Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – “Enlisting the martyrs under the sign of hope is certainly an audacious undertaking: the martyr is by definition one whose circle of life is brought to an abrupt halt, often a life full of wisdom, love and dedication. In every instance, the martyr brings with him a scandal, as a fatal test that God proposes to him, to his friends, to the community that attends to his elimination. If he is a missionary, it seems that the mission itself hangs him.
The martyr does not remain, however, only in the moving memory of those who knew him or in the remembrance of his actions and teachings: the martyr stands in Christ. In this way he becomes a sign and source of hope: we do not learn much from his death, but through his life that was first lived in the name of and for the Gospel and now the life that hopes in its accomplishment, that is, in the strong and definite relationship with Jesus, the Risen Christ.” So writes Don Gianni Cesena, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Italy, presenting the theme of the XIX Day of prayer and fasting in memory of the missionary martyrs on 24 March.
Founded in 1993 by the Missionary Youth Movement of the Italian PMS, on the anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar A. Romero of San Salvador (24 March, 1980), the Day intended to commemorate with prayer and fasting, all the missionaries who have been killed around the world. In addition to Italy there are now many dioceses, missionary and youth groups, and religious institutions, that dedicate special initiatives to remembering the missionaries and all those who shed their blood for the Gospel.
Among the plans to celebrate the Day, the Missionary Youth Movement invites parishes and consecrated life communities, seminaries, and novitiates, to use tools such as Vigils, the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic Adoration and ecumenical celebrations, prepared for these circumstances, to create a corner of martyrdom in the church using a cross and a red flag and writing the names of the missionaries and those killed. In addition, it is worth inquiring whether in our own diocese, there have been missionaries killed in the past, and to make their testimony known.
The following ideas are suggested:
Families can make a gesture of reconciliation between husband and wife, between parents and children, brothers and sisters, and other family members. Invite a brother or sister of another nation to lunch. Pray together for the missionaries killed. The sick and the suffering can offer up their suffering in memory of the slain missionaries and others killed to proclaim the Gospel and to support the apostolic work of those operating in every corner of the earth and to ask the Lord for the gift of holy and numerous missionary vocations. Young people are invited to donate their own blood, to visit those who are alone and oppressed with suffering (in hospitals, nursing homes, jails, or the sick and elderly living alone), to live and promote the Day in their own parishes and dioceses.
This year, an outreach project for Uruguay is planned with the donations that will be collected on the Day of prayer and fasting, where the group “Youth, let's go to Uruguay” has opened four missions, inspired by the teaching model of St John Bosco, helping children and young people to grow as good Christians and honest citizens. The two urgent projects for the Melo mission consist of enlarging a boarding school, to accommodate the many children from poor families who wish to continue their studies, and the opening of a day care centre to offer students a place of formation and growth, as well as where they can learn a job. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 16/3/2011)
