News of the global mission of the Catholic Church through the lens of the Xaverian Missionaries USA
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“Make of the world one family” Newsletter Volume 63 - No. 4 | November 2015 www.xaviermissionaries.org • Mission Blog: www.global-catholic.org Mission and Consecrated Life ......... 2 Muslim and Catechist ......................... 3 A Celebration of Love ........................ 4 Parliament of World religions ........ 5 Final Profession of Sister Susy .......6-7 Consecrated to Mission .....................8-9 World & US Province News .............. 10-11 Photo: Final Profession of Sister Susan Miranda Jimenez XMM Xaverian Mis sion
Mission and Consecrated LifeExcerpt from Message for World Mission Sunday
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
World Mission Sunday 2015 takes place in the context of the Year of Consecrated Life, which provides a further stimulus for prayer and reflection. For if every baptized person is called to bear witness to the
Lord Jesus by proclaiming the faith received as a gift, this is especially so for each consecrated man and woman. There is a clear connection between conse-crated life and mission. The desire to follow Jesus closely, which led to the emer-gence of consecrated life in the Church, responds to his call to take up the cross and follow him, to imitate his dedication to the Father and his service and love, to lose our life so as to gain it. Since Christ’s entire existence had a missionary character, so too, all those who follow him closely must possess this missionary quality.
...Those who follow Christ cannot fail to be missionaries, for they know that Jesus “walks with them, speaks to them, breathes with them. They sense Jesus alive with them in the midst of the missionary enterprise” (Evangelii Gaudium, 266).
Mission is a passion for Jesus and at the same time a passion for his people. When we pray before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which gives us dignity and sustains us. At the same time, we realize that the love flowing from Jesus’ pierced heart expands to embrace the People of God and all humani-
ty. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people (cf. ibid., 268) and all those who seek him with a sin-cere heart. In Jesus’ command to “go forth”, we see the scenarios and ever-present new challeng-es of the Church’s evangelizing mission. All her members are called to proclaim the Gospel by their witness of life. In a particular way, conse-crated men and women are asked to listen to the voice of the Spirit who calls them to go to the peripheries, to those to whom the Gospel has not yet been proclaimed.
The fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree Ad Gentes is an invitation to all of us to reread this document and to reflect on its contents. The Decree called for a powerful missionary impulse in Institutes of Consecrated Life.
In my view Foday Kamara is a true example of interreligious dialogue, in his deeds and in the sense of encouraging religious diversity and support-ing religious minority groups.
Who is Mr. Foday Kamara? He is headmaster of the Roman Catholic primary school of Walia, Mongo Parish, Makeni Diocese in Sierra Leone and is a Muslim by faith. While I was visiting his school, I was taken by surprise because he introduced himself as headmaster, a Muslim and a catechist. The word “catechist” refers to someone who teaches Christian doctrine or helps non-Christians to understand and discover the Christian faith.
Naturally I was curious to know how a Muslim can be involved in catechism in the sense of promoting the Christian faith. He answered: “I believe we need Christians in our Muslim dominated village. A Christian presence may help us to understand that there are other religions in the world, other ways of wor-shiping God. That’s why I decided to help children who want to be Christians.”
Therefore, by teaching catechism, Mr. Kamara is promoting Christianity in his Muslim village. One may ask, “How is it possible to teach Christian doctrine without being Christian?” It’s true that for the Church, catechists are sup-posed to believe what they teach. For our Muslim catechist, this is not the case. He is just helping children to know and understand Christian doctrine.
Among the new catechumens of Walia, there are two of his own children. To teach catechism, he uses the materials provided by the parish priest, who is the first one responsible for catechism in the school. However when the priest is absent Mr. Kamara always takes over. On Sundays, when the priest comes for liturgy, Mr. Kamara always helps him to gather the catechumens together. He embodies the main purpose of interreligious dialogue—not to con-vince other religious partners to change their own faith, but in common understanding, to help each other to stand firm in one’s own faith, to worship truly the God of his/her faith and to be a witness of God’s love among people.
In our conversation, I asked him if in teaching catechism he was not changing his faith and becoming Christian. He answered: “If I do not properly love my neighbors, it’s not because I am Muslim. It’s because I do not practice what my Islam teaches me. If I am a true witness of One God in whom I believe and worship, a true Muslim, I must strive to be the best person I can be.”
