the need for such clarity. In short, the main reasons for this legal clarification are: To make each group responsible for its life and mission; To ensure a more direct and closer link with the Continent they belong to; To foster a certain decentralization from the Direzione Generale. In concrete the concerned groups and communities are: • Our Asian presences: Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan, which could make up one only region of Asia. • The Region of Spain: it could become a Delegation. • The Canada, Mexico, USA groups: they could become a new Delegation, though maintaining a certain group autonomy. • The Congo-Isiro and Congo-Kinshasa groups: they could be constitutes again as Region. • The Polish community: it could be united to the Region of Italy. • The Angola community: it could be united to the Region of Mozambique. 3. RECOVERY OF OUR MEMORY For some time there has been talking, within our Institute, of the importance of our historical memory, recovering our historical memory is essential for building the future. 2 Without memory there is no future. Peoples who lose their memory are people without a future. An Institute that loses its memory has a future built on the sand. The Holy Pope John Paul II had written about cultural heritage, “from the encounter with the Cultural Heritage contemporary man must be able to re-read the history of the Church and of the Kingdom and to recognize the mysterious fascination of God’s saving plan.” We, Consolata Missionaries, run this risk considering the little effort we make to not lose, in fact, our memory. Our memory is not just made up of the cultural heritage we have collected in the course of many years. Memory means also not to forget the many witnesses, the many Consolata missionaries who marked a time, an era, and a presence. The more time passes, the more we older missionaries have a responsibility to inform our younger missionaries about our history. We need to tell young people the events and the characters of our Institute. This telling helps to give meaning to our existence, it allows us to find our roots, giving meaning to what has been and what has happened. Memory is the story commented by the experience of the missionaries and of the lived mission. In our tradition we have different tools that have characterized our history and which, for various reasons, we have abandoned without recourse to other important tools. I think about the diaries of the Missionaries, all that material we have in those texts which we preserve with sacred attention in our General Archives. We all know that, right in the Diaries, the Founder drew to keep in touch with his missionaries, in order to give advice knowing the reality and walk with the missionaries on the paths of the mission. Also in different Regions we have small or large museums where we gathered the signs of history, the cultural goods, signs of our presence among the people with whom we have shared culture and bread. We cannot abandon these cultural schools; we have the duty of keeping them alive and open so that also the people may know, understand and accompany. Finally, there are the exhibits, the studies, the writings, the work of many missionaries who, thanks to their skills and competencies expressed art and culture. Our task is to preserve, to make known, to study this material so that forming ourselves on the history of yesterday we may write that of tomorrow. However, in conclusion, I cannot fail to remind everyone that the greatest gift we have is our missionaries, their example and their testimony which, if not forgotten, becomes the seed of our future. This challenge, this task, this gratitude that we still must have, is open for all of us. I invite everyone to mobilize so that everywhere: a. Let us go back to writing the DIARIES of the MISSION and of the MISSIONARY, unique and even irreplaceable source for drinking from our own well! b. Let us recount and put in writing the testimony of our missionaries of the past with a privileged attention to the communities and the missions we have achieved together. c. Let us collect and store the material produced by our missionaries: artwork, drawings, projects, photos... d. Let us create “places of the memory”: Museums and/or Cultural Centres, expression of the life of our Institute, participation of our people, of the contribution of the communities and people with whom we have built and we are still building paths. e. Let us take care of, update and keep in order our Regional Archives: a sign of respect, solidarity and communion with every missionary belonging to the Consolata family. Dear ones, let us do everything possible so that, in the places where we are, we can retrieve both the cultural heritage that characterizes our history and, above all, the examples, the testimonies of those who have gone before us, so as to not forget and to continue with 3 zeal and passion our mission.

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