SALESIAN – A MISSIONARY AND A WITNESS TO CHRIST

SALESIAN – A MISSIONARY AND A WITNESS TO CHRIST
“Every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ, and the Church, the community of Christ’s disciples, has no other mission than that of bringing the Gospel to the entire world by bearing witness to Christ. To evangelize is the very identity of the Church” (Pope Francis, message for World Mission Day 2022).

October is the World Mission Month inviting us to reflect on the truth that we are all called to be missionaries bearing witness to Christ and to the message of His Gospel. World Mission Month and Mission Sunday give us the opportunity to honor our life as Catholics through the special call we received at baptism to be missionaries in bearing Christ’s message of salvation to all peoples. Pope Francis in his World Mission Sunday message for 2022 calls for renewed efforts to spread the Gospel. The Holy Father writes: “Dear brothers and sisters, I continue to dream of a complete missionary church and a new era of missionary activity among Christian communities”. He emphasized that every member of the Church has a shared responsibility to witness to Christ. United as we are to each and every one of goodwill, the mission calls us to be signs of Faith, Hope, and Love. The love for the Church’s mission which is a passion for Jesus Christ and a passion for us all must grow stronger every day. We collaborate with the Church in fulfilling its mission to evangelize (Mt 28:19-20). Proclaiming the Gospel, especially to the young, is our primary missionary task (Cf. A. Fernández, “Rector Major’s Guidelines for the Salesian Congregation”, in ACG 433, p.22.). Our initiatives for human advancement, motivated by a deep faith, are an initial proclamation.
Missionary Discipleship The word “mission” has its origin in the Latin root mittere, which means “to send,” and missus, meaning “sent.” The very foundation of the Church is based on the concept of “being sent.” The Father’s relationship with the Son is sending, mission; the Spirit is that sending. And thus, God’s Trinitarian relationship with the world is in terms of sending, mission. In the gospel of John, we find the most succinct presentation of the Good News: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn. 3:16-17). The Incarnation of the Son is not simply an event in the past. It is, in fact, the eternal mission of God. And we, the Church, are that ongoing Incarnation today. As St. Paul reminds us, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually
members of it” (1 Cor. 12:27). Jesus instructed His disciples to witness to people of all nations about him. “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). He is calling each one of us to be his missionary disciples. “In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples…… The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangelization; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love (“Joy of the Gospel” n. 120). Missionary discipleship means encountering the love of Jesus Christ, growing in relationship with him, and inviting and helping others to do the same. “I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord.” The Lord does not
disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms” (“Joy of the Gospel” n.3). Simply put, we are the world’s encounter with God. We are God’s gift to the world. And when we act otherwise, we are betraying our vocation.

The Missionary Spirit

The spirit of the Church is always one of “mission”. The words of Pope Benedict XVI are profoundly inspiring for us: “We cannot accept that salt should become tasteless or the light be kept hidden (cf. Matthew 5:13-16). The people of today can still experience the need to go to the well, like the Samaritan woman, in order to hear Jesus, who invites us to believe in him and to draw upon the source of living water welling up within him (cf. John 4:14) … there is a need for stronger ecclesial commitment to new evangelization in order to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith.” (Motu Proprio, Porta Fidei).

While addressing the bishops of Latin America, Pope Francis went on to explain the meaning behind a “Church in a Permanent State of Mission.” He said, “The Gospel speaks of Jesus who, proceeding from the Father, journeys with his disciples through the fields and the towns of Galilee. His journeying is not meaningless. As Jesus walks, he encounters people. When he meets people, he draws near to them. When he draws near to them, he talks to them. When he talks to them, he touches them with his power. When he touches them, he brings them healing and salvation.” When Pope Francis envisions the Church having a “missionary spirit” it is this type of personal encounter that he refers to. He challenges us to imitate Jesus’ example of going out to the people to speak to them of their “concrete situations”. Missionary spirit is manifested by preaching love, humanity and faith through one’s witness.

The disciple/missionary, guided by the Holy Spirit, seeks to make visible the merciful love of the Father and seeks to do this in every place and with everybody, especially with those persons who are poor and suffering. To live in a state of mission means that the disciple seeks greater holiness. The disciples’ task of evangelization consists of the proclamation of the Good News in a way that takes into consideration the joys and sorrows, the hopes and anxieties of the world and of people today. This proclamation is done in a respectful manner, in dialogue with the world and with an awareness of the social and cultural diversity. Therefore, the mission always has the power to transform life and society. Mission, however, has to be constantly updated; not enough simply to repeat things that might have been understood at one time but now are incomprehensible to people. Mission cannot seek refuge in some form of spiritualism and thus avoid confronting the concrete problems of the world.

