Go and proclaim the joy of the risen Christ – Circular no. 1042

Rome (Italy). The Mother General of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Chiara Cazzuola, introduces Circular no. 1042 of October, missionary month, recalling the work of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission, continuing until the 27^th of the month, a “beautiful but arduous” journey to be made together as people of God.

“As Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, we are aware that we are called to walk a path of missionary communion, both as Church and as educating communities, certain that the Holy Spirit works in every person. Together with all the faithful in Christ, we are entrusted with the task of living every relationship with responsibility and creativity, so that it is constantly a manifestation of the gratuitousness and mercy of God… to be for the world, ‘joyfully and faithfully, a sacrament of that light which is reflected by the light of Christ, our Sun’,” affirms Mother.

Joyful signs and bearers of salvation

The invitation “to proclaim the Good News to all, walking together to realize a true missionary synodality at the service of the Gospel, with special attention to children and young people, to the poorest” resounded especially on Sunday 29 September 2024, for the 9 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of the 147^th missionary expedition; the 27 Salesians of the 155th missionary expedition; and some lay people of the Community of Don Bosco who, in Turin in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians, during the Eucharistic celebration presided by the Vicar of the Rector Major, Fr. Stefano Martoglio, received the missionary Crucifix.

“These sisters and brothers sent in the name of Jesus, are well aware that the current historical-social context has changed and puts us in front of new scenarios”, observes Mother Chiara, who speaks of a changed concept of mission. “The mission has gone from an inculturation, which was perceived as invasive and extrinsic, to a mission that seeks in all ways to fully value the various cultural traditions. We have gone from a theology that is born in the West and from Rome addresses the people a theology of the local Churches and ‘peripheries’ which returns to the ‘center’, and stimulates, enriches, and increases the universal Church.”

Furthermore, “There are still lands to be evangelized and nations that ignore the Gospel, therefore the term ad gentes retains all its value.”

She emphasizes that every missionary sending in the Church – also through the Salesian Family – is always “an event of grace in which gratitude to God is celebrated for what He has done in Valdocco and Mornese” and “reminds us that Mary is the Teacher of Evangelization.” She encourages us to pray for the missionaries, “called to be women and men capable of giving themselves totally,” in particular for the new FMA missionaries, who are living the process of discernment and preparation for their future destination.

The courage to look to the future

Mother Chiara proposes a look to the future in order to revive the prophetic momentum of the Salesian charism as a gift to the Church and humanity, a process of conversion that helps to be passionate and to welcome a new missionary call.

Considering the history of the Institute, she points out that from the beginning there was “a special missionary imprint”, which nourished the courage, choices, lifestyle, climate of communities, and educative works, becoming concrete in 1877, with the departure of 6 young sisters for Uruguay just five years after the Foundation.

“We were born for flight,” she said, repeating the words of Don Bosco – ‘It is time to spread our wings for some small flight’ announcing the first foundation after that of Mornese in Borgo San Martino in 1874. “It begins small, but it is about flight, which will continue courageously on the infinite and providential paths of God in the free and boundless space of the proclamation of Jesus.”

She then pauses on the missionary style of Don Bosco who sends more Daughters of Mary Help of Christians than Salesians, and of Mother Mazzarello, who have totally taken on the traits of Jesus’ compassion and Mary’s maternal tenderness. They were trying to respond to the youth poverty of their time, without closing themselves in categories or territories. “The missionary heart of our Founders makes them ‘go out’ to the poorest and most abandoned young people, ready to give their lives in order to save them. It is a missionary spirit that becomes creative audacity and often ‘temerity’… A missionary spirit that cannot stop itself.”

In the wake of the Founders, Mother describes the missionary spirit of the Daughter of Mary Help of Christians, “it is what moves the ‘I will go’. It is not remaining to look from afar, but it is being active to intervene and bring one’s own contribution, even if poor and modest. It is readiness and timeliness in seeking all means that promote the good.”

And again, “There is no place in our Founders for paralyzing fear, nor for fruitless passivity. They count on the fidelity of God and on His fatherhood that does not abandon His own children, but needs them to implement His plans of salvation.”

Trust in the Holy Spirit, who enlightens, guides, and orients and “knows well what is needed in every age” (EG, no. 280) is another indispensable element that helps to keep missionary ardor alive and ensure the fruitfulness of missionary work.

The “candidates to the altars” of the FMA Institute are also helpful and exemplary, and are asked for their intercession, deepening their features on 30 October 2024, in the live-streaming organized by the General Secretariat near the Solemnity of All Saints. Indications will be given soon on the Institute website.

Another important event is the beginning of the Triennium in preparation for the 150^th anniversary of the first missionary departure, which will take place on 14 November 2024, with a solemn celebration transmitted online by the Generalate during the Formators Conference to be held in Rome.

Mother communicates that “The three-year period will end on 14 November 2027. In the Jubilee year 2025, we will join the initiatives that will take place for the celebration of the first missionary expedition of our Salesian Confreres.”

The Circular concludes with the wish, “Let us entrust ourselves to Mary, first missionary of the Gospel, in the certainty that She is Mother and Teacher, Helper who accompanies her sons and daughters still on pilgrimage towards the fullness of holiness. With a heart full of hope and gratitude, aware of the renewed call to ‘rekindle the fire’, I wish you all to listen to the Holy Spirit, our sure guide on the paths of evangelization.”

Circular no. 1042