{"id":15918,"date":"2018-08-29T14:40:20","date_gmt":"2018-08-29T12:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mdipime.org\/?p=15918"},"modified":"2018-11-18T16:37:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T15:37:53","slug":"voices-from-the-days-of-nepi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mdipime.org\/en\/missionary-life\/voices-from-the-days-of-nepi\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices from the days of Nepi"},"content":{"rendered":"

The General Administrations of the Italian Missionary Institutes
\nNepi, August 5-12, 2018<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"Dear Brothers and Sisters,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As members of the General Administrations of the eight male and female exclusively missionary Institutes founded in Italy \u2013 Consolata, PIME, Xaverians, Comboni \u2013 we met on August 5-12 at the house of the Consolata Sisters in Nepi, to pray and reflect together on the mission ad gentes. Forty-three missionaries attended. We reserved the first five days for a retreat moderated by Xaverian Sister Teresina Caffi, while the remaining two days, August 11-12, were given to formation and a discussion on \u201cMission ad gentes \u2013 our identity as missionaries,\u201d with the help of a reflection by Fr. F\u00e9licien Ntambwe, CICM, a Scheut Missionary from Congo-Kinshasa.<\/em><\/p>\n

During the retreat, <\/strong>meditating on passages from the first 16 chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, we immersed ourselves in the first steps of the mission that Jesus had given to his apostles: \u201cYou will be my witnesses\u201d <\/em>(AA 1:8) to understand the enduring values and recognize the dynamism the Holy Spirit implanted in the Church from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spirit of truth will guide you to the whole truth,\u201d <\/em>(John 16:13) had been the promise of Jesus. The Acts describe how the apostles and evangelizers progressively understood the salvation brought by Jesus. It is a gratuitous gift that the Spirit is \u201ceager\u201d to offer to all, destroying a series of barriers, degrees, priorities that an old mentality had left within the proclaimers. \u201cGod gave them the same gift he gave us,\u201d <\/em>(AA11:17) repeats incessantly the author of the Acts, and he adds, \u201cwe believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will,\u201d <\/em>(AA 15:11) to mean that the gratuity of the gift given to the world reveals to the old followers of the LAW that it is by pure grace that they, themselves, were saved. In the Acts, Luke repeatedly gives us a model of how to open ourselves to the New Spirit: it entails the firm choice to live, in the city, in the \u201cupper room\u201d of prayer (see AA 1:13), to be passionately attentive to history and to direct and sincere exchanges within the communities of believers, in order to read the signs. How do we stack up to the urgent demands of the Spirit arising in current history?<\/p>\n

The remaining two days were given to ongoing formation. It was an unplanned initiative, a time of study and sharing on the mission ad gentes. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The occasion was given by Pope Francis\u2019 convocation of a special Missionary October for 2019 \u201cin order to better revive the awareness of the mission ad gentes <\/em>and to resume with enthusiasm the missionary transformation of life and of pastoral activity.\u201d (Letter of the Holy Father, October 22, 2017)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the morning of August 11, <\/strong>the eight Institutes shared experiences and reflections on what should \u201cqualify the service ad gentes<\/em>: fields of activity, conversion, formation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the choice of fields of activity <\/em>the most commonly mentioned were situations of first evangelization, the choice of groups historically \u201cfar away\u201d from the Gospel or where the Christian community is still in its infancy, contexts of grave conflict and social injustice. Consecration for life <\/em>is essential, together with an ever more intense connection to the One who calls to mission, and the charismatic connection to one\u2019s Institute.<\/p>\n

Substance and method go hand in hand. We shared the desire to promote entities with less structure, <\/em>with nimble and fraternal communities, living in a humble style, with poor means, but rich in human relations. Being sensitive to the community and working in ministerial cooperation <\/em>are elements that are more and more given space and attention.<\/p>\n

Another element of particular importance is the process of inter-culturality<\/em> both within the individual Institutes and in relation to other cultures. The challenge of the encounter with a people, its history and culture, requires extended time to learn and delve in depth, and this clashes at times with the temporary condition of our missionary assignments.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, <\/strong>Fr. F\u00e9licien Ntambwe developed the theme: \u201cAd gentes: charism and mission, problems, relevance and future.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Charism and mission, said Fr. F\u00e9licien, are the two sides of the same coin and must remain so. Beyond any territorial definition, ad gentes <\/em>means \u201coutside our faith community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The missionary needs an adequate formation and a particularly solid spirituality, being outside of the known context of faith. To take on more fully our charism ad gentes <\/em>demands: a personal encounter with Christ; the feeling of having been saved by him and, therefore, thanksgiving; compassion for the world and total selflessness, the \u201cdisowning\u201d of one\u2019s own life, which belongs to Christ.<\/p>\n

He then pointed out some of the questions arising by current thinking, and by theological reflection on the concept of mission and of being a missionary ad gentes. <\/em><\/p>\n