Constitutions, 31
Rome, Italy, April 1, 2017.
Dear Priests, Brothers, and Seminarians,
Within a few weeks, we will be celebrating the joy of the Paschal Mystery, which is for us “an inexhaustible source of spirituality,”[1] and “the manifestation par excellence of the love of God for men,”[2] for, He loved them to the end.[3] How much confidence and peace the contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnate Word in his redeeming mission instills in our souls!
From this mystery is born the immense joy—essential to our spirituality[4]—which should stand out with a particular eloquence in our souls, in our communities, and in all our missions during the Easter season.
Approaching the occasion to contemplate the paschal mysteries, I wanted to bring to attention the fact that the very day of Easter we will read the Scripture passage which says: We are witnesses… They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. And further on: This man God raised the third day.[5] He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead.[6]
The Resurrection brings together with it the most noble and joyful mission of the preaching of the Gospel to all peoples and to the whole world, especially by means of testimony.
For this reason, in this letter, I wanted to propose to you all to reflect on the one hand, on our missionary spirit, and on the other, on the testimony that we should give before all the nations as missionaries of the Incarnate Word.
It is my fervent desire that God might use these lines to reaffirm in our souls—with a full and sincere adhesion—that which our Directory of Spirituality expresses with profound and valuable conciseness: “the Resurrected Christ commands us to mission: As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.[7] This mission requires us to testify: You are witnesses of these things;[8] to address, by the power of the Lord, all nations of the world: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,[9] all the world;[10] to preach the Gospel; to teach others to observe what He ordered us; to baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so that he who believes will be saved, with Christ accompanying us to the close of the age (Mt 28: 20).”[11]
1. Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel[12]
Our Directory of Popular Missions states that “God willed the world to be saved by means of missionaries.”[13] And Scriptures says, It was the will of God through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those who have faith.[14] And so, all of the history of the Church gives witness to how God, in his infinite mercy, associated countless men and women to work in his vineyard, for, “by the missions alone souls obtain eternal life.”[15] And as “the works of God are always under attack so that the Divine Magnificence may shine forth,”[16] St. Alphonsus would say: “we can clearly perceive the efforts of hell to prevent [the preaching of missions].”[17]
St. John Bosco, in a sermon he preached at the sending off of his first missionaries to Argentina, said: “What our Savior gave the Apostles with those words[18] was a command, not simply a counsel, to go to carry the light of the Gospel to all parts of the world. Upon the Ascension of the Divine Savior, the Apostles duly fulfilled the command they had received. Saint Peter and Saint Paul traversed many countries, cities, and kingdoms of the world. St. Andrew went to Persia, St. Bartholomew to India, St. James to Spain; and all of them, in some place or another, gave themselves completely to the preaching of the Gospel, leading Saint Paul to write to the Romans: your faith is heralded throughout the world.”[19]
St. John Bosco received opposition for his decision to send missionaries to distant lands from some who suggested false reassurances, or as St. Alphonsus said: put forth “false pretexts,”[20] (for some intimidated him so as to not found new missions, or that he should “reinforce,” or better establish the houses that he already had, or that he strengthen even more the presence in Italy). The saint himself responded to them in a convincing manner saying: “The Apostles did not act in that way. The Lord said to them Go into the whole world.”[21] St. Peter Julian Eymard also acted with the same spirit of the Gospel. In the face of the criticism received, he simply responded by founding new missions.
