Directory of Misiones Ad Gentes
Rome, Italy, October 1, 2018.
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church and Patron of the missions
Dearest Fathers, Brothers, Seminarians and Novices,
The Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote, “The most difficult thing to encounter in today’s world is controversy. This is because there are few who think. Naturally, some are found, but even so, they are few who debate. There are prejudices and emotions in abundance, because these arise from moments of enthusiasm, without the annoyance of any type of work. On the contrary, to think is difficult; it is the hardest thing that a man can do, and maybe that is the reason why many do not dedicate their lives to thinking. Electronic devices that save up man’s energy to think rival with those devices that save up man’s energy to work. Phrases like ‘life is greater than logic’ or ‘progress is the spirit of our times’, resound in our ears like express trains that carry the loads of those who don’t want to think for themselves.”
Who can deny that these words, written in the twentieth century, are deeply rooted in our times? Because of this, we cannot possibly know the rapidly growing number of men, woman, young people and children who are victims of this technocracy that promotes the substitution of “reading (which implies thinking) for a civilization of images, which hammers in our minds stupefying images, and allows for a one sided dialogue.”
We must keep in mind that men and woman become less and less cultured –although, in a way they are ‘armed’ with incredibly advanced technology–, who seek out dangerous novelties just for the sake of experiencing them, and fill their minds with fantasies, habituating themselves to that which is false and unrealistic. In short, distancing themselves from God, makes them capable of destroying the whole world of culture.
That is why an author wrote, “‘a culture of images substitutes the culture of books… it assassinates the ‘word’ and it condemns our children (and future generations) to a type of chronic infantilism. An anti-culture is that which seeks out a civilization of techniques and pleasures. Thought is an instrument and the mental word is the logos: the immediate image excuses the work of reflection and mediation from the effort of finding the “proper word,” which is always creative since it is a revealer of being, while it is not the ‘exact term,’ which is the language of knowledge. The culture of images is the death of a thinking culture. This is the reality in which we find ourselves today, the deep sleep in which the modern man has fallen into”.
In this way, “God remains excluded from culture and from public life, and faith in him becomes more difficult, among other reasons because we live in a world that almost always appears to be of our own making, in which, so to speak, God no longer appears directly but seems to have become superfluous, even out of place.” Some uphold that “the time of certainties is irrevocably past, and the human being must now learn to live in a horizon of total absence of meaning, where everything is provisional and ephemeral.”
Blessed Paul VI says in the opening discourse of the second session of Vatican Council II, “The glance we cast upon the world fills us with immense sadness, for many evils: atheism invades part of humanity and carries with it the imbalance of the intellectual, moral and social orders, of which the world is losing the true notion. While the light of knowledge about things grows, the darkness of the knowledge of God and consequently the true knowledge of man is diffused. While progress admirably perfects the instruments of every kind that are accessible to man, his heart falls into emptiness, sadness, and despair.”
Nevertheless, the world is filled with men and woman who seek the truth, and can say together with Saint Augustine, “Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it reposes in Thee.” Because, as Vatican Council II reminds us, every man has a moral obligation to seek the truth, especially those truths that pertain to the Church and to God, and to adhere to the truth once known. The Church is truly the teacher of truth and its servant, following the will of our Lord, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, all men who seek the truth and any Christian who demands clarity and certainty must be understood, loved and helped, and we must learn to see in this “impressive phenomenon of secularization an opportunity for a growing maturity in the faith. That is to say, through this investigation and individual understanding of the truth, the faith becomes personalized”.
That is why Holy Mother Church asks her children to think, and to think in a transparent and honest manner. Because “for the Church, it is a question not only of preaching the Gospel in ever wider geographic areas or to ever greater numbers of people, but also of affecting and as it were upsetting, through the power of the Gospel, mankind’s criteria of judgment, determining values, points of interest, lines of thought, sources of inspiration and models of life, which are in contrast with the Word of God and the plan of salvation.”
