2nd Zoom Meeting by Continent
Coordinator: Fr. Aarón Gutiérrez Nava, CM
Greetings:
For quite some time the month of October has been viewed as Month of the Missions. Here at the General Curia, we want to take advantage of this opportunity to thank and to congratulate all of the Missionaries of the Congregation of the Mission for having committed themselves to doing the same as Jesus, the Missionary of the Father, did and in that way, collaborate in fulfilling the purpose of the Congregation.
Furthermore, we want to send special greetings, prayers and blessings to those missionaries ministering at our various International Missions. Their availability for the mission and their spirit of service on behalf of those who are most poor is a witness of inculturating the Gospel in the various societies where they exercise their ministry of following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
We cannot forget all those missionaries who, either in their own province or in some other province or place, incarnate the Vincentian charism in “rural or indigenous missions” where other missionaries are unable to go despite the urgency for an evangelizing presence in these far-distant places.
We extend our prayers and our blessings to all of you!
This year, 2021, we celebrate Mission Sunday on October 24th. The theme chosen by Pope Francis is “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Such is the response that the Apostles gave to Jewish authorities when being told to cease speaking about Jesus Christ. They were very aware of the consequences of having spoken those words. Thus, those words remind us about the importance of the missionary endeavor in the midst of difficult situations (for example, the pandemic that we are all experiencing). In his message the Pope establishes a certain parallel between our situation and those of the first disciples of Jesus:
things were not always easy. The first Christians began the life of faith amid hostility and hardship … The same holds true for us: our own times are not easy. In the midst of all of this, those most affected are the poor: The pandemic has brought to the fore and amplified the pain, the solitude, the poverty and the injustices experienced by so many people. It has unmasked our false sense of security and revealed the brokenness and polarization quietly growing in our midst. Those who are most frail and vulnerable have come to feel even more so. We have experienced discouragement, disillusionment and fatigue. The response of the Apostles is the response that God expects of us as we confront the difficulties of this present era: Everything about Christ reminds us that he knows well our world and its need for redemption, and calls us to become actively engaged in this mission: “Go therefore to the highways and byways, and invite everyone you find” (Matthew 22:9). No one is excluded, no one need feel distant or removed from this compassionate love.
With those profound words Pope Francis impels us to see and to listen to what God is telling us in the midst of the reality in which we find ourselves. Especially, in the midst of the reality of the poor who, in the words of the present Pontiff, are not numbers, but persons who need help. Today, the mission demands that we become demands that we become like Jesus, mystics with our eyes wide open, with ears that are not deaf to the cries of the poor, with voices willing to proclaim the fact that the Kingdom of God is for the poor and, above all, willing to accompany the poor with the courage, hope and boldness of those first disciples-missionaries.
Let us accompany the poor as Jesus did who was never afraid to identify himself with each one of them. We know that Jesus Christ inaugurated the Kingdom of God, but Jesus entrusted to us, his disciples, the task of making that Kingdom real in our midst and also gave us the responsibility of transmitting hope to those who are poor. This is especially necessary in the era in which we live … to give new life to hope and to restore confidence. This is a program that the Christian community cannot underestimate. Indeed, the credibility of our proclamation and the witness of Christian depends on that. On a mission, we continue to trust in the word of God: the hopes of the poor will never be crushed (Psalm 9:19).
LINK
For the Missionary Encounter (via Zoom)
Africa (Zoom) Coordinator: Father Zeracristos
The 2nd Session will be held on
Thursday, October 7, 2021
14:30 hours (Rome)
Day: Thursday, October 7, 2021 – Time: 14:30-17:00 (Rome)
Link: https://famvin-org.zoom.us/j/82443189829
Who: CMcommunications, CM General Curia
ID for meeting: 824 4318 9829
The links will also be communicated to you through CMGLOBAL- Missions
Please be attentive to possible changes in the schedule. Hereafter, especially in relation to the next meetings, do not forget to look for the most recent information that will appear on CMGLOBAL.
Asia-Oceania (Zoom): Coordinator: Father Mathew
The 2nd session will be held on
Thursday, October 14, 2021
07:00 hours (Rome)
Day: Thursday, October 14, 2021 – Time: 07:00-09:30 (Rome)
Link:
Who: CMcommunications, CM General Curia
ID for meeting: 883 4723 5391
Please be attentive to possible changes in the schedule. Hereafter, especially in relation to the next meetings, do not forget to look for the most recent information that will appear on CMGLOBAL.