However, the command of Christ to the Apostles is not something that belongs in the past, but it enjoys a perennial actuality within his Holy Church. St. John Paul II, in the encyclical Redemptoris Missio affirms: “What was done at the beginning of Christianity to further its universal mission remains valid and urgent today. The Church is missionary by her very nature, for Christ’s mandate is not something contingent or external, but reaches the very heart of the Church. It follows that the universal Church and each individual church is sent forth to the nations.”[22] Pope Francis says the same thing repeatedly, when he speaks of the permanent missionary dynamism of the Church which always leads her to “go forth.”[23]
If the Church were not missionary, it would betray its very essence and mission, which is to prolong the redeeming sending of the Incarnate Word of God. Such is the teaching of the entire Church tradition, which was expressed most eloquently in the Second Vatican Council: “The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.”[24] And in another place: “As the Son was sent by the Father, so He too sent the Apostles (Jn 20: 21), saying: Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world (Mt 28: 19-20). The Church has received this solemn mandate of Christ to proclaim the saving truth from the Apostles and must carry it out to the very ends of the earth (cf. Acts 1: 8). Wherefore she makes the words of the Apostle her own: Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel (1 Cor 9: 16) and continues unceasingly to send heralds of the Gospel until such time as the infant churches are fully established and can themselves continue the work of evangelizing.”[25]
In the same way, our Institute—born in the heart of the Church through a charismatic grace of the Holy Spirit, which serves for the edification of that same Church—has been conceived as a missionary Institute and each of us is sent by Christ in the same way that Christ was sent by the Father. For this reason, we say: “Imitating ‘Christ proclaiming the Kingdom of God,’[26] we want to dedicate ourselves to apostolic work.”[27] This call to mission is so deeply rooted in our vocation as religious of the Incarnate Word that we say that we long to be “‘like a new Incarnation of the Word,’ thus fulfilling our essential call to be missionaries and Marian.”[28]
To us, also, “has been entrusted the sublime work of implementing and bringing to completion the ineffable mystery of salvation for all men; we have been entrusted with the mission to give Jesus Christ to those souls that do not yet possess him, to wash them with his Blood, to enrich them with his merits, which would otherwise go to waste, to extend over the entire face of the earth the blessed Kingdom of God. Our Institute has no reason for existence other than this. We belong to it because, by Divine election, we are the ministers of Redemption.”[29]
This sending has two characteristics:
“- a universal dimension: all men are called to be a part of the Kingdom of God, since God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 4);
– the certainty of divine help: I am with you always, to the close of the age (Mt 28: 20); they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them… (Mk 16: 20).”[30]
The Incarnate Word had entrusted us with a universal mission: go into the whole world.[31] For this reason, our Directory clearly says: “There is no place where a soul is out of reach for the missionary.”[32]
Hence, “our small Religious Family must never be closed around itself, but rather must be open like the arms of Christ on the Cross that were ‘dislocated’ for love’s sake.”[33] We must always firmly maintain this rooted in our mind and in our heart. Individually and collectively speaking, we should feel the burning responsibility of the commitment acquired the day of our religious profession of vows within our Institute: the commitment to “not to be elusive to the missionary adventure,”[34] “since it is from us, from our vibrant zeal, that millions of souls await their salvation.”[35]
This sense of apostolic responsibility, this solicitude for souls, this planetary vision of the mission, which knows no geographic limits,[36] which is not intimidated by the circumstances because it knows that there is no place on earth where the Providence of God is not at work, which leads the missionary, urged by the love of Christ, to seek with “apostolic creativity” new ways of bringing souls to love and serve Christ, this vision and none other, is the missionary spirit which we have received from our Founder, and which is patently laid out in the texts of our proper law. Therefore, “we cannot help but obey with courage and joy”[37] the calling of the “Eternal King,” the “sovereign and true Commander” whose will it is “to conquer the whole world,”[38] as we meditate each year during our spiritual exercises.