Because of that marvelous reality that is our charism, we are impelled “to work concretely so as to extend the presence of Christ in families, education, the mass media, the scholarly, and in all other legitimate manifestations of human life,” we must respond positively with a penetrating and long-lasting pastoral approach of the culture, within which the metaphysical element is the obligatory path to overcome the crisis which effects the modern man, in order to correct many behavioral errors widespread throughout our society.
To do this is none other than to take part in the spiritual battle of the Church and employ ourselves effectively to the service of the truth. Hence our urgency and demanding need to realize the center of Higher Studies of our Religious Family–as it was rightly emphasized by the Fathers of the last General Chapter– so that it may be “a focal point of scientific diffusion of the truth and a pole of attraction” for the innumerable souls that thirst for the truth. Here the main and principle endeavor will be to teach how to think, and therefore to be able to enlighten others.
As mentioned above, it is the Divine Will for all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth and that is precisely the motive behind why the Incarnate Word has chosen and sent us to evangelize. Therefore, we cannot understand our missionary vocation without the understanding that we are “servants of the truth”, which is the same as saying: servants of him who said I am the Truth. We have been called to the sublime vocation to, “seek the glory of God, the ultimate end, of the entire universe, in everything and for everything- and in a particular way, in the search, investigation, proclamation, and celebration of the truth” and have solemnly committed ourselves in our religious profession, “so that in this way, all mankind will discover an attraction and longing for the divine beauty.”
In this way, desiring to be men of God, who belong to God and make people think about God it is our fervent desire that the truth may become flesh in us because Christ is the truth and we are convinced that in configuring ourselves to him we promote the Christian configuration of the world. For as we know, there is no better or more convincing way of preaching the Gospel then through the example of our own lives.
I want to dedicate the following pages in order to develop two constituative elements of our integral condition as “servants of the truth:” a) fidelity to the truth and b) the necessity of being well prepared and deeply convinced in the service of the truth. For, our missionary work resides at the same time on that truth which we preach and the strong and unceasing conviction of our testimony.
1. Fidelity to the Truth
To announce the Gospel, which is a fundamental necessity for humanity, is a grace, a gift from God and not an invention of our own making. That is why our complete adhesion, “total and unrestricted docility to the Holy Spirit” is of vital importance. That Spirit, which is the Spirit of Truth and which we confess in the first few pages of our Constitutions, is “Our feeble breath […] only fertile and irresistible when it communes with the Wind of Pentecost”.
That is why we, dedicated to the great task of the evangelization of cultures, must seek to obtain and put in first place fidelity to the truth and zeal in the mission, the transparency of the testimony and the supernatural strength of holiness.
Our fidelity is framed in the mystery of the Church in which Jesus is present and operating for the salvation of the world. He has called us to be his ministers, he has consecrated us in a particular way and he sends us to preach. Therefore, this fidelity implies “necessarily separating oneself from the spirit of the world: The Spirit of truth … the world cannot receive it, because it neither sees nor knows it”; He asks us to “let ourselves be ruled by the Holy Spirit” by purifying the passions and practicing virtue; also requiring that we be “open to every particle of truth wherever it is found” because as Ambrose said: “no one can say anything true unless moved by the Holy Spirit, who is Spirit of Truth”. Finally it demands, with pre-consideration, orienting our evangelizing task, almost by supernatural instinct, according to the compass of the thinking of the Church, which is made of authentic communion with its magisterium and unity with its pastors (since we cannot understand our evangelizing task except if it is “in agreement” with the teachings of the Magisterium of the Church”, which is an “institution positively wanted by Christ as a constituent element of the Church”). To be faithful to the truth, then, means “to embrace fully what Jesus has revealed and how the Church teaches in an authentic way through those who are in charge of the magisterial function in the midst of the world”.