Living in diverse cultural contexts, missionaries have helped the Church to take seriously the challenge of interreligious dialogue. By their encounter with people of other faiths, they have helped Christians to better under-stand other believers and not to reject anything of what is true and holy in other religions (Vatican II, Nostra Aetate, #2). Missionaries have to carry on this task with zeal and conviction.
In the midst of the shameful bad news coming from countries like Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and Kenya because of violence based somehow on religion, the case of Mr. Foday Kamara, Muslim and catechist, is indeed a small piece of good news from Sierra Leone, where religion is no longer a cause of con-flict. He reminds us that religious diversity is not always a factor of division and violence. The faith of other believers is a gift given to all to deepen their own faith and to live it truly.
Fr. Louis Bira SX
Xaverian Missionaries in the World
Apostolic Administrator Natale Paganelli SX (center) of Makeni Sierra Leone, soon to be
consecrated Bishop of the titular see of Gadiaufala.
Studying the Koran
St. Guido Conforti Church in Sierra Leone
Xaverian Mission Newsletter • November 20154
Xaverian Missionaries in the World
World Mission Sunday: A Celebration of Love
T his year World Mission Sunday in Saint Joseph the Worker Par ish, the Xaver ian par ish in Thailand, was the celebration
of cultural diversity and the promotion of fr iendship between Thai and Burmese people. Motivated by the affirmation of Pope Francis that “the poor, the little ones and the sick, those who are often looked down upon or forgotten, those who cannot repay us” are
“the first to whom the Gospel message must be proclaimed,” we welcomed 15 young Burmese people from one of the Burmese ref-ugees camps in Thailand to our par ish on October 17 and 18. It was a meaningful expe-r ience for our par ishioners since many con-
sider Burmese as transgressors of Thai laws, illegal migrants, cr iminals, outsiders, people destined for dangerous, dir ty, degrading and low income work. As a matter of fact, most of our par ishioners employ Burmese migrants in their farms for less than the minimum wage required by Thai law. So, that weekend, we saw the message of Chr ist building br idges among people; it creates new relationship based on love, respect and justice. It was really beautiful to see Thai and Burmese people chatting with one another in a fr iendly way, pray ing for one another, pray ing together, play ing together and shar ing meal together as children in the same family. Yes, we are indeed children of the Same God.
World Mission Sunday was thus for our par ish an opportunity to rediscover Burmese people as our brothers and sisters in
Chr ist by listening to their struggles, fears, hopes, dreams, faith exper i-ence and to express our love and sympathy for them. Like us they are looking for happiness, fulfillment …God. We were very happy to hear
some of our young par ishioners telling us “father, we would like to go to v isit them and all the Burmese refugees in the camp” and also to hear the young Burmese people say ing: “Thank you for lov ing us.”
The exper ience of this weekend dedicated to mission reminds us once more that the Holy Spir it is really at work in the hearts of people despite our limi-tations. It encourages us to continue journeying with the people of God as their brothers, fr iends and proclaiming with our community, made of people of different ages, cultures, and ethnicities, the beauty and the joy of know-ing Jesus. Saint Francis of Assisi once gave this precious piece of adv ice to some missionar ies: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” Fr. Thierry Kengne,SX
Thai and Burmese together at St. Joseph’s Parish
Welcoming Burmese refugees (above) with lots of hugs (below)
You can help Fr. Thierry build bridges of understanding in Thailand. Either clip this paper and send it to the address below or help the environment by donating online at http://www.xaviermissionaries.org/support/
Name: Donation Amount:
Address: City: State: Zip
Email or phone:
Mail to: Fr. Frank Grappoli SX, 12 Helene Ct., Wayne, NJ 07470
“Then Peter replied, ‘I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.’” ~Acts 10:34
These words of Peter, astonished at the descent of the Holy Spir it on the ‘pagan’ Cornelius, were echoing in my mind dur ing the 6th Parliament of the World’s Reli-gions held in Salt Lake City, Utah where religious lead-ers from many traditions throughout the world gath-ered together to encounter people of other religious and spir itual traditions and exper ience their sacred r ituals and learn about their beliefs.
Dur ing this Parliament I came to realize how the focus was not on intr icate theological discussions, but rather on prov iding a window into how differ ing religious and spir itual traditions perceive the div ine reality and the challenges the modern world poses to believers and non-believers alike. There was the desire to address the central social issues of our days: economic justice, sustainability, and human r ights in the increasingly complex and often fractious world.
