Rome (Italy). From 7 to 31 May 2023, the Missions Sector of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians animates the ongoing formation course for Missionaries ad gentes, “With Mary, being a ‘presence’ that generates life” (Acts GC XXIV) held in Rome at the General House of the FMA Institute, with stops in Mornese (AL), Nizza Monferrato (AT), Turin.
The objectives of the course, in which 13 FMA from all over the world participate – Korea, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Gabon, Japan, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, South Sudan – are:
- To reawaken the original freshness of missionary vocational fruitfulness.
- Experience this charismatic pause ‘at the origins’ to revive the missionary passion of the da mihi animas coetera tolle.
The Mother General of the FMA Institute, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, in the encounter she had with them, starting from a thought of Blaise Pascal, “Seekers of God? You wouldn’t be looking for me, if you hadn’t already found me” (B. Pascal, Pensèes, n. 553) focused attention on the disciples’ question to Jesus “Master, where do you live?” (Jn 1:38). “How many times has this question entered our reflection! And yet it is still capable of awakening the deepest and clearest dreams, the ideal tension that justifies our lives. We are seekers of God. It is He who has filled your life; He has given you the courage to respond generously to His call. This Yes is now more aware, because it has the weight of your life lived. The passionate search for the Lord involves us with our whole being. We experience the fascination of having been conquered and it reminds us that we must walk with our eyes fixed on Jesus”.
During this month, the Sisters have the opportunity to experience the Feast of Mother Mazzarello and the Spiritual Exercises in Mornese, to participate in the Feast of Mary Help of Christians and in the procession at the Basilica in Turin, to visit the places where Mother Mazzarello and Don Bosco lived.
Mother General urged the sisters to live “this important moment to rekindle the fire. Every experience we live is an experience to revive the heart. Ask yourself: Who am I looking for? Where does my heart dwell? Inhabit the depths of your being and let God inhabit you. Missionaries are signs of tenderness. Retrace the path of the generations who transmitted the Institute and ask yourself again: ‘What have I experienced? What are the signs of God in my life?’ Retracing your path now becomes a sign of hope for us, for the Institute, because no one walks alone. Finally, ask yourself, ‘What is my role in society in religious life?’ Make the face of God visible. We have found it, but if we still desire it, because God allows Himself to be sought and continually finds us”.
These sisters, like many others of the FMA Institute scattered throughout the world, in the silence of their daily work and in many years of mission, have given and continue to give their lives to the many forgotten brothers and sisters of different cultures, with commitment, courage, creativity, hope. Maybe their lives don’t make the news; they haven’t written books or published articles in newspapers, but they are women who with the strength of love and courage alone try to turn death into life. Women, like so many others who are special; who with determination have responded to God’s call to be missionaries ad gentes forever – for 67, 62, 45, 32, 16 years – where the Lord has called them to flourish.
Muy lindas la palabras de Madre Chiara, creo que todos los días es para preguntarse qué busco. A quien estoy buscando… sirven para reavivar el fuego de nuestro primer sí. Gracias hermanas por iniciar este camino de respuesta radical al Señor… Haberse encontrado en los lugares de nuestros origenes ya es una gran motivación…ahora a contagiarnos y
Hermoso las palabras de madre Chiara. Reavivan en mi también esa alegría de haberlo encontrado, de saber que le pertenezco y las interrogantes que me ponen en el camino, para ser signo de esperanza