It is in this sense that our proper law paternally warns us about the need to remain cautious in the face of the constant temptation to ‘be in fashion’ and to seek the consensus of common opinion, as well as to watch over the temptation of “desire for novelty”, especially in our educational and formative work, in any of its forms. Rather, we are asked to cultivate the permanent disposition of obedience to the truth. Since, “there is no point in extending ourselves to many countries or having numerous members, if we lose the spirit. Infallibility and indefectibility are only promised to the Catholic Church, in the person of Peter and his successors. We will not lose our spirit as long as we are faithful to the Church and observe the will and intentions of the founder in everything related to the patrimony of the Institute”.
In other words, faithfulness to the truth that is Christ cannot be separated from fidelity to his Church or from fidelity to the truth about Jesus Christ, because righteous faith in the Incarnate Word is the military stone on which the whole dynamism of the mission is based. Nor can it be separated from fidelity to the charism, a gift of God through which God himself has brought us together in the Institute to “love and serve Jesus Christ – His Body and His Spirit – and to help others love and Serve Him”.
That is why, for us, this fidelity to the truth translates into love of the truth, above all with the “scruple of orthodoxy”, as John Paul the Great said, “listening eagerly to the teacher who speaks in the most intimate part of each one and remaining united to the Church, the Mother of salvation”, and likewise, being perfect in unity around the charism of our beloved Institute so that the world can believe and be convinced that God loves all men of truth.
Saint John Bosco, in his farewell sermon to the first missionaries he sent to Argentina, told them: “The sacraments, the gospels preached by Jesus Christ and his apostles and the successors of Saint Peter to this day, must be exactly the religion and the sacraments that you fervently love and practice, and that you preach only and exclusively, whether you are among savages or in the midst of civilized peoples”.
Adhering fully to what was mentioned above, our missionaries spend their greatest energies dedicated to evangelization in 41 different countries in very diverse cultural realities. In fact, wherever they find themselves, they insist on preaching only the word of truth, contained in Scripture, celebrated and transmitted in the living Tradition of the Church and authentically interpreted by her Magisterium. Because we are convinced and it has always been our experience that only the good news of Christ enriches cultures, communicating the legitimate values that already possess the “fullness of Christ”. For it is Christ who by grace heals and elevates human nature; and thus man and his cultures “tend” to their fullness in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are not afraid to affirm that the strength and joy of our beloved Institute is in the truth and our ideal is in its announcement and in its testimony that: The love of God impels us.
In this sense, I must say that we are proud of the efforts made by our missionaries to clear all disorientation in the faithful, sowing the “good seed” of the truth of Christ, in such a way that anyone who hears can feel confirmed in the truth, comforted in the love of Christ and his Church, and happy to make the pilgrimage to heaven. Particularly, the great strength that is taking place in several Provinces, that of the apostolate that seeks to train young university students, is a great motivation: Congratulations! May this spark burn in every corner where we mission and form a legion of young people in love with the Truth.
Because it will always be certain that it is not ours to offer technical solutions, but to proclaim the truth about God, the truth about man and his mysterious destiny, the truth about the world”. Being creative and prolific in finding the means that allow us an explicit, clear, unequivocal, justified and spoken testimony of the truth. For there cannot be an authentic evangelization without proposing the whole truth about Jesus Christ, about the Church and about man. There is no authentic salvation and freedom without the logic of the gospel, proclaimed and lived in its integrity. That is why the Incarnate Word himself told us: If you keep my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
“The difficult truth that we seek in the Word of God is that of which we are not the owners, nor the arbitrators, but the depositaries, the heirs, the servants”. Truth that we seek to sow patiently, without which means acceptance of error, passive tolerance, timid and inert coexistence, yield to misunderstanding and ambiguity. This patience rather means acceptance of the designs of Providence, which respects the times and ways of the maturing of each person and of the people to whom God has sent us to evangelize. Patience that even encourages us to put aside anger, demoralization, fatigue and frustration, to always engage ourselves generously in the fulfillment of our mission with tireless dedication, even when the means are scarce and the obstacles many, but always with coherence and promptness.