The Parliament’s sessions were focused on: • climate change and care for creation, • war, v iolence and hate speech and • the widening wealth gap and wasteful consumption.
“Nostra Aetate,” established in the Catholic Church by the Vatican Council for relations with all other reli-gious traditions, maintained that all religions have their ultimate roots in one God and hence Catholics can learn from their religious perspectives.
Dur ing the sessions participants actively sought to pro-mote inter-religious harmony among different spir itual communities, str iv ing to achieve a just, peaceful and sustainable world.
The Parliament empowered participants to examine many forms of religious expression. One was offered the possibility to investigate religious exper ience; myth and r itual; teachings and scr ipture; ethical, social, and artistic aspects of religion; and nature and function of religion in human society.
In this work of peace building, the role of religion is fundamental:
“It is not possible to build br idges between people while forgetting God. But the converse is also true: it is not possible to establish true links with God while ignor ing other people. Hence it is im-portant to intensify dialogue among the var ious religions…” -Pope Francis, March 23, 2013
Fr. Michael Davitti SX
Photos by Fr. Carl Chudy SX
Profession of Sister Susy XMM
On October 8, 2015, Sister Susana Miranda Jimenez professed her final vows as a religious missionary sister with the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary. Sr. Susy (as we lovingly call her) is from Mexico
and has spent considerable time in her dedication to the Lord and to the global mission of the Church. Today, while working on her English, she is assisting in the Latino ministry of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts.
The Congregation of the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary was established in Parma, Italy in 1945 following the prophetic insights of Saint Conforti. “In the Xaverian Congregation I would like to start a Community of Sisters, for I consider it of great importance.” (Conforti, 1927). Venerable Celestina Healy Bottego*, who was born in Glendale, Ohio and lived in Butte, Montana until she was 14, collaborated with Fr. James Spagnolo SX to start the community of sisters in Italy.
Today, the Missionaries of Mary – Xaverian Sisters – are present in Italy, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Japan and Thailand. They are engaged in evangelization, catechetical activity, health care, and human rights promotion (especially of women). They live in small mission communities, often in areas of great poverty. They strive to respond to deep-rooted aspirations of the local churches and people among whom they live, and whose journey, sufferings, hopes and expectations they share.
Prostrating before the altar as a sign of consecration to God
Receiving the host from Fr. Carl Chudy SX, who presided at the Mass
Professing her vows before her XMM community, (from left) Sr. Maria Luisa Dallari, Sr. Rebeca Sānchez Pérez, and
Sr. Dorineide Pantoja Ferreira
*Whoever receives a grace through the intercession of Mother Celestina is kindly requested to inform the Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary, 242 Salisbury St., Worcester MA 01609
The missionary sisters draw inspiration from Mary, in the mystery of the Visitation and hold her to be the model of their interior spirit. Like Mary they travel the world, that all people will know the love of God. At the heart of Mary’s role in our lives is the model she provides of one who consecrates themselves to the dreams of God that transcend all plans and dreams of happiness.
In many profound ways, the gesture of Sr. Susy is really a reflection of the deepest, most profound desires within all of us: consecrating our lives to something larger than our small visions and personal interests.
For religious missionaries, the horizon is open; we are called to prayerful watchfulness, interceding for the world. On the horizon, we continue to see little signs heralding an abundant, beneficial rainfall on our dryness; faint whispers of a faithful presence.
In this Year of Consecrated Life, religious missionaries, along with many others, are called to “wake up the world,” since the distinctive sign of religious life is prophesy. This prophetic role is all about people like Sr. Susy, with a unique role to read and respond to the times in which they live. We need to encourage many more to consecrate themselves to something grand, something bigger than our little dreams. It is our role to embody the dreams of God for all of humanity.
Fr. Carl Chudy SX
Receiving a blessing from her mom
Sharing a hug
8 Xaverian Mission Newsletter • November 2015
Whose Legacy ContinuesToday
St. Guido Conforti’s Legacy
St. Guido Conforti:A Man Consecrated to
Mission
Our Founder’s Feast Day is November 5th. Check our website:
www.xaviermissionaries.org for events and celebrations.