Missionary Spirit, an Essential Feature of the Salesian Charism

The missionary spirit is the heart of pastoral charity summed up in Da mihi Animas, Caetera Tolle. It is an ‘essential feature’ of Don Bosco’s charism’ (Fr. Viganò), which all Salesians are called to live. Looking at the life of Don Bosco, we see that he shared the conviction of the Church that she is the universal sacrament of salvation (LG 14). Hence for him as for the Church, the presentation of the Gospel message is not optional but a duty, by the command of the Lord Jesus, so that people may believe and be saved (EN 5). Don Bosco passionately loved God and his love was manifested in his zeal for souls. “Da mihi animas” was the key that boosted him to win souls for God. Peter Brocardo, well known scholar on Don Bosco tells us that “give me souls” was Don Bosco’s passion, his obsession and his mysticism. “Da mihi animas” implies also Don Bosco’s zeal for souls of those yet to be evangelized by the message of the Gospel. His zeal for souls was directed to every human person in need of salvation. Fr Eugene Ceria said, “Don Bosco’s missionary idea grew in him. At first it was an inner voice calling him to take the Gospel to unbelieving countries; later it was a flame of zeal, kindled by the desire to extend the activities of his sons to that field as well” (E. Ceria, Annali della Società Salesiana, I, SDB, Torino 1888, p. 24). Instead, Fr Paul Albera summed up Don Bosco’s missionary spirit this way: “The missions were the favourite subject of his discourses, and he knew how to instil in hearts such a keen desire to become missionaries that it seemed the most natural thing in the world … for Don Bosco the second aim of his Congregation had to be that of the missions and nothing kept him from embracing it in all its breadth” (P. Albera, “The Oratories – The Missions – Vocations”, 13 May 1913, no.13, in Lettere Circolari di Don Paolo Albera ai Salesiani, SDB, Turin 1922, p. 133). We are not just talking about a personal interest

but a real charisma fundationis that our founder passed on to his Salesians and to the entire Salesian Family (Cf. L. Ricceri, “The Missions, the Way to Renewal”, in ACS 267, p.13). “The mind and heart of the Founder”, Fr Viganò wrote, “and the uninterrupted tradition in our Family, are an open confirmation of the fact that the missionary dimension is an ‘essential feature’ of our charism” (E. Viganò, “Pope’s Appeal for the Missions”, in AGC 336, p. 11). Our present Successor of Don Bosco says that “the missionary dimension is part of our identity”.

The Salesian Missionary Spirit

As Salesians, we are true missionaries of the young, and youth is our mission land. We live Don Bosco’s missionary spirit as the heart of pastoral charity, which manifests itself in the ‘oratorian heart’, fervour, drive and the capacity for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. It is the passion for evangelization, especially of young people, and the willingness to be sent wherever there is a need, expressed in the ‘ci vado io’ (I shall go) that Fr Albert Caviglia considered as being the ‘Salesian motto’. In short, the missionary spirit – summed up in the ‘Da mihi animas’ – is typical of every Salesian, because its roots are in the Salesian charism itself. It is this missionary spirit that makes us live the Salesian consecrated life “permanently in a state of mission”. The missionary prayer every eleventh of the month, the annual Salesian Mission Day and other missionary animation initiatives help keep the missionary spirit alive in every community and Province.

Living the Missionary Impetus

In his programme for the six-year period, the Rector Major continues to invite every Province to open its own missionary project. It is the missionary impetus that invigorates faith, gives new vocational enthusiasm and revitalizes the charismatic identity of the confreres. In fact, “we all share responsibility for the evangelizing and missionary work of the Salesians of Don Bosco throughout the world”. Our Province at its inception itself had turned its attention towards the missionary project both within the province and in the Congregation. Many missionaries have been sent to various parts of the Congregation, and most among them to East Africa. We also have been sharing our confreres with the Kolkata Province for the Nepal mission. The Yemen mission was also served by our confreres for a long time until the dangerous war situation made it impossible for us to continue there. In the Province itself we have opened a number of communities in the mission areas of Karnataka and Kerala. We thank the Lord for the generosity of our confreres and pray that we all become zealous missionaries wherever we are sent, bearing fruits by way of saving souls with the same fervour of Don Bosco and scores of zealous Salesian missionaries who are our inspiration and model. The missionary month of October and World Mission Sunday prescribe two vaccines – “prayer” and “sharing” – to the baptized people for a successful mission. To Mary our Mother and inspirer of our mission, let us entrust ourselves, that guided by the Holy Spirit like Jesus, the missionary of the Father, we also can offer our entire being to the Lord at the service of the mission especially to the poor.

Fr. Jose Thomas Koyickal sdb,
Provincial