America (Zoom): Coordinator: Father Aarón
The 2nd session will be held on
Thursday, October 21, 2021
17:30 hours (Rome)
Day: Thursday, October 21, 2021 – Time: 17:30-21:00 (Rome)
Link: https://famvin-org.zoom.us/j/85101525277
Who: CMcommunications, CM General Curia
ID for meeting: 883 4723 5391
Please be attentive to possible changes in the schedule. Hereafter, especially in relation to the next meetings, do not forget to look for the most recent information that will appear on CMGLOBAL.
Communication:
In case of doubt or need for clarification, communicate with:
- For Africa
Father ZERACRISTOS Yosief Weldemicael,
- For Asia-Oceania
Father KALLAMMAKAL Mathew
- For America
Father GUTIÉRREZ NAVA Aarón
In direct telephone calls or calls through other means (watssapp, etc.) please be mindful of the different in time
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We ask Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother and Saint Vincent de Paul, to grant us the wisdom that will enable us to plant seeds of hope and love in our surroundings. May God bless all of us. Thank you.
Father Aarón Gutiérrez Nava, CM
Who should participate in this “missionary meeting”
The participation in the previous Zoom sessions was very good and full of surprises. We repeat here what we stated before the beginning of the first session, namely, this gather is
- For all those confreres ministering in our International Missions;
- For all those missionaries who volunteered to serve in one of our International Missions or in an interprovincial mission and are preparing to insert themselves in said situation;
- For those confreres who, in their own Province, are engaged in a missionary effort (with indigenous groups or other groups and whose methodology is similar in approach to the first evangelization).
- It should also be made clear that no one, who desires to participate, is excluded. We also want to the thank the Visitors for their support in animates the members of their province to participate in these missionary reflections.
Information About the 2nd Zoom Gathering by Continent
During the first sessions (via Zoom) that took place on the continents of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Asia and Oceania at the beginning of this year (April and May), we began our Vincentian missionary reflection with the question: How to revitalize today our missionary identity? We saw the need to journey together in missionary outreach in order to attain the missionary revitalization of the Congregation that we desire and which, at the same time, is also a way to revitalize the missionary identity of the Chuech.
During this second Zoom session by continent, we will continue our reflection with a new question:
In What Ways Can We Journey Together?
In order to respond to this question:
- Each missionary community will meet together as they see fit and will do so at the times and dates that are most convenient for them.
- We invite you to download from our page, cmglobal.org/MissionesVicentinas
the synthesis of the first Zoom session. This material will help you prepare for the next session. On the same webpage you will find in PDF format: the final revision of the Statutes of the International Mission which have been partially changed. You will also find there in PDF formation the Ratio Missionum.
- We also invite you to read and pray on the Message of Pope Francis for the celebration World Mission Sunday 2021.
- In order to participate in the Zoom session, we ask you to send to us one week before the start of the session, your reflection (reflections that were carried out in your missionary community, reflections on the above stated question. Your responses are very important because those responses will help us organize in the best possible way your participation in this second session.
We remind you about the proposal of this work
- During the first session we had the opportunity the reflection upon the questions:
—How can we stimulate the revitalization of the missionary spirit on our continent?
—How can we revitalize the pastoral ministry that we have developed in the place where we are ministering?
- During this second session we will attempt to respond to the following questions:
—In what ways can we journey together in order to revitalize the missions on this continent (present a brief synthesis of your insights?
—What suggestions would you like to offer the General Council in order to stimulate the missionary animation and collaboration of our Congregation (chose only five proposals).
Your responses are the bases for the process of sharing and discernment during the Zoom session.
- Preparation for participation in the Zoom session:
- Questions for reflection and discernment:
— In what ways can we walk together in order to revitalize our missions on this continent (present a brief synthesis)
—What suggestions would you like to offer the General Curia in order to stimulate the missionary animation and collaboration of our Congregtion (chose only five proposals).
- Recommendation
—One week before the beginning of the session, send to the coordinator a synthesis (preferably in Word format) of the responses that you want to share on Zoom.
—Time frame for presentation is seven (7) minutes … Do not go beyond this time limit.
—Be punctual in sending the coordinator the material as well as when signing in for the Zoom session.
—Be sure to maintain your microphones in the “off” position during the session (except of course for the time when you wish to speak).
— Place on your screen the name of the community that is participating in the session.
