PRESENTATION

“His Life is our life; his mission is our mission,” this phrase from the Prologue of our Constitutions is known by heart by all the members of our Society. It is the essence of our call as SVD. Because “guided by the Holy Spirit we follow him (Jesus), glorifying the Father and bringing the fulness of life to others.” Therefore, “missionary work” is “the culminating aim of our Society” (Prologue of SVD Constitutions). Mission is not implementing an ideology or realizing a project but following Jesus. He demonstrates to us that God is in himself a missionary God. He is a God who reaches out, who gives and receives, who speaks and hears. Furthermore, He is a God of communion and dialogue. Living out this missionary call means letting ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit, to go where the Spirit leads us, to do what the Spirit tells us to do.

This principal openness to the Holy Spirit has enabled us to reflect the meaning of mission in the changing context of our world and the Church. In recent decades, we came to realize that our missio ad gentes needs to be enriched by missio inter gentes because mission is not just a one-way direction. It is everywhere because everywhere there are frontier situations, subjects, and addressees of the mission. Since the 15 th General Chapter, we understand mission as a prophetic dialogue with four preferential partners carried out through four characteristic dimensions. This time of COVID-19 pandemic reveals a new vulnerability in us and within our institutions. This situation challenges us to reflect on our mission in such a time of crisis. In April this year, a two-day webinar was organized by our Mission Secretary, Fr. Stanislaus Lazar, to tackle this question. Missio inter gentes understood as prophetic dialogue needs to take into consideration this reality of vulnerability. Mission in such a context must be missio ad vulnera according to Fr. Robert Schreiter, CPPS or missio inter-vulnera, as coined by Fr. Steve Bevans, SVD.

Although mission is the raison d’être of our Society, mission is not ours. It is the mission of God who entrusts it to the Church. As the Church is by its very being a missionary Church, borne out of and for mission, all baptized are called and empowered to live out their mission. In his encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis reminds us that every one of us is on a mission because in and through us, God wants to bring his Good News to the world.

As a missionary congregation, one of our characteristic dimensions is to animate others to realize their mission and put it into practice. Our Constitutions mention it as our commitment “to make the local churches mission-minded, aware of their responsibility toward the whole church and ready to spread the good news they have received” (Con.110). Therefore, our mission animation is not exclusively addressed to the laypeople but to all the people of God, including the religious and the clergy, who belong to their respective local churches.

Feeling elated and with a sense of gratitude, I present this booklet which contains good practices of doing mission animation to different groups, theological reflections, and the orientation for the future. This publication intends to animate us to live thoughtfully and consistently mission animation as one aspect that uniquely characterizes us. Mission animation is not just delegated to our mission secretaries. Therefore, I strongly recommend that the booklet be read and reflected individually, in our communities, houses, and districts.

In the name of the General Council, I want to thank those who shared their experiences and reflections in this publication. In particular, my words of thanks and appreciation to Fr. Stanislaus Lazar, SVD, our Mission Secretary. With his patience and good organization, this publication was completed.

May the Holy Spirit, the principal agent of mission, continue to guide us in living out our call to mission.

Fraternally in the Divine Word,
Fr. Paulus Budi Kleden, SVD and Leadership Team