Far from us should be the attitude of those who “sacrifice the truth and their own conscience by seeking a false peace, or by not opposing a friend, or by avoiding some problem or, on occasion, by taking advantage of a situation by silence of by applause” because of cutting back, avoiding or not preaching entirely the message of Christ, True God and True Man. Rather, we are to be persevering preachers of the Truth that saves, even at the cost of renunciations and sacrifices, in order to never sell or disguise the truth for the desire to please men, to cause amazement, for originality or desire to pretend.
A true member of the Institute never uses the Word of God for the realization of his own projects -with supposed good intention-, to help to change a situation, from his own personal vision, “never rejects the truth; does not obscure the revealed truth by laziness to seek it, for comfort, for fear; he does not stop studying it, but he serves it generously without subjugating it”. Because, ultimately, being “servants of truth” means a personal surrender to the Truth preached, a dedication that, ultimately, looks to God alone.
For this reason, a serious intellectual preparation and an intense spirituality are absolutely necessary , which ensure perseverance in one’s priestly and religious commitments and give the necessary strength to announce and give testimony without fear of the Truth, which does not pass away and which saves humanity. This brings us then to the second point of this letter.
2. The necessity of preparation and conviction
Our Constitutions explicitly state as necessary “education for the love of truth […] must be realized by way of an extensive intellectual formation, which is ordered to the truth and is not satisfied with the knowing the mere opinions of theologians. […] That gives time to theorizing, intellectual leisure and sincere debating, which is a shared search for truth. Classes need to be moments where true teaching and learning take place”.
In turn, the rest of our proper law with numerous expressions and in several of its documents exhort us “to come to have a kind of ‘loving veneration of the truth’”; “To let the truth be incarnate in our lives”; to be sure of the truth in order to then be able to put into play in our own life and have the strength to challenge the lives of others and not only to be firmly convinced of the truth but to teach with conviction, demonstrating with our actions that Jesus Christ is our contemporary.
Also, the Chapter Fathers, in accordance with what was established by our proper law, emphasized the importance of demanding a solid doctrinal formation for our members given the seriousness of the evangelizing task and the urgent need for discernment that excludes all superficiality in judgments, and taking on or letting yourself be dragged by various prejudices. They also explain that “a correct discernment is based on solid doctrinal foundations, above all in that which refers to a sound philosophical and theological anthropology, and firm foundations in morality. […] A serious discernment also requires in-depth knowledge of the elements that make up a certain culture (the knowledge of the language is only a first step, indispensable, of course), and demands solidity and depth in the science of Perennial Philosophy, to be able to incorporate all the good of different cultures into the open synthesis of the truth”.
From what has been said, it follows that for every member of the Institute, intellectual formation is a fundamental requirement in the task of evangelization. This requires a prolonged and deep intellectual investment, no doubt austere, but effective in the long term; investment sustained and animated by faith and that leads to a progress in the faith since, as Aquinas teaches: “He is not idle that is consecrated to the study of the Word of God; and is it not more that the one who devotes himself to the study of truth surrenders external work”.
In this sense, the decisive apostolate of those who work in the Cultural Project “Cornelio Fabro” is of great value for our mission, as well as the effort of several of our members who, in the midst of diverse pastoral demands and for a better service of the truth, strive to obtain a higher level academic degree. Likewise, the silent and hidden apostolate dedicated mainly to the diffusion of the truth through publications of books, essays, articles, etc. stands out along with the reedition and/or translation of works already published. “We will never insist enough on this, since it is a qualified apostolate within the qualified”.
Although on other occasions we have already spoken of the importance of our intellectual formation with great emphasis on living or essential Thomism I would not like to forget to mention that it represents the most lucid response to the problem of atheism that we mentioned at the beginning. “And this is so because it is the philosophy of being that allows the full and global opening to all reality, exceeding any limit and allowing us to reach Him who perfects everything”. It is in the perennial philosophy of St. Thomas founded on the objective reality of things, that “the intelligence … can arrive at what Is” which brings us with that “certainty of truth” that is so necessary to us at this time to transmit it. At this point, it is worth remembering the wise teaching of the Magisterium of the Church: “the remedy of atheism must be sought in the proper exposition of doctrine and in the integrity of the life of the Church and its members”.