That is why we say that our disposition for the missions must be that of the third class of men.[39] And it must be our desire to “live this attitude permanently, without diminution or retraction, without reserve or condition, without subterfuge or delay, without retreating or even slowness. In both personal matters and in great historical endeavors, it’s impossible to build an empire if one cannot set fire to his ship after disembarking.”[40]
For this reason, “the missionaries of our Institute, ‘for such an exalted task, are to be prepared by a special spiritual and moral training. For they must have the spirit of initiative in beginning, as well as that of constancy in carrying through what they have begun; they must be persevering in difficulties, patient and strong of heart in bearing with solitude, fatigue, and fruitless labor.’”[41]
It should be the concern of all of us not only to have the greatest esteem for the missionary spirit of our beloved Religious Family, but also the duty to be ever more permeated by it, without lowering it—for it is the very King of the universe who has made us sharers in his redeeming mission.[42] We must not circumscribe it within human measures—for as St. Peter Julian Eymard reminds us “earthly calculations destroy the action of the Spirit”[43] —nor must we dim in the least way the most holy ideal to which God has called us: Go… make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.[44] Rather, we must honor it with a holy life, cultivating this spirit in our communities and knowing how to genuinely transmit it to those being formed, in whom one wishes to see a lively missionary zeal.[45]
The words which St. John Paul II directed to religious in 1982 are also words for us: “Do not ever diminish, at any cost, this identity and never forget the precise finality of the ministry and of the apostolic service to which you have been called.”[46]
This will certainly bring with it enormous sacrifices, but we must be conscious that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.[47] We also have to be conscious of the urgency of the mission during the present time of the history of the Church. The Second Vatican Council, which has been the great preparation of the Church for the Christian third millennium,[48] exhorts diocesan priests as well as religious with these words: “Let them show themselves ready, and when the occasion presents itself, let them with a willing heart offer the bishop their services for missionary work in distant and forsaken areas of their own diocese or of other dioceses. Let religious men and women, and the laity too, show the same fervent zeal toward their countrymen, especially toward the poor.”[49] And in reference to young Churches, which many times are in need of more priests (a fact which can be analogously applied to our young religious family) the same conciliar Decree says: “In order that this missionary zeal may flourish among those in their own homeland, it is very fitting that the young churches should participate as soon as possible in the universal missionary work of the Church, and send their own missionaries to proclaim the Gospel all over the world, even though they themselves are suffering from a shortage of clergy.”[50]
Along the same line, after having noted that “the Church… is aware that there still remains a gigantic missionary task for her to accomplish,”[51] the Council directly addresses religious, and, with an unusual audacity, even mentions the possibility of adapting the Constitutions of an Institute, while remaining faithful to the mind of the Founder. “Institutes of the active life, whether they pursue a strictly mission ideal or not, should ask themselves sincerely in the presence of God, whether they would not be able to extend their activity for the expansion of the Kingdom of God among the nations; whether they could possibly leave certain ministries to others so that they themselves could expend their forces for the missions, whether they could possibly undertake activity in the missions, adapting their constitutions if necessary, but according to the spirit of their founder; whether their members are involved as totally as possible in the mission effort; and whether their type of life is a witness to the Gospel accommodated to the character and condition of the people.”[52] If the fruitfulness of our Religious Family depends a great amount upon our capacity to live out and apply the teachings and the authentic spirit of the Second Vatican Council, in a particular way the indications set forth should be understood as coming from a markedly missionary Council.
Let us embark towards achieving this ideal with complete trust in God—for, regardless of our great limitations and sins, it is the Incarnate Word himself who chooses us and sends us—and with the certainty of his help: I am with you always, until the end of the age.[53] And I do not just mean to set forth towards achieving this ideal as one who is shadowboxing, but to go forth responsibly, effectively, in an intelligent manner, not improvising, and with great generosity—even when numbers do not seem to be on our side, even when the lack of support tends to discourage us, even when the evil one is against us, even when nobody else wants to go to that place[54] —for even though we are unprofitable servants,[55] the protagonist of the mission is Jesus Christ and his Spirit.[56] Once we are in the place that Providence had designed for each one of us, let us give our all and give ourselves forever,[57] with a solid and intrepid faith, with uncontainable enthusiasm, persevering until the end in our readiness to give our lives for the flock. For, what does it mean to be a missionary, if not “being willing to die, like the grain of wheat, in order to see Christ in all things?”[58]
Dear priests, brothers, and seminarians: The love of Christ impels us. Thus, our Directory of Spirituality, citing St. Luigi Orione, says: “Whoever does not want to be an apostle, leave the Congregation: today, whoever is not an apostle of Jesus Christ and the Church is an apostate.”[59]
2. You will be my witnesses [60]
In a previous circular letter[61] we said that the mission is written in the very heart of the consecrated life and that our work of evangelization is carried out with greater efficacy based on the greater union and concord among the members of the community.
Similarly, I would like now to make a reference to a topic no less important and practical, which is that of the quality of community life and the spirit of family by which we should be animated. For, Jesus has conferred to us the mission to be his witnesses, just as he had done to the first Christian community.