Christ is the missionary’s ideal. The missionary’s apostolic projects are the same as those of Christ, his pastoral priorities are the same as those of
Christ and his sentiments and lifestyle are those of Christ. These were the sentiments of St. Guido Conforti and he wanted to communicate them to his missionary congregation. There is something in this that goes beyond the times and the circumstances and it is something that will always be part of the theology of the mission. In his life and teachings, Conforti left us an extremely precious heritage to which we should constantly return, namely, that Christ is the only missionary. In his the speeches to missionaries departing for the missions and the characteristics of missionary spirituality that were to distinguish his missionaries he emphasized:
“An essential characteristic of missionary spirituality is intimate communion with Christ. We cannot understand or carry out the mission unless we refer it to Christ as the one who was sent to evangelize … It is precisely because he/she is ‘sent’ that the missionary experiences the consoling presence of Christ, who is with him/her at every moment of life.” Fr. Guglielmo Camera SX
Today hundreds of Xaverians bring the love of Christ to all
the corners of the world through the legacy of St. Guido Conforti. This year celebrates the 150th Anni-versary of the saint’s birth.
This page clockwise: The General Direction Council, The USA Provincial Council, Xaverians in Taiwan, Xave-rians in Parma, Xaverians in North Brazil, The 2015 Cosuma of Provincials, the Philippine Theologate, and Xaverians in Burun-di. Opposite page: South Brazil Leadership, Xave-rians in Mexico, Mexican Xaverians in Bangladesh.
10 Xaverian Mission Newsletter • November 201510
World Mission News Digest
World Mission News Digest
AFRICAThe chal-
lenges facing
the fam-ily in
Africa: poverty, war, eco-logical crisis
Rome (Agen-zia Fides) - The Episcopal Confer-ences of Africa and Madagascar issued a statement to the Synod of Bishops on the Family. “We know many cases of separated, broken and divorced families. This phenomenon is exacerbated by the economic and political problems related both to our own responsibilities and due to the disastrous effects of a global economic system of enrichment of some and the impoverishment of others... [T]here is a very serious economic inequality: a
majority of people and families live in extreme poverty while a minority takes advan-tage of the riches and goods that
are to serve the welfare of all. This inequality is reinforced by what exists between the rich countries and in developing countries.”The strong, and often chaotic urban development in Africa in recent decades involves environmental problems that have an impact on family life, the Bishops noted.
“In Africa, the ecological challenge is also about the super-exploitation of the earth that leads to its destruction. We meet business men and women, governments and economic groups
who, under the pretext of reducing poverty and work for the development of poor people, are engaged in programs to exploit, rob farmers of their land, destroy forests and pollute environment.” Wars “provoke not only a real massacre, but also an ecological disaster. Africa is truly threatened ecologically.”
Faced with these and other challenges, the African Bishops conclude: “Our belief is that the family cannot be submerged by the crisis and the difficult situations that it crosses. In proclaiming the Gospel of life, we are called to be witnesses of this hope.”
AMERICA/BRAZILPilgrimage in the heart of the Amazon in defense of creation and to remember Sister Dorothy Stang
Anapu (Agenzia Fides) - “Sister Dorothy is present through the struggle of the people. These are people of faith who seek to organize and live the same continuous struggle. And for us who come from the Archdiocese of Mariana, that is a great inspiration” said Father Anthony Claret, who participated in the mission of a group of the Archdiocese in the heart of the Amazon.
The mission was made up of 22 people including priests and lay people, and lasted 15 days in the Prelature of Xingu, in the area of Pará. As part of the mission the 10th Pilgrimage in memory of Sister Dorothy Stang was held, which had as its theme “The seed planted germinates: we are Sister Dorothy”.
The three words that guided the 55 km pilgrimage were: “memory, commitment and hope.” The pilgrimage took place during the last week of July and ended in the place where Sister Dorothy Stang was murdered.
The pilgrimage is organized to raise awareness on the need to preserve the Amazon rainforest and remember Sister Dorothy Stang, 10 years after her assassination, the nun in defense of the Amazon forest, the lung of humanity.
