INTERNATIONAL AND INDIGENOUS

CONGREGATIONS IN AFRICA

by

Sr. Maura O’Connor

 

 

[SUMMARY: Situating the theme assigned, “International and Indigenous Congregations”, within the thrust of this Special Synod Assembly, I proposed we reflect from this perspective: To be missionary in Africa (local and all other Congregations) and to be with our African sisters and brothers missionary together to the world; and this in view of communion and co-responsibility, to build together the body of Christ, for the coming of the Kingdom in today’s world.]

It is a privileged moment and an immense joy for us to come together to seek inspiration and courage to be able to decide wisely in the concrete circumstances in which we happen to be. We feel the joy of service, but at the same time experience the pain of searching in the Spirit and the weight of responsibility. Our concern is for the building of the body of Christ, each drawing from the same source of the Eucharist, in view of the reign of God among us. We all need each other and the grace of God works through that need. My very small contribution is the fruit of my own personal experience and vision derived from the specificity of our charism, as Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

 

 

COMMUNION ‑ CO‑RESPONSIBILITY

 

“...the bread which I will give is thy flesh,

which I give to that the world may live”

John 6:51

Situating the theme assigned, “International and Indigenous Congregations”, within the thrust of this Special Synod Assembly, I propose we reflect on the same realities but from another perspective: “To be missionary in Africa (local and all other congregations) and to be with our African sisters and brothers missionary together to the world.” My purpose is to request that we accept our differences, but in view of communion and co‑responsibility, rather than counter positions. This is but to recognise and respect the complementary roles and gifts of our respective charisms and ministries in the Church, as Bishops, clergy, and all religious. brothers and sisters and laity. It means that we see each other as a richness, because the gifts of the Lord are multiple, each according to our specificity (I Cor. 12,4). There is a need for all of us who are involved in the Church's mission to look at particular situations and to ask ourselves if we are in fact serving as agents of communion.

Through various channels, as for example, MAC, UISG, USG, Council of 18, we have clear insights into the pain, the potential and the unifying force of efforts to work in companionship and collaboration. The mission of the church is our mission. That is the image, the vision that engages our minds and hearts, our gifts and energies, and our prayer. We want to be in partnership in giving flesh to this vision. We experience more and more the necessity to have platforms to speak our needs and hopes to one another, and perhaps even more important, to have our experiences heard and fears understood. This is one good expression of how we are moving forward together in working for change. The present Special Assembly for Africa is a moment of grace inviting us to express again the questions we all need to address, and to look together at where the real difficulties lie, as for example in formation and upkeep.

To develop further collaboration is our on‑going concern, while emphasis on the eschatological dimension of our mission ‑ preparing the coming of the Kingdom where all will sit together as sisters and brothers at the same table ‑ needs to be the binding force and spirit of all our activities. Strengthened and supported through love and concern for one another, and attentive also to the spoken and unspoken words, we make a long ascent to the life and tenderness of God. It would seem that we have to find a way through the heart, as a first step, for relationships that are harmonious and just to become a reality; here each of us is committed to give a qualitative response. Like Francis, the universal brother, and all our Foundresses and Founders, we are called to announce by our life that the kingdom .is already present, there where we are. Then we can announce this peace ‑ that of the Risen Christ ‑ peace that is the fruit of the justice to which those who welcome us deeply aspire. Christ gave his life for all to become a new people, and to announce this new world. As His followers, we too must be prepared to give our lives in the humble service of being bridge‑builders between and among all peoples. Do we recognise when and where this service is called for? Do we adequately value those who give service? How, with our national, cultural and ethnic differences, can we make’ our communities gathering places of communion? Are we ready to work ecumenically? Are we prepared for the encounter with Islam? with African Traditional Religions? with the new Christian movements? How does the proliferation of sects challenge our way of announcing Jesus Christ?

 

 

CALL ‑ RESPONSE

 

“Work for the food that tub for eternal life.

This food the Son of Man will give you.”

John 6:27

The Special Synod Assembly is an opportunity for Religious Life in the African Church to steep itself in the dynamism of the Spirit. In a context of a people for whom God is absolute, the joyful offering of our lives, in response to the gratuitous gift of God, sets us free, invites hope and calls forth questioning on the part of those with whom we live and work; they in turn challenge our self‑gift by the richness of their faith experience and of their abandonment to God. It is in a world of injustice, exploitation, and impoverishment that we wish to be poor. This challenges us to allow our vow of poverty to put in question our human will for power and wealth, and to bring about a new relation in minority which calls us to live our service with a poor heart and humble means. It is in a world of domination and of intolerance that we wish to live obedience so that the will of the Father is realised and that the reign of justice, truth, fraternity and liberty may come. It is in a world of discrimination that we are called to live consecrated celibacy, witnessing to the dignity and value of woman, contributing to the construction of a new society where the relation between men and women is nurtured by love and mutual respect, where all recognise each other as children of God. Women play a large part in evangelisation. Through recognizing the complementarily of their ministry and inviting their participation in decision‑making at different levels, the Church can give a valuable example to society.

