杏MAP导航

By Benedict Mayaki, SJ

杏MAP导航 Francis on Monday received in audience the participants of the General Chapter of the Missionaries of Africa (The White Fathers) in the Vatican.

In his address to them, the Holy Father expressed regret about having postponed his Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan originally scheduled for the first week of July. He said that it is hard at his age to go on a mission but he draws courage from their prayers and example and is hopeful that he would be able to visit these peoples 鈥渨hom he carries in his heart.鈥� He, however also announced that he would celebrate a Mass with the Congolese community in Rome on Sunday, 3 July.

Gratitude

The 杏MAP导航 highlighted the importance of looking back with gratitude upon hearing that the missionaries lived these days of the Chapter 鈥渨ith gratitude and with hope.鈥�  He insisted that looking back with gratitude is 鈥渁 sign of good spiritual health鈥� and is the 鈥淒euteronomic鈥� attitude that God taught His people.

鈥淐ultivate the grateful memory of the path the Lord has taken us on. And this gratitude is what fuels the flame of hope,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said, adding that those who do not thank God for His gifts 鈥� albeit strenuous and sometimes painful 鈥� do not have 鈥渁 hopeful soul, open to God鈥檚 surprises and hopeful in His providence.鈥�

He added that this spiritual attitude is necessary to bring the seeds of vocation that the Lord brings about with His Spirit and Word to maturity.

The 杏MAP导航 further encouraged them to go ahead with gratitude and hope, because a community that knows how to say "thank you" to God and to our brothers and sisters, and in which we help each other hope in the Risen Lord, is one 鈥渢hat attracts and sustains those who are called.鈥�

Mission as prophetic witness

杏MAP导航 Francis then held up the theme of the Chapter: "mission as prophetic witness," noting that this is where fidelity to the roots, and to the charism that the Spirit entrusted to Cardinal Lavigerie (the founder of the White Fathers) comes into play.

He said that even as Africa and the world changes, the gift embraces its meaning and strength which is sustained in the Missionaries, in the extent that it always leads back to Christ and the Gospel.

Re-echoing the exhortation by the founder who said 鈥淏e apostles, nothing but apostles,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 pointed out that an apostle of Christ is 鈥渁 witness,鈥� an idea that is true 鈥渁lways and everywhere鈥� in the Church, but particularly for the White Fathers who are called to live out their mission in contexts of first evangelization or in places with prevalent Islamic religion.

Witness, the 杏MAP导航 said, means two things: 鈥減rayer and fraternity鈥�- an open heart to God and an open heart to brothers and sisters 鈥� being in God鈥檚 presence and letting Him look at us, every day in worship and drawing from there, the sap from 鈥渁biding in Him鈥� in Christ, which 鈥渋s the condition for being apostles.鈥�

The witness of St. Charles de Foucauld

杏MAP导航 Francis pointed at the witness of St. Charles de Foucauld, noting that though it is another charism, it has much to say to the Missionaries of Africa, as to all Christians of our time. Saint Charles de Foucauld, the 杏MAP导航 pointed out, 鈥渄rawing upon his intense experience of God, made a journey of transformation towards feeling a brother to all.鈥�

In this light, the Holy Father encouraged prayer and fraternity, inviting the Church to return to its essential core of radiating simplicity - not uniformly 鈥� but in the variety of its charisms, ministries and institutions, and letting this shine through as it was at Pentecost with the first community described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Prophecy

Reflecting on prophecy, the Holy Father said that we are often inclined to think of it as an individual reality following the model of the prophets of Israel, but it is also communal, as it is 鈥渢he community that gives prophetic witness.鈥�

In this regard, the 杏MAP导航 thought of the fraternity formed by people from so many countries and different cultures, acknowledging that it is a challenge that can only be accepted by counting on the help of the Holy Spirit. He added that the small community, living in prayer and fraternity, is also called to dialogue with the environment in which it lives, in contexts where, in addition to poverty, it experiences insecurity and precariousness. This small community is sent to experience 鈥渢he sweet joy of evangelization.鈥�

Concluding with a request for prayers for himself, the 杏MAP导航 invoked the intercession of Our Lady of Africa upon the White Fathers and he blessed the participants at the Chapter, encouraging them to bring the blessing to the brothers and sisters and the faithful in their communities.