Do you like Lent? Well, I don’t. At least not spontaneously. Having to listen to talks about conversion, penance, fasting, questioning my lifestyle, material sharing, and with all that purple in the liturgy, so sad, for 40 days. It doesn’t really appeal to me, and I could do without it.
Encountering the poor and those in need constantly challenges us and forces us to think. How can we help to eliminate or at least alleviate their marginalization and suffering? How can we help them in their spiritual need? …The silent cry of so many poor men, women and children should find the people of God at the forefront, always and everywhere, in efforts to give them a voice, to protect and support them in the face of hypocrisy and so many unfulfilled promises, and to invite them to share in the life of the community.
Today, a new impulse to the Church’s missionary activity is needed to face the challenge of proclaiming Jesus and his death and resurrection. Reaching the peripheries—the human, cultural, and religious settings still foreign to the Gospel: this is what we call the missio ad gentes. We must also remember that the heart of the Church’s mission is prayer. In this Extraordinary Missionary Month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary “spring” for all those baptized and sent by Christ’s Church.
In our Society, we are talking more and more about “our missionary projects outside Africa.” In order to understand our position better, it might be
DECEMBER : The Elderly. That the elderly, sustained by families and Christian communities, may apply their wisdom and experience to spreading the faith and forming
NOVEMBER : Christians in Asia. That Christians in Asia, bearing witness to the Gospel in word and deed, may promote dialogue, peace, and mutual understanding, especially
OCTOBER : Workers and the Unemployed. That all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to
SEPTEMBER : Parishes. That our parishes, animated by a missionary spirit, may be places where faith is communicated and charity is seen.
AUGUST : Artists. That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.
JULY : Lapsed Christians. That our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the
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