HAVE MANY PLANS AND PROGRAMMES, BUT DO NOT CUT OUT JESUS CHRIST!
H umanity is in such need of the Gospel, the source of joy, hope
and peace. The mission to evangelise takes priority, for missio-
nary activity is still today the Church's greatest challenge. “How I long
to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm for a new chapter of evan-
gelisation full of fervour, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love and
attraction!” !” (Evangelii Gaudium, 261).
The proclamation of the Gospel is the primary and perpetual concern
of the Church; it is her essential task, her greatest challenge and the
source of her renewal. Bl. Paul VI added: “it is her vocation”. Indeed,
from the mission to evangelise, from its intensity and efficacy derives
the true renewal of the Church, of her structures and of her pastoral
work. Without restlessness and concern for evangelisation, it is im-
possible to develop a credible and effective pastoral approach, one
that unites proclamation and human promotion. “Missionary outreach
is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity” (EG, 15).
… Yours is a challenging and privileged task: your gaze and your interest extends to the vast and universal
horizons of humanity, to its geographical and above all human frontiers… Please, be careful not to fall
into the temptation of becoming an NGO, an office of distribution of ordinary and extraordinary subsi-
dies. Money does help — we know that! — but it can also become the downfall of the Mission. Functiona-
lism, when it is placed at the centre or when it occupies a large space, as if it were the most important
thing, will lead you to ruin; for the first way to die is to take for granted the “source”, that is the One
who moves the Mission. Please, with so many plans and programmes do not cut Jesus Christ out of your
missionary work, which is his work. A Church that is reduced to the ‘efficiency-ism’ of the party machine
is already dead, even if her structures and programmes run by the clergy and “independent” laity live on
for centuries.
A true evangelisation is not possible if not in the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, the only One ca-
pable of renewing, stirring, impelling the Church to go forth boldly to evangelise all peoples (EG, n. 261).
May the Virgin Mary, Star of Evangelisation, obtain for us always a passion for the Kingdom of God, so that
the joy of the Gospel may reach the ends of the earth, and no periphery be deprived of its light. I bless
you affectionately. And, please, do not forget to pray for me.
[An excerpt from the address of Pope Francis to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies on June 5,
2016. This is reported here because it highlights important points that also involve Salesian missionary animation.]
Witness of Salesian Missionary Sanctity
Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni SDB, Postulator General for the Causes of Saints
We recall Venerable Simon Srugi (1877-1943), Salesian brother, on whose grave it is written: “Fellow
Citizen of Christ, He saw him everywhere. He gave himself for everyone and in everything to imitate
Him, meek and humble figure of the Good Samaritan”. In his notebook we read: “The works of the reli-
gious, no matter how small and simple they may be, are valuable and acceptable to God when they are
done to please him.” And again: “To love God means not giving him the slightest displeasure neither with
thoughts, nor with words, nor with actions, but truly love this God of mine who has loved me so much.”
Salesian Missionary Intention
That our schools and universities in Latin America and the Caribbean
become more and more means for the spreading of the Gospel.
The huge population of our Salesian schools and universities in Latin America and the
Caribbean are a unique opportunity to facilitate the encounter of every young person
with the Risen Lord Jesus. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to assist and enlighten our
community of consecrated persons, that as the animating nucleus of the educational -
pastoral service they may find and consolidate the most appropriate and fruitful ways
and strategies for the effective proclamation of Jesus Christ to our young people in our
schools and universities.
