“I have loved everything in our Africa.”
“I have loved everything in our Africa, her past, her future, her sunshine, her mountains, her skies, the vast horizons of her deserts, the deep blue waves that bathe her shores.” Charles Lavigerie “Love the peoples to whom you are sent” Charles Lavigerie
Joy
“Love begets joy – and what joy! pure, solid, deep, unalterable; a joy that is reflected on one’s countenance producing a continual serenity; a joy that is a foretaste of that of the blessed.” Mother Marie-Salomé Joy gives a new dimension to Mission. How, without it, people would believe that we have Good News to share with them? If the joy in belonging to Christ penetrates and is shared, our life as consecrated people will witness to a God whose love is the source of life and happiness. The joy of which we speak is neither a carefree joy, immature, which would be unaware of the difficulties of life. No, it is a joy which is firmly rooted in the world’s realities, but which at the same time goes deeply down in the reality of God’s love. That’s what gives it its solidity, this “hope against all hope”, which spurs…
This is a gratuitous gift…
“The gift of a religious vocation is a wholly gratuitous gift on Gods’ part, and a miracle of his mercy.” Mother Marie-Salomé