Given the current circumstances, the need for people to have a well-formed conscience becomes particularly evident, one that is capable of combining the firmness of principles with the coherence of actions and the charity of relationships. For this, it is indispensable that we take ourselves seriously and with constancy of our intellectual formation.
“We can not be satisfied,” said St. John Paul II, “with what we learned one day in the seminary, even when it was university studies … This process of intellectual formation must continue throughout life … As teachers of truth and morals, we have to give an account to men in a convincing and effective way, of the hope that vivifies us. And this also forms a part of the daily process of conversion to love, through the truth”. In fact, we are clearly instructed that in order to be a good servant and announcer of the truth, among other things, “we must cultivate ourselves, learn to think, to write (or edit) and to speak (or vocal transmission)”. Furthermore, and particularly for those who are still in the initial stages of formation, our proper law points out the importance of “the practice of disputatio in intellectual matters of philosophy and theology which are more controversial or of greater importance” as an effective means to acquire the due balance and necessary intellectual discernment: this is something we cannot neglect.
Our proper law also states: “by what they are and what they do, the truth that Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her is proclaimed”. This emphasizes the paramount importance of testimony in mission: Always behave honorably among the Gentiles, so that, when they slander you as if you were evildoers, they may, by the good works that are seen in you, glorify God on the Day of Visitation.
Therefore, being “servants of the truth” also implies on our part a bold dedication in the work of our sanctification. Because “the contemporary man listens more easily to those who give testimony than to those who teach…, or if they listen to those who teach, it is because they give testimony”.
For it is through our testimony without words, that men – Christians and non-Christians – when looking at us ask themselves: Why are they like that? Why do they live that way? What is it or who is the one who inspires them? Why are they with us? And this testimony already constitutes of itself a silent proclamation, but also very clear and effective, of the truth.
Now, “every religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word who must apply himself to the service of truth, that is, to the knowledge of the truth and its transmission, beyond the specific place where he carries out his apostolate, is called to the practice of certain virtues that are indispensable to him having been called by God for this way of life and apostolate, proper to our Religious Family”. “Every seeker of God [or of the truth],” said St. Thomas, “must advance on the path of virtue and contemplation, with necessary asceticism to educate the intelligence and purify the passions, with fidelity, obedience and ‘according to the thinking of the Church’”.
The Directory mentions in particular eight virtues, apart from the “love of the truth” that must prevail as a sine qua non condition for its service. These virtues are:
– Coherency with the truth: that is, to adapt life to the known truth. Without this congruence between what is lived and what is known (that is, carrying it out to the ultimate consequences – in one’s own behavior – the truths that are professed), the study engenders Pharisees who bind heavy and unbearable burdens and lay them on people’s shoulder, but they do not want to lift a finger to move them.
– Humility: because without humility the search for truth begets arrogance and, worse still, arrogant intellectuals, pretentious people, self-paid and people who despise their neighbors.
– Disinterest: the truth must be sought not because it is useful, but for what it is and is worth in itself: for its intrinsic beauty, for being the revelation of the mystery of being, a reflection of the Creator, and the way that leads to God. When the truth is sought out of interest, it is subordinated to something else, and that other thing will determine “how much truth is said” and “how much truth is hidden”.
– Docility and fidelity: to the Holy Spirit above all, to Revelation, to the Magisterium of Peter, to the being of things.
– Fortitude: that is, the tenacity that makes the scholar not fall prey to laziness, discouragement, or apathy. It is the quality that crowns the commenced enterprise with success.
– Temperance: Chastity in the affections, thoughts and deeds (towards oneself and towards others) is an essential condition for acquiring, conserving, and persevering in the search for truth. Lust and sensuality corrupt the intelligence and push to betray the truth and even faith.