Our Constitutions place special emphasis and deal with diaphanous clarity about the importance of the testimony of life in the missionary work: “In this apostolic work where ‘we are missionaries above all because of what we are… even before we become missionaries in word or deed,’[62] our testimony of life – the ‘first and irreplaceable form of mission’[63] – occupies the first place so that the charity of Christ may shine among the faithful.”[64]
Each one of us is a missionary of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word[65] to serve Christ in his Mystical Body, even if one is in the cloister of a monastery or prostrate on his sickbed. And as such, we are called, individually and as a community, to witness in a special way to the Risen Christ, namely, in accord with that which is expressed in our foundational charism.
Therefore, our witness as religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word should be a radical testimony of religious who permanently “live as if we were resurrected seeking the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth; we should live in the freedom of the children of God.”[66] We should bear evident testimony of our faith in the Incarnate Word, through our works, especially “to guide the soul to great acts…to carry out great works with absolute virtue.”[67] Our witness should be that of one who is moved by the love of Christ to embark on the missionary adventure because Christ himself said: there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present… and eternal life in the age to come.[68] He said: No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.[69] The testimony that we should offer the world, is that of a religious, who in imitation of the Incarnate Word, makes of himself a total and valiant donation, through a religious life lived with fidelity, with joy and humility, and who with great strength proclaims “that the world can neither be transfigured nor offered to God without the spirit of the beatitudes.”[70] Even more, it is the testimony of a religious who transmits with his life the ardent longing for martyrdom which he cultivates in his soul, because he is convinced that it is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.[71]
However, this individual testimony is neither foreign, accessorial, nor alternative to the life of the community, but rather, as each member is an integral part of the community, it is from the very community that the testimony radiates towards others. Here we find the fundamental role of fraternal life not only in our spiritual life but also in the fulfillment of our mission in the world.[72]
All of us are sons of one same Family, whose honor and progress should be the ideal of our hearts.[73] And as members of our beloved Family of the Incarnate Word, we are all asked to have “a convinced and personal participation in the life and in the mission”[74] of our Institute. Certainly, challenges will not be lacking to balance prayer and work, apostolate and formation, apostolic commitments and rest.[75] Therefore, mutual help is of great importance to spiritually encourage one another, to support with patience the imperfections of others, to know how to rejoice together,[76] living as a true family in Christ.[77]
In other words, to reach this most sublime goal to which God has called us within his Church, we must keep in mind that fraternal life in community has as its object to form a distinctive family, “qualitatively” speaking, that it so say, by our way of living. We have not been brought together because of human motivations, but by a special invitation of God, so that our communities may be a visible sign of the way of living of the Incarnate Word, particularly in our imitation of his emptying of self, informed by his redeeming love.[78] Each one of us should fight to be like “another Christ” imitating the immense goodness of the Heart of Jesus, which does good to all always, without remembering the offenses, injustices received, or lack of respect; rather, knowing how to excuse and forgive our brother who errs. “Let us give ourselves the luxury of being good to those who seem to least deserve it —said Blessed Paolo Manna—, if I am good to my brother who is sad, suffering, full of defects, I relieve his pain and I oblige him to correct himself. With generosity in dealings and an abundance of goodness with the brother who is lazy or discouraged, I increase his capacity for working and for doing good. Maybe we have nothing we can give to our brothers, but we can always excuse them with great abundance, with our optimism, our esteem, our affectionate encouragement.”[79] It is this practice of charity within a family that attracts hearts.
