EUROPE/ITALY - Extraordinary Missionary Month: "Baptized and sent": attracted by the love for God, to rediscover the gift of life

Saturday, 12 October 2019 evangelization   extraordinary missionary month   pontifical mission societies   missionary animation   missionaries   mission  

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - "Let us allow ourselves to be attracted and conquered by the example of Jesus Christ, by his love, so that we can be his witnesses in everyday life". This is what Sr. Vijaya Stella John Joseph, an Indian religious belonging to the Congregation of the Scalabrinian Missionary Sisters, said in an interview with Agenzia Fides with regards to the theme suggested by "Missio Italia" for the second Sunday of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October 2019, which has the title "Attracted". "People in love never stand still: they are drawn out of themselves; they are attracted and attract others in turn", Pope Francis wrote in his message for World Mission Day 2019. Precisely on the most intrinsic meaning of "attraction", on October 13, all the baptized are invited to reflect: "All men and women - the religious woman continues - are born as passionate beings. Our life does not continue because of orders or prohibitions, but for a passion: the passion for God that comes from having discovered the beauty of Christ and his love".
Referring to the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis, "Evangelii Gaudium", the missionary emphasizes: "The Pope calls for a "missionary conversion" of the Church and invites each of the faithful to discern which path the Lord asks him to reach all the outskirts that need the light of the Gospel". "God - she continues - attracts us with the face and the story of Christ. He is the good news that tells us that it is possible to live better, for everyone". To give oneself to others, therefore, creates "attraction": "It is not a task that someone imposes on us - explains Sister Stella - nor a burden to add to our daily duties, but it is the most exact expression of our own identity". "There is a direction and a meaning in all that we live - concludes Sister Vijaya Stella John Joseph – it is the Kingdom of God that comes, bringing to completion in us the plan that the Father has on all humanity and on the whole cosmos". (ES) (Agenzia Fides, 12/10/2019)


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