Each year, the Vincentian missionaries working in the Province of the Congo, in its part of the DRC, go away for a time from their daily activities and gather together according to pastoral regions to evaluate their life in relation with the Gospel, following Christ, the Evangelizer, and reflect on the future of the province. This year also, the province did not depart from its noble tradition. However, unlike previous years, it organized, in this year 2018, a single retreat bringing together the confreres of all three pastoral regions namely Kinshasa, the river, and the equator.
In the “paix sur terre” [“peace on earth”] spiritual center, located in Mbiti (Kinshasa), 33 missionaries of whom 30 priests, two coadjutor brothers, and a deacon, spent this beautiful time of annual retreat from 31 July to 4 August. Father José Miguel Martínez from the Province of Colombia, working in the Region of Rwanda-Burundi as a formator, preached the retreat.
“The missionary-disciple centered in Jesus Christ, Evangelizer of the poor,” was the theme of the retreat for this year 2018. For the preacher, meeting Jesus through our history drives us to conversion, because finally we discover ourselves as sinners, but loved; forgiven, but also called by God. Thus, the missionary is called to make a pure offering to the glory of God through a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the only way for him to resemble the Missionary Christ and the Evangelizer of the Poor and to continue his redemptive work in the world. As a disciple following Christ, the missionary makes himself a true imitator of his master, distinguishing himself by his life of prayer. The latter revives the life of the community and makes it the SHEKHINAH of God and the place of forgiveness, a place par excellence where everyone pays attention to his language and where the members draw their spiritual vitality from the Eucharist.
Under the guidance of the preacher, a formation session on the Constitutions and Statutes of the Congregation of the Mission, as a prelude to reflection on our identity, preceded the retreat. The interest shown by all the participants indicated the remarkable success of this exchange.
At the end of the retreat, on 5 August 2018, a day of community sharing was organized, presided by the Visitor, Bernardin Yoka Mongu, in order to rebuild community life and to strengthen the bonds of friendship. To make effective the decisions taken, the stay closed on Monday, 6 August 2018, with a morning of conviviality in the Nganda site, a small paradise located in the commune of Maluku in Kinshasa.
Thank you for your attention. We remain united in prayer.
Father André Ngombo, CM
Province of Congo