Therefore, “building community” is not an obstacle for the mission, but rather, it directly contributes to evangelization. Authentic fraternal communion is the sign, par excellence, which the Lord left us: This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.[80] Thus, “the more intense that fraternal charity is, greater is the credibility of the message proclaimed.”[81]
It is also important to mention that the works of apostolate are not opposed to fraternal life, as some dialectically argue, indeed on the contrary “the mission strengthens consecrated life, gives it new enthusiasm and new motivation, and elicits faithfulness.”[82] In similar words, our Constitutions say, “Pastoral life… when carried out in an orderly manner… eminently fosters community life.”[83]
It is interesting to note that our Constitutions establish that “except in special cases,” in our communities “at least three religious must be assigned;”[84] however, they mention a the same time, the possibility that they be sent by two: “Sending one member by himself to a mission is not advisable. At least two members should be sent.”[85] Furthermore, our proper law also foresees the possibility of there being small communities[86] and even of having one member alone[87] given the missionary character of our Institute; which does not take away from the necessity of using the proper means so that more missionaries may be sent.[88] This is true, not only because of the proper nature and charism of our Institute, insofar as it enters clearly in the intention and mind of our Founder, but also because of the current situation the Church is living, in which “the mission ad gentes continues to be most urgent.”[89]
May it be clear then, that although “the religious ‘solo’ is never an ideal,” neither is this possibility a motive to be remiss to the command of Christ: Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel. The reason behind it is the same set forth by Blessed Paolo Manna, whose Institute had the same norm as ours. In a circular letter, he wrote: “In some missions it is not always possible to follow this rule: the missionaries have been too few, we have sought go to in search of souls, wherever grace carried us, spread out in vast areas.”[90]
Let us always remember that our community life is not merely a matter of assembly,[91] and for this reason, beyond the number of members in a community, as our Directory of Spirituality says well and our Directory of Consecrated Life repeats: “in the Eucharist… we will always find the deepest foundation of our unity as a Religious Family,”[92] which is definitely our natural center. In vain do those argue who say that the number of members in a community—being few—affects the perseverance of the religious members. Perseverance is a grace, and as such, it is of the interior order, and cannot be attributed to something exterior. The number of members in a community has no causal relation with the interior grace of perseverance, a grace that God always gives to those who use the means to persevere. Certainly, community life helps, and it helps a lot, but it is neither the cause nor the condition to persevere.
Therefore, our missionaries, although many times in very distant missions, or throughout extensive periods of time ‘without a companion for the mission’ recognize that they have been sent and accompanied, effectively by the entire Religious Family, that loves them and is concerned for them. For our proper law also disposes of the norms for the times when a religious is in a far off mission, or alone, so that the Congregation, as a good mother, makes the effort to maintain frequent contact with these our brothers, and to seek the means to favor and to reinforce fraternal bonds.[93] And so, with great virility and a great spirit of faith, many of our members have gone out paving the way, initially alone, until they were joined by other missionaries.
Here we could mention some missionary saints who went off to the missions alone and accomplished what seemed impossible, the example of St. Francis Xavier comes to mind among many others who St. Ignatius sent alone (even though St. Ignatius wrote himself in his Constitutions that the Jesuits should go at least by two), or St. Francis Solano who travelled kilometers alone even though the conventual life is essential to the Franciscans.
I think of St. Junipero Serra who was so close to me during my time of mission in the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace, canonized by the Holy Father in 2015. Although he suffered from asthma and a chronic wound in his leg, at the age of 56 and with the sole experience of having taught philosophy and theology for twelve years, he offered himself as a missionary to go to New Spain (Mexico). From there he ventured towards the north (currently California, United States) founding nine missions (which are now cities), baptizing more than six thousand persons and confirming another five thousand. He was even the one to introduce agriculture and irrigation systems in those lands. The motto of this missionary saint was: “Always forward, never turn back!”
I think of the invincible generosity of St. Vincent de Paul who continued sending missionaries to Madagascar even when they were killed, or they died because of the plague which devastated that country.
Without going further, we can remember the example of the planetary missionary St. John Paul II, who with his one hundred and four journeys outside of Italy gave us the example that “the command of Christ and the admonition of the Apostle, woe to me if I do not preach! are still valid in our days.”[94] He also said: “[Missionaries] should revive the grace of their specific charism and courageously press on, preferring… to seek the lowliest and most demanding places.”[95]
This is the spirit of immolation that we should foster as missionaries who have consecrated ourselves to give witness to the Risen One among all nations, without being frightened by doubts, misunderstandings, rejections, or persecutions.
