Here’s a World Mission Sunday Letter from César Alonso Saldaña Moreno, International President of MiSeVi.

“Together with Christ, we Vincentians make a difference.”

Dear brothers in Christ and St Vincent:

today, during this special time in which many people support our missions with prayers, we want to join together so all those who do not know Jesus Christ can continue to receive the Good News.

The mission is so urgent, therefore, in which all members of the Vincentian Family and the Church are called to participate. We live in a time when we, the members of the various Vincentian branches, can manifest our charism by joining together for the missions.

MISEVI is a branch that emerged through the witness of the missionaries of the Congregation of the Mission and the young people who participated and collaborated in their missions.

Some members have shared, in different countries, this missionary experience, of evangelization and service to the needy, as committed lay people in the missions ad gentes in Mozambique, Bolivia, Honduras…. Others have done so in their own parishes, provinces, and countries: with prayer and concrete gestures of solidarity they have helped the church in the mission field. Remember the message of encouragement from Pope Francis: “Young people, play the game life for great ideals. Christians have not been chosen by the Lord for little things; always go beyond to the big things.”

1.1 The International Association of Vincentian Lay Missionaries (MISEVI in Spanish) is a Public Association of the Faithful, canonically erected by the Apostolic See by norm of the universal laws of the Church, made up of lay men and women, baptized in the Catholic Church, who wish to share the charism and spirituality of St. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Mission and the Daughters of Charity, adapting them to their own lifestyle. As such it is legally autonomous with full jurific personality and is subject to rights and obligations. Consequently, it can own, manage and dispose of all kinds of goods and exercise appropriate action in defense of its interests before all kinds of people, authorities and jurisdictions. (International Statutes).
The Holy Spirit provides wisdom and strength to those who are docile to its evangelizing action in the world. Vincent de Paul received the mission and sought out more missionaries to reach every corner of the earth, where they do not know Jesus Christ, to proclaim the joy of the Gospel. We MISEVI, who have been fortunate to live the missionary experience, returning joyfilled, feel the desire to share our experience and to encourage more people to continue the mission that St. Vincent has given us.

“Turning to the disciples and said: ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.'” (Lk 10, 23). Today we are experiencing a new horizon for the laity in the Vincentian Family. In this year of collaboration, we want to share our joy – that of enthusiastic disciples. We invite you to multiply the number of lay missionaries called to serve the humble, the simple, the poor and marginalized, the voiceless, those who are tired and oppressed, whom Jesus called blessed.

Today we would like to go around the world preaching the Reign in every country, in every province or state. You can also assist in the spreading of our Association in your countries, encouraging other laity to join MISEVI, to have more hands to serve those who need it most.

The disciples are those who get captured, every day, by the love of Jesus, to be bearers of the joy of the Gospel.
As those primarily responsible for the announcement (of the Good News), you have the task of promoting the unity of the Church in her missionary commitment in the most distant places, where the poor await you. In many regions priestly and religious vocations are in short supply. Lay people can share the work in communion, caught up in the joy – the testimony – of St. Vincent and of Vincentian missionaries.

The joy of the Gospel comes from the encounter with Christ and sharing with the poor.

Therefore, I encourage communities of our Vincentian provinces, associations and groups FAMVIN, to live an intense fraternal life based on love of Jesus and the spirit of San Vicente, attentive to the needs of the poorest. Remember yourselves as Vincentian lay missionaries who are called to live your vocation in the proclamation, in word and deed, of the Gospel. It is important to remember that “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9: 7).
The disciple of the Lord perseveres with joy when he is with him, when she does His will, shares his or her faith, hope and evangelical charity.

César Alonso Saldaña Moreno, PRESIDENT,
MISEVI INTERNACIONAL

Monterrey, N. L. México, September 24, 2015

We invite you to visit our web page www.miseviinternacional.com and Facebook MISEVI INTERNACIONAL

Download the letter for printing and distribution here.