– Studiousness: Both those who disregard the study required by the obligations of state and profession, and those who are dedicated only to the study of that which satisfies their desires are opposed to true study. The curious misuse their real faculties.
– Spirit of prayer: The true intellectual life is based on the spirit of prayer that must not only precede and conclude the intellectual work, but also accompany it, permeate it and in some way, constitute it: prayer is the same work, especially when advocating the theological inquisition.
Finally, we must remember that the best testimony that we as missionaries can give in service of the truth is “the gift of one’s own life even until accepting death to witness to the faith in Jesus Christ and love of neighbor. “The ‘martyrs’, that is, the witnesses, are numerous and indispensable for the way of the Gospel. Also in our time, there are many: bishops, priests, men and women religious, as well as lay people; sometimes unknown heroes who give their lives as a testimony of faith. They are the announcers and the witnesses par excellence’”. For, in the words of Saint Augustine, “the saints … (are) the teeth of the Church that tear men away from their errors”.
For this reason, the proper law, beautifully and succinctly, points us to martyrdom as the sublime way in the service of Truth, saying: “The priest should not be tributary because of his investiture and his ministry. He must transmit the truth of God, even at the cost of his blood. He must transmit the holiness of God, accepting to be a sign of contradiction. He must transmit God’s will until he gives his life for the sheep”.
That is to say, “the commission of the announcement and the call to suffering for Christ are inseparably united. […] In a world in which the lie is powerful, the truth is bought with suffering. Whoever wants to avoid suffering, keeping it away from himself […] cannot be a servant of the truth”.
May God one day be pleased to give us the grace to be like Saint Thomas More, martyr, who for not betraying the truth on the altar of public opinion for mere political opportunism, preferred to die to defend it. After his death, they found written in the margin of his Liturgy of the Hours, the following prayer that he himself wrote after he knew that he was going to be condemned to death; a prayer that we can also make our own: “Give me your grace Lord to see the world as nothing; to have my mind firmly fixed on You and not depend on the words that come from the mouth of men; gladly to be thinking of God, piously to call for His help; to lean into the comfort of God; busily labor to love Him; […] to be content with tribulations […]; and to think my worst enemies my best friends, for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred. These truths are more to be desired of every man than all the treasures of all the princes and kings, Christians and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all in one heap. Amen”.
Let us always remember that while evil is great in the world, the triumph belongs to God and to those who are His.
Let us ask for the grace to be like those “‘apostles of the last times’ of whom Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort speaks of when he says that they are: “Thundering and flying clouds, in space, at the slightest breath of the Holy Spirit. [That] without becoming attached, or frightened, or disturbed by anything, they pour out the rain of the word of God and of eternal life, thundering against sin, throwing lightning bolts at the world, striking blows against the devil and his henchmen, [… ] teaching the narrow path of God in the pure truth, according to the holy Gospel and not to the worldly codes […] without forgiving, nor listening, nor fearing any mortal however powerful it may be”.
Finally, dear all, our pastoral service asks us to guard, defend, and communicate the truth without paying attention to the sacrifice. The God of truth expects us to be vigilant advocates and devout preachers of it. Let us not forget that proposing the truth of Christ and his kingdom is for us a duty and the sublime office to which we have been called to be proclaimers of the Word.
May Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, Doctor of the Church and Patron of the Missions, intercede for us before the Spirit of Truth so that we too excel in the science of supernatural things and point out to others the true path of salvation.
We ask our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, for the grace that, seeking the truth, and being untamable proclaimers of the Truth, we may reach the peak of holiness. That from the hand of this Benign Mother we may never accept as truth anything that lacks love. And that we do not accept as love anything that lacks truth. Because, as Santa Edith Stein taught, the one without the other becomes a destructive lie.
Long live the mission! A big hug to everyone.
In the Incarnate Word and his Blessed Mother,
Fr. Gustavo Nieto, IVE
General Superior