But, since examples closer to us are more convincing—which I now mention for the edification of all—I want to speak about the great satisfaction which we received—already during the General Chapter as well as personally during my visits to several of our missions—upon witnessing the entireness, the valiance, the maturity, and the generosity of so many of our own who carry forward the mission, although being for a time in small communities or alone. Simply because they, loyal to their given word to “not be elusive to the missionary adventure,” are disposed to respond to the love of Christ who first loved us not only by accepting to go to difficult and far off missions, but also to live in conditions which are entirely extraordinary. Such conditions can be living alone, or in communities made up of two members, while they hold fast to the promise of Christ who said: I am with you always, until the end of the age.[96] This trust is born from the conviction that being sent as a missionary is synonymous with being loved by the Father with a love of predilection, who deserves in return our unreserved gift of self.
May the Spiritual Father of our Religious Family, St. John Paul II, the great global missionary, grant us the grace to embrace with growing fervor our missionary work and to respond with joyful courage to the calling of Christ: Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel.[97]
I entrust our entire Religious Family to the Most Holy Virgin, first witness of the Resurrection of Christ. May her loving intercession obtain for us the grace this Easter to testify to the ends of the earth the joy of living the evangelical beatitudes.
Happy Easter to all of you!
Fr. Gustavo Nieto, IVE
General Superior
[1] Constitutions, 42.
[2] Directory of Spirituality, 212.
[3] Jn 13: 1.
[4] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 203.
[5] Acts 10: 39-40.
[6] Acts 10: 42.
[7] Jn 20: 21.
[8] Lk 24: 48.
[9] Mt 28: 19.
[10] Mk 16: 15.
[11] Directory of Spirituality, 215.
[12] Mk 16: 15.
[13] Directory of Popular Missions, 45.
[14] 1 Cor 1: 21.
[15] Directory of Popular Missions, 45; Saint Alphonsus María Liguori, Complete Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus, Reflections useful for bishops, Madrid 1954, 38; cf. Idem, Letter to a new Bishop, Madrid 1954, 380.
[16] Directory of Spirituality, 37; Saint paul of the cross, Letter 47, (Bilbao: Declée, 1960).
[17] Directory of Popular Missions, 45; op. cit. Saint Alphonsus María Liguori, Complete Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus, Letter to a new Bishop, Madrid 1954, 380.
[18] Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature, (Mk 16: 15).
[19] Cf. Saint John Bosco, Farewell Homily to the First Missionaries, Memorie Biografiche, 11, 383-387. [Translated from Italian].
[20] Cf. Directory of Popular Missions, 50; op. cit. Saint Alphonsus María Liguori, Complete Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus, Letter to a new Bishop, Madrid 1954, 382.
[21] Cf. Saint John Bosco. Farewell Homily to the First Missionaries, Memorie Biografiche, 11, 383-387. [Translated from Italian].
[22] Saint John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 62.
[23] For example, in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, nn. 20-23.
[24] Vatican Council II, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes, 2.
[25] Vatican Council II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 17.
[26] CIC, c. 577.
[27] Constitutions, 22.
[28] Constitutions, 31; Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, Elevation 33.
[29] Cf. Blessed Paolo Manna, Virtudes Apostólicas, Circular letter n. 19, Milan, December 15, 1932. [Translation from Spanish].
[30] Constitutions, 162.
[31] Mk 16: 15.
[32] Directory of Popular Missions, 19.
[33] Directory of Spirituality, 263.
[34] Cf. Constitutions, 254. 257.
[35] Blessed Paolo Manna, Apostolic Virtues, Circular letter n. 11, Milan, January 1, 1930.
[36] Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 75: “Thus, the area of the missio ad gentes appears to have been considerably extended and cannot be defined solely on the basis of geographical or juridical considerations; indeed, the missionary activity of the People of God is not only intended for non-Christian peoples and distant lands, but above all for social and cultural contexts and hearts.”; Pope Benedict XVI, Address Of His Holiness Benedict XVI To The Participants Of The International Conference On Occasion Of The 40th Anniversary Of The Conciliar Decree “Ad Gentes”.
[37] Directory of Popular Missions, 50.
[38] Saint Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises, [95].
[39] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 73.
[40] Ibid.
[41] Directory of Missions Ad Gentes, 107.
[42] Cf. Constitutions, 161.
[43] Cf. Is 55: 8; St. Peter Julian Eymard, Eucharistic Works, Part I, Series II, Holy Communion: Life in Union with the Holy Spirit; Antonio Royo Marín, Theology of Christian Perfection, Part II, chapter 1, art. 2, II; Saint John Paul II, Homily-Commemoration of Abraham, February 23, 2000; Pope Francis, Daily Meditations, December 14, 2015.
