Fr. Rogério Gomes CSsR, the Superior General, shared his message in the context of the Year of Mission with the Missionaries of Popular Missions, sisters, and lay associates during the online meeting on March 19. The theme for reflection was: “The Lord who sends us as missionaries and pilgrims of hope in a wounded world.”
Kindly find the full text below…
THE LORD WHO SENDS US OUT AS MISSIONARIES AND PILGRIMS OF HOPE IN A WOUNDED WORLD
Dear Confreres Preaching Popular Missions, Sisters who participate and accompany our confreres in the Popular Missions and also our Lay Missionaries and Associates in our Mission,
- It is a joy for us, as General Council, to meet with you at this special time. I am aware that perhaps the date is not too helpful, since we are in Lent and many missionary teams are immersed in mission preaching, retreats and confessions. However, I wanted to celebrate this meeting with the itinerant/rural/popular mission preachers in this year in which, as a Congregation, we are reflecting on MISSION with the theme: ‘The Lord who sends us out as Missionaries and Pilgrims of Hope in a wounded world’. This occasion allows us to express our gratitude and appreciation for the work you do with the People of God, bringing the message of the Gospel to the most diverse places in the world through popular missions. It is also an encouragement from the General Government for you to continue with zeal and missionary ardour in this field of our apostolate, which, for various reasons, has been weakened in recent times. May this meeting also be a time of renewal of the missionary call, of strengthening the evangelical commitment and of fraternal communion among all of us as a great missionary body. The presence of the popular missions reminds all professed members and lay people that the Congregation is by nature missionary and itinerant.
- In recent times, popular missions have lost momentum, and we can identify some of the causes from my perspective. One of them is the ecclesial model of a parish-centred Church. Today, for example, 47% of the Congregation’s apostolate is carried out in parishes, 17% in popular missions and 17% in the shrines. Socio-cultural changes and secularisation have also played a role, which have reduced interest in faith and community involvement. In addition, a new understanding of faith and participation has emerged, where many people feel that a face-to-face link with the community is not necessary, but it can be virtual. Other factors include the decline in vocations, the lack of perseverance and the ageing of the Congregation. Added to this are the high financial costs of mission preaching, the challenges arising from urbanisation in large centres and peripheries, and the lack of methodological renewal through new languages, more interactive approaches and greater involvement of the new generations. Also, the lack of credibility of the Church due to abuses, the lack of interest in preaching popular missions within the Congregation and the fear of the other are other important obstacles. All these elements should lead us to a profound reflection in order to rethink mission in the future.
- It is true that the world we live in is no longer the world of St. Alphonsus or of the time when our (Vice) Provinces were founded. The shepherds and goatherds of yesteryear have taken on other names: the poor, the victims of social inequality, migrants, people trapped in trafficking networks, the nones (people with no religious affiliation or belief in God), young adults, drug users, women victims of feminicide, among others. Today, missions are no longer found in the countryside or in small towns, but in the urban peripheries or in large conglomerations of modern buildings. They are inhabited by people who may have a religious background, but who prefer to live their faith privately, undisturbed. This reality requires missionaries to change not only their mentality, but also their method.
- The question is: how can we reach the hearts of people today in a world consumed with so many enticing proposals? There are contexts in which mission is extremely frustrating for the missionary because, in our collective imagination as a Congregation, we have been inculcated with the idea of a mission directed to the masses. However, in today’s context, the mission is that of the little flock. I believe that the words of Evangelii Gaudium (n. 279) are encouraging, stating: “Sometimes it seems to us that our task has not achieved any results, but mission is not a business or an entrepreneurial project. Nor is it a humanitarian organisation or a show to count how many people attended thanks to our propaganda. It is something much deeper, beyond measure. Perhaps the Lord takes our giving to pour out blessings in another part of the world where we will never go. The Holy Spirit works as He wills, when He wills and where He wills; we give ourselves, but without pretending to see flashy results. We only know that our surrender is necessary.” These words do not absolve us of the responsibility to seek new methods to help us evangelise, nor do they allow us to fall into the comfort of thinking that there is nothing more to be done.
