MESSAGE FROM FATHER GENERAL

TO MOTIVATE “THE UNIVERSAL CLARETIAN MISSION DAY"

The increasing process of globalisation has immensely brought all of us closer. Through traditional media for social communication and much more now with new possibilities offered by Internet we can constantly observe what is going on in the five continents.

In ecclesial circles and within the same missionary congregations as well the new systems of communication have opened new ways that allow us to know better the life of Christian communities in the different places of the world. The life of those communities, their missionary projections, achievements, difficulties, struggles and needs have become somehow familiar to us. The Congregation of Claretian Missionaries, present at this moment in 63 countries of the five continents, wants to contribute to the consolidation of this sense of universal communion and offer concrete ways to make effective the solidarity that should arise from it.

There are many missions that need our help. Our missionaries are accompanying Christian communities that live under extremely difficult circumstances, lacking so many things with regards health, education and economy. They are missions in whom the Christian community cannot remain calm trying just to maintain its own structures, but it has to become witness to the love of God through concrete projects that can help to establish a good foundation for the future that enable people to live with due dignity and to make true the dream of a more just, fraternal and closer society, finally making true God’s plan.

We deal also with Christian communities that need places where they can gather and celebrate their liturgy; that need to attend to the formation of many catechists and agent of evangelisation; that need means of transportation for the missionaries who face many difficulties while trying to carry out their mission. It is something to admire the cooperation of the people in spite of their precarious financial situation. However it is not enough. Here is when our solidarity should come in. They need our help, and we, helping them, find a concrete way to express the sense of catholicity, of universal solidarity.

Besides, there is another very important dimension that we easily forget when we talk about solidarity regarding mission: many missionary and social projects, in which we are involved and support with a big deal of generosity, are possible because of the missionaries, who lead and support them, who devote their lives to them. These missionaries have to be formed and trained for many years, and obviously this demands great financial cost.

Thanks to God, in our missionary Congregation exist numerous groups of young people that are getting ready to offer their lives to serve in the mission. To support formation projects is a concrete way to show our concern for the evangelising task of the Church and to make possible the continuity of the social project that we guarantee with our contributions.

The “Universal Claretian Mission Day” aims to help us to be aware of the universality of the mission in the different aspects I have indicated and to offer to the General Mission Procure the much needed resources to attend to all those needs, that are difficult to finance by ordinary projects presented to agencies or official institutions. I wish that this be a day of communion and solidarity that will make feel closer to the life of our missionary brothers and the people they serve.

Fraternaly,

Josep M. Abella, cmf.
General Superior

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