It is vital to remain well rooted in our Christian Faith and in our charism, otherwise our consecration will no longer be a credible sign and our witness no longer be prophetic. To live our total self‑gift, with the internal and external difficulties of today, a true gospel conversion is called for. It is imperative for us to go to the roots of our weaknesses, our certitudes, our prejudices and allow ourselves to be transformed, saved, and in that way, announce the new world.

Another great challenge for all us is to live the same charism in forms and lifestyles that respect African sensitivities and mentalities. We are called upon to form new attitudes towards dialogue and to do much searching together. The spirit of dialogue between us and the realities of the world which surround us is also a condition for a visible witness. Dialogue includes above all openness and dependence on the spirit. Here it is to be taken in the ordinary sense of encounter, mutual understanding, respect, discovery of the seeds of the Word in the culture and the joint quest for God’s Will.

 

 

INCULTURATION ‑ FORNUTION

 

“This man is Jesus, the son of Joseph, isn’t he?

We know his father and mother. How then does he

now say he came down from Heaven?”

John 6:42

This whole area of inculturation, treated elsewhere in the Assembly, is a challenge of our times. The major question for us, both local and international Congregations, is to search together how to inculturate religious life in Africa. Here the matter is touched in relation to a good formation that is appropriate for Africa today. Our formation programmes need to take the African reality as a point of departure. We have to form the young people to be clear in their identity, that is to have a religious African identity according to a specific charism while remaining open to meet and welcome the richness and specificity of others. It is a concern for incarnating and achieving authentic religious life through discernment and formation of the highest calibre, both initial and on‑going. Do our programmes and accompaniment provide well prepared personnel to assure a high quality of religious and professional formation?

It is vital that we be alert and open, to read together ‑ Africans and non‑Africans ‑ the signs of the times in Africa today; that we be ready to recognise and name the values of each other and of every culture so as to intensify our efforts of inculturating the gospel message. Are we attentive to the sufferings and cries of those who surround us, especially the poor, even if we are powerless in face of this reality? Are we in their midst as witnesses of love and of life? Are we women and men of prayer who intercede for them? Are we sufficiently aware of the “structures of sin” (R.M.) in which we all share to some degree and which infiltrate our societies? Are we well informed about the situations in which we live, do we analyse them and review them in the light of our faith and our sources? Are we alert to the violence that can be done through destructive information?

 

Have we developed a critical sense in regard to what we hear and read? Irrespective of nation and politics, the witness of inter‑cultural communities speaks of itself. In this world wounded by division and intolerance it gives hope: the inestimable riches of pluralism which transcends the limits of nation, race, and religion; the creation of a new society based on the recognition of all and the service of all, in fraternity with every person of no matter which faith or origin. But are we not sometimes an obstacle to the coming of the Kingdom because we are unable to be brothers and sisters of one another, persons reconciled, pardoned and renewed in the love of Christ which unites us? Are we capable of a fresh look, freed from prejudices and which permits all to find their place, with their given fragilities, limits and riches. “As artisans of peace and reconciliation we work to make the world more just and more human, so that, with all our brothers and sisters, we may attain total liberation in Christ.” The effort required for this brings cultural enrichment and psychological open‑mindedness. It is also a source of joy, as it enables us to participate more intensely in the life of the Church, in its charity which is catholic, that is, universal, and beyond it, in that of God which embraces the whole world. Inserted in the African reality and seeking to renew ourselves through the dynamic of the Synod, we wish to be active members of this assembly in sharing life and light and love.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

“What sign of power will you perform

so that we may see it and believe you?

What will you do?”

John 6:30

The fraternity and solidarity to which we sisters and brothers are called, and which we seek to build with the people among whom we live and work is a vital witness for our world today, allowing us to live in hope for the time when there will be neither Jew nor Gentile, slaves nor free people (Gal. 128). For our Assembly here to be a source of renewed mission in the Church, we need to work out a clear and true vision of our mission to Africa in our need for each other and in our poverty. Then only will we be able to work out something that will find resonance with that great continent of hope.

Strengthened, transformed, and renewed through Jesus, the Bread of Life, we can continue, together with one another, what is impossible without each other, “to go in the Peace of Christ,” to the world.