- Redemptorist mission cannot forget two foundational texts: Luke 4:16-18 and Psalm 130 (129), 7-8. These passages are fundamental to the Redemptorist mission, for they express the very core of our charism: to proclaim abundant/copiosa Redemption in Christ. They reveal the centrality of divine mercy and commitment to the liberation of the most needy, essential elements of the Redemptorist missionary charism. We are called to be a living presence of God’s love, proclaiming the Good News of salvation to all, especially the poor and marginalised. We are convinced that God never abandons his people and that his mercy is inexhaustible. The expression Copiosa Redemptio, so dear to St. Alphonsus Liguori, translates the certainty that divine grace is abundant and always accessible to those who need it. This is the foundation of the Redemptorist mission: to proclaim that God is a loving Father, always ready to welcome, forgive and transform lives. Throughout history, since the founding of the Congregation with the evening chapels and the missions to the shepherds and goatherds, Redemptorist Missionaries have lived out this call through popular missions and the explicit preaching of the Word of God, always in the certainty that Christ’s redemption is abundant and accessible to all.
- Pope Francis, in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (n. 264), affirms: “The primary motivation for evangelising is the love of Jesus that we have received, that experience of being saved by him which moves us to love him ever more.” Evangelisation is born of the personal encounter with Jesus and the love we experience in Him. When we become aware that we have been saved by Him, our hearts are filled with gratitude and love, which impels us to proclaim the Good News with joy, enthusiasm, authenticity and passion. The Pope also points out: “mission is a passion for Jesus, but, at the same time, a passion for his people […] Jesus himself is the model of this evangelising option which introduces us into the heart of the people” (EG 268-269). Thus, the popular mission is a profound expression of the living presence of Christ through an itinerant Church, close to the people, especially to those who need it most: the poor, the marginalised and the forgotten of society. Through your proclamation of the Word – as the fruit of your encounter with the Redeemer -, your witness of life and your fraternal service, you become concrete signs of this abundant Redemption. In this sense, the popular mission shines as a beacon of hope for the discouraged and for those who have lost their hope and perspective in life. The call of the XXVI General Chapter to be Missionaries of Hope in the Footsteps of the Redeemer is eloquent in this regard.
- In Evangelii Gaudium (n. 273), Pope Francis affirms: “The mission in the heart of the people is not a part of my life, or an ornament that I can take off; it is not an appendix or just another moment of existence. It is something that I cannot tear away from my being if I do not want to destroy myself. I am a mission on this earth, and that is why I am in this world. It is necessary to recognise oneself as being marked by fire by this mission to enlighten, bless, enliven, raise up, heal, liberate.” This passage profoundly reflects the missionary vocation as something essential and inalienable in the life of one who feels called to bring hope and transformation to a wounded world. It is not an occasional choice or a temporary activity, but an identity that defines one’s own existence. This is why it is possible to say with certainty: ‘I am mission, I am a missionary’. Mission is so deeply imbued in the missionary that to ignore it would be to deny his/her very essence. To be a missionary is to be the light of the world, to promote the integral salvation of the person and his or her true freedom.
- In this year in which we are called to reflect more deeply on mission, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Secretariat for Evangelisation and all its commissions. With dedication and commitment, they have worked tirelessly to implement the decisions – especially those of the General Chapters – always in tune with the Magisterium of Pope Francis, with the process of Restructuring and Reconfiguration, and with the pastoral challenges of our time. This synodal journey and the process of restructuring for mission invite us to take a closer look at popular missions, rediscovering their relevance in today’s world. We are challenged to adapt our methods, languages and strategies so that the Good News of the Gospel continues to reach the poorest and most abandoned, according to the Redemptorist charism. The inspiration of Pope Francis encourages us to be a Church that goes out, that is not afraid to reach out to the existential and geographical peripheries, making Evangelisation a space of welcome, dialogue and profound transformation. This effort not only strengthens the missionary identity of our Congregation, but also impels us to constantly renew our way of evangelising.
- Dear Confreres preaching popular missions or on Itinerant missions, Sisters and Lay people, courage and perseverance in your mission! Let us remain firm and united, driven by apostolic ardour and sustained by divine grace, ever faithful to the call to proclaim abundant Redemption. Continue with dedication and be a living witness of the Gospel among the people, bringing hope, consolation and contributing to the formation of the conscience of the People of God. As General Government, we express our deep gratitude to each of you for your generous commitment to Evangelisation, for facing the challenges of mission with faith and enthusiasm, and for being a living presence of Christ’s love wherever you are.
- May our Mother of Perpetual Help, Star of Evangelisation, continue to illuminate your paths, protecting every Redemptorist mission that you undertake. May she intercede, together with our Saints, Martyrs and Blessed, so that all may persevere as true Missionaries of the great Hope, who is the Redeemer. Let us go forward, trusting in the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R.
Superior General
Rome, 19th March 2025 Solemnity of St. Joseph
Original text: Spanish