ASIA/PHILIPPINES
Typhoon Koppu leaves death and destruction
Cabanatuan (Agenzia Fides) - Over 50 people have died due to Typhoon Koppu which devastated the north-east of the Country. Over 100 thousand people were evacuated and floodwaters swamped rice farmlands during harvest. A very high number of people are missing, with over 500,000 people affected by the typhoon. Most of the deaths occurred due to the floods where the water in some areas reached the roofs of houses. Many were buried in landslides. This is the twelfth storm that has hit the Philippines this year, one of the most prone Countries to disasters. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan had razed entire towns, causing the death and disap-pearance of more than 7,000 people.
Thousands of children risk their lives in the gold mines
Manila (Agenzia Fides) - Thousands of Filipino children, some as young as 9, work illegally in mines financed mainly by local businessmen. Children are exploited in precarious pits 25 meters deep or submerged under water along the coast or rivers. Human Rights Watch has urged the Philippine govern-ment to take immediate action to pro-hibit child labor in the mines. The document, published along with a video denounces the inhuman condi-tions of minors used for gold mining. In a study carried out between 2014 and 2015 in the provinces of North Camerines and Masbate, 135 people were interviewed, including 65 child miners aged 9 to 17 years who have several health problems. The metals they handle can have an impact on their central nervous system and cause brain damage and death. In March the government banned the use of mercury in mining, but has not done much for the implementation of the law. The Philippines is the twentieth largest produc-er of gold in the world.
Fr. Patrick Salazar SX with family in Sierra Leone
Damage from Typhoon Koppu
Filipina Child mining for gold
Xaverian Mission Newsletter • November 2015 11
News from our USA Communities
News from our USA Communities
THE SEASON OF MISSION BANQUETSBERCETO CELEBRATION OF THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ST. GUIDO’S BIRTH
October 04,2015 was the latest Dance at Riccardo’s Catering. The event as usual was very festive and if you like to dance this was the place to be. Father Frank Grappoli initiated the event by paying honor to Bishop Conforti and the work Missionaries do in 20 different countries of the world. He spoke about the visit of Pope Francis and how much he was welcomed. Father Frank also offered a prayer for the soul of Lino Spagnoli our former Foundation president who has recently passed away. ~From http://bercetofoundation.com/
FRANKLIN 52ND MISSION BANQUET
The venue changed this year to the Sheraton Hotel in Brookfield WI but the enthusiasm and merri-ment were present as always. We thank all our friends and benefactors for their generous support. The highlight of the evening was the awarding of the Arthur Vander Heyden Award to Lori Udziela.
HOLLISTON’ BANQUET OF ‘GOODNESS’
Like every year a small number of children help with the raffle tickets. The drawing moved quite nicely and we reached the last two gifts: an Apple IPad Gold and a 55” HD Flat TV. Among the children who helped, a boy drew the first ticket and lo and behold the ticket belonged to his father. Needless to say, at the end of the evening the father gave the IPad to his son as a gift. As they were leaving the Hall, several people stopped to chat and share about the evening. An older couple were saying that the following day they were going to visit one of their great grandchildren who is affected with autism. The great grandparents talked about their desire to purchase a tablet for their great grandchild to help him with memory, word recognition, vocabulary, etc. As soon as the boy who had the new IPad heard this he went to his bag, pulled out the IPad he just received from his dad and without being asked, donated it to the couple to bring to their great grandchild. WOW!!! “If you don’t become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of God.” ~Fr. Joe Matteucig SX
XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES FATIMA SHRINEThe last mini-retreat of the series will be held in celebration of consecrated life and the 50th anniversary of the Vatican II document, Missio Ad Gentes We have invited Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley OFM Cap Archbishop of Boston to preside at the closing liturgy and share his reflections on Consecrated Life and Mission. It will also be our way to remember and celebrate Founders Day. Our Founder St. Guido M. Conforti wanted the Xaverian Missionaries to be people consecrated to God and to mission: “The apostolic life (missionary life), combined with he profession of the religious vows, is in itself the most perfect life possible according to the Gospel.” (Testament Letter 2)
WHEN: November 8th at 11:00 AM
Following the Liturgy there will be a simple luncheon in the Shrine Hall.
Christmas Lights at the Shrine: November 28th to December 27th, 2015
Christmas Concert: December 6th at 3:00 PM with director, Lelia Tenreyro-Viana and the St. Cecilia Parish Choir
(left) Fr. Frank Grap-poli SX with friends. (below) Berceto Foun-dation Leadership.
(left) Lori Udziela. with Fr. Mark and Michael Zignego at Franklin’s Mis-sion Banquet
