“We need fire to be apostles.” With these words, Fr. Stefano Camerlengo, Superior General, opened the works of the Consulta, an advisory body meeting, that takes place once every six years, half way through a General Government term. Fourteen Circumscription Superiors from Africa, America, Asia and Europe, as well as eight missionaries invited, were connected through Internet with the General Government in Rome from March 8 to 13, 2021.
Finding new paths in preparing new missionaries, a theme at the heart of our community, and contributing to the process of renewing and restructuring our Institute, are the two points on the agenda of the meeting.
The Superior General invited all the participants to dare to come up with new ideas, without fear, because – he said – “while at the Chapter one has to keep his feet on the ground, since binding decisions are taken, at the Consulta we are allowed to imagine a different world, we may to dream”!
The Consulta schedule includes moments of presentation of contributions from the continents and group work in order to present proposals on the two themes on the agenda. These proposals are entrusted to the General Government, who is called to value them and act upon them accordingly.
Consolata missionaries, today, are 915 (priests, brothers and bishops) throughout the world. In formation, from the Propaedeutic stage to Theology, there are 318 young men, between seminarians and candidates to be Brothers.
Here is the message that the participants to the 2021Consulta have addressed to the extended family of the Consolata Missionaries.
Early in the morning he got up while it was still dark, and he went out and withdrew to a deserted place, and there he prayed. But Simon and those who were with him pursued him and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” He told them, “Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring villages, so that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” (Mk 1:35-38)
Not failure, nor even the good results obtained in our work, can stop our continuous search for God’s ELSEWHERE. This is the mission path, this is the invitation of Jesus: “let us go elsewhere”. Places and new ways of mission must be discovered and rediscovered as we walk along, going elsewhere “so that I may preach there too”! The itinerant style of Jesus is not only an example, but an imperative for every missionary, and therefore also for us Consolata Missionaries. We are called to announce Christ, to announce Him always and everywhere… “for this purpose have I come”!
Dear friends,
while we are all gathered – most of us before our screen! – for the Consulta, in the Amazon, the Diocese of Roraima opens the process to acknowledge a miracle that occurred in answer to prayers addressed to Our Blessed Founder. The healing of Sobrino, a non-Christian native. A sign of Joseph Allamano’s charism to reach out with God’s consolation to those who are far away.
Our charism and our out-going mission have been at the heart of our meeting.
We have looked for better ways to have our young in formation to fully embrace the charism of our Institute, to reach out to the poor and to those who lie at the periphery. We have come up with some proposals, that we believe might help. Above all we have professed our trust in you: young missionaries. We invite you to be today the hope of the world. Have the courage to follow Jesus’ call and make of yourself a gift to Him for the good of others! Look around you and offer your hand to those in need! Be a light for them! Then you will find full meaning for your life and nobody will be afraid of the future.
We have reflected on the way we all live out the mission entrusted to us by Jesus. Each continent is different and different therefore are the ways mission is carried out in each one of them. We believe that we are called to shape the way our faith is announced, celebrated and lived according to the culture, the history, the human values and sensitivity of the different peoples and places we are. The spirit of Continentality and the journey we have made towards it is of great help in that. In today’s world we are credible only if we sincerely love the people we work with the way they are and live for them. Still, we have to render them a qualified service: serious preparation is required from us. We support all effort to qualify our mission through specialized studies.
We reaffirm that to stand and work for justice, peace and the integrity of creation is an essential element of evangelization. We work so that our formation, our spirituality and our life be pervaded by it.
Our first missionaries kept a daily journal; we too are called to see and record the signs of God’s Kingdom and to announce them. Today’s communication means reach in real time millions of people in every place around the globe: we, sent to bring the Good News to the whole world, cannot miss such a great opportunity!
From our mission places, March 8 – 13, 2021,
The Participants at the IMC 2021 Consulta
