We are beginning the month of October, the missionary month par excellence … a special time promoted by the Church, but also lived by the Congregation of the Mission in a particular way and with great enthusiasm. Since September, we, at the Communication Office, wanted to start preparing the way for this month so that it becomes a time in which we reflect on the missionary nature of the Congregation. We know the missions in which many of our confreres are working and we seek to strengthen our missionary spirit. At the same time, we commit ourselves to the missions and many respond positively to the missionary call of the Superior General. Let us, then, go forward and take steps and say, here I am Lord, send me! (Isaiah 6:8). As an Office, we have been working and preparing a campaign with material that will help us live out this month. We want to propose a motto, which for many, is one of those phrases of Saint Vincent that we use frequently:
“our vocation is to go, not just to one parish, not just to one diocese, but all over the world”
This phrase evokes in us, as missionaries, a sense of walking, of setting out, of refusing to remain static, anchored or attached to one place. In the same way, these words seek to recover our foundational charism of being missionaries, not parish priests. Therefore, we view the concept of “missionary” as something natural and something that is an element of our vocation. We also want to recover the international dimension of the Congregation so that wherever our missionary and congregational presence is necessary, we are willing to move out in new directions. In this way, we want to change the present mentality that understands the missions as involvement in one of our International Missions. Viewing the missionary endeavor from this perspective impoverishes our missionary spirit. That is why we want to support the desire of the Superior General to continue the 1% campaign this year. The 1% campaign seeks to encourage confreres to become involved in the mission, but not only that … this campaign also seeks to stimulate reflection on the meaning of the Missionary Spirit in the Congregation and to recognize that our missionary dimension is not limited only to the International Missions, but extends to the missionary regions that many provinces have assumed. The presence of missionaries outside their countries of origin not only responds to the commitment that a certain province makes in light the needs of a bishop or a particular church, but also responds to the call of the Church to engage in missions ad gentes. Although it is true that the campaign speaks about, and will continue to speak about 1%, we do not intend to lock ourselves into the number of 30 missionaries. There are many confreres who go forth to the missions, to the international missions and regional missions in order to respond to the new needs in those places where there is no Vincentian presence.
The logo of 1% campaign
After reflecting and viewing graphic possibilities, we have opted for a symbol that has much to do with missionaries and today, without which many could not make that dream become a reality. Our passports need a visa stamp, a seal in order to enter another country. Our passports are filled with these (we need to obtain those seals when we travel for meetings, for formation, or for vacation) … but one seal is missing. To be a missionary, we need the missionary seal. We want to propose that you carry the 1% stamp on your passport, and that many become part of this one percent. Some may say: “But we are all missionaries” … that being the case, now is the time to decide to concretize that reality.
The website
https://cmglobal.org/en/mission-cm/
We wanted to renew the website dedicated to the international missions so that it included all the missionary experiences of the Congregation, including the regional and other experiences where the provinces are present. During this month, we will be presenting all these experiences through our website.
The poster
We would like it to be found in every house of the Congregation and you can download it from the website to print and distribute it among others. The poster is very simple but it is rich in meaning. On an ancient-like sheet of parchment, the words of St. Vincent are written in his own handwriting along with the border stamps that allow us to enter other countries, but above all there are two elements that stand out, the face of the poor which is the call of Jesus and the very specific invitation to be the 1%.
The T-shirt
We want many of you to be able to print the T-shirts in your own provinces and to distribute them so, we can get into this atmosphere of 1%, this atmosphere of mission.
Call to action
Today is very fashionable to create pages that lead to action. Usually this approach is utilized by companies that invite us to buy. Today we want this “call to action” to be very concrete so that missionaries who are motivated to go on a mission will be able to engage in direct communication with the Superior General.
Live broadcasts
Every week we will have a live broadcast from one of our missions on different continents and so with all of these elements, let us now enter into and initiate this missionary month