[44] Mt 28: 19-20.
[45] This topic is treated extensively in the Directory of Major Seminaries, 395-432. I want to emphasize, however, that which is mentioned in paragraphs 430-431. “Let them (the students) also be imbued with that truly Catholic spirit which will accustom them to transcend the limits of their own diocese, nation, or rite, and to help the needs of the whole Church, prepared in spirit to preach the Gospel everywhere” … “They should prepare themselves, attentive to the numerous needs of the Universal Church and of the world to face the great works of the Church with solicitude and discernment, especially those of promoting priestly and religious vocations, and the missionary, ecumenical, and social works which are most urgent.”
[46] To priests, religious men and women in Fatima, May 13, 1982. [Translation from Spanish].
[47] Heb 9: 22.
[48] Cf. Saint John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio millenio adveniente, 18-20.
[49] Vatican Council II, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes, 20.
[50] Ibid.
[51] Idem, 10.
[52] Idem, 40.
[53] Mt 28: 20.
[54] Directory of Spirituality, 86.
[55] Cf. Lk 17: 10.
[56] Cf. Saint John Paul II, Encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio, 36.
[57] As Blessed Paolo Manna recommended to his missionaries.
[58] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 216.
[59] Ibid.; Saint luigi orione, Letters, August 2, 1935, (Mar del Plata: Editorial Pío XII, 1952), p. 89.
[60] Acts 1: 8.
[61] Circular Letter 7/2017.
[62] Saint John Paul II, Encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio, 23.
[63] Idem, 42.
[64] Constitutions, 166.
[65] Cf. Idem, 25.
[66] Directory of Spirituality, 39; cf. Col 3: 1-2.
[67] Cf. Directory of Spirituality, 41.
[68] Mk 10: 28-30.
[69] Jn 15: 13.
[70] Constitutions, 1.
[71] Acts 14: 22.
[72] Cf. Directory of Consecrated Life, 385.
[73] Blessed Paolo Manna, Apostolic Virtues, Circular Letter, Milan, May 1, 1925. [Translation from Spanish].
[74] Directory of Fraternal Life, 34.
[75] Idem, 32; CICLSAL, Fraternal Life in Community, Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor, 50.
[76] I invite you all to read attentively Directory of Fraternal Life, 42.
[77] Cf. Directory of Consecrated Life, 386; Directory of Oratories, 61-63.
[78] Directory of Consecrated Life, 228.
[79] Blessed Paolo Manna, Apostolic Virtues, Circular Letter n. 8, Milan, September 15, 1927. [Translation from Spanish].
[80] Cf. Directory of Fraternal Life, 21; cf. Jn 13: 35.
[81] Directory of Fraternal Life, 22.
[82] Directory of Consecrated Life, 268; Vita Consecrata, 78.
[83] Cf. Constitutions, 155.
[84] Idem, 353.
[85] Idem, 188.
[86] Directory of Fraternal Life, 92.
[87] Directory of Fraternal Life, 93.
[88] Cf. Constitutions, 188. I want to clarify those concrete efforts have been and are being made to reinforce many of our missions. Nevertheless, it is true that in some cases, even if we wanted to send more missionaries, we are not able to, either because the government itself limits the number of visas given, or because the system of pastoral collaboration does not permit it, etc.
[89] Pope Francis, Message for World Mission Day 2014.
[90] Blessed Paolo Manna, Apostolic Virtues, Circular Letter n. 13, Milan, September 1930. [Translation from Spanish].
[91] Cf. Directory of Fraternal Life, 34.
[92] Directory of Spirituality, 300; Directory of Consecrated Life, 202.
[93] Cf. Directory of Fraternal Life, 93; op. cit. CICLSAL Fraternal Life in Community, Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor, 65.
[94] Saint John Paul II, To the First National Conference on Popular Missions during the 80s, Rome, February 6, 1981. [Translation from Italian].
[95] Saint John Paul II, Encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio, 66.
[96] Mt 28: 20.
[97] Mk 16: 15.
