The Missionary Vocation
23. Loved from all eternity. From all eternity God has been thinking of you. Even though you in no way merited it He loved you. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31,3). I have loved you, you specifically and not someone else.
In His generosity He called you to be an apostle. He needs no one, He needs nothing. He gave this grace to you and not to someone else who may have been more deserving or responsive. And why you specifically? Because He loved you with a special love. He treated you as he did the young man in the Gospel “Jesus looked at him and loved him and said: Come follow Me” (Mark 10,21). A vocation is Jesus’ loving glance.
24. Love of God and a passion for souls.[1] The missionary vocation belongs to those who love the Lord very much, wish to make him better known and are ready for any sacrifice. Nothing more is needed. The missionary vocation is an act of Providence: God chooses individuals and endows them with the talents needed to evangelize non-Christian countries or groups.[2] Since the time of the Apostles, the Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted His mission to individuals: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20,21). The Church knows this and reaffirms this divine mission. Missionaries work in the name of the Church.
Saints have always wanted to go to the missions: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Romuald, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi and St. Therese of the Child Jesus – whom the Church proclaimed patroness of all missions.
25. A priest is by nature a missionary. As far as priests are concerned, what difference is there between preaching the Gospel in our country or proclaiming it to non-Christians? Is it not the same vocation? Is not every priest obliged to proclaim the Gospel? Every priest is by nature a missionary. There is no essential difference between the priestly and the missionary vocation. All one needs – and I repeat myself – is a great love of God and a passion for souls. Everyone cannot act on the inclination to go to the missions – but every priest should have this inclination. Working as an apostle in mission territories is the acme of the priestly vocation. A non-clerical religious, brother or sister, especially one working in the missions is a genuine missionary. This is true of our coadjutor brothers and sisters.
26. The missionary vocation is a gift of God. According to St. Paul there is a difference between the natural and supernatural gifts of God. To make an individual a saint the Holy Spirit adapts himself to the individual’s nature, strength and capacity. St. Paul teaches that each has his own gift from God (Cf. 1 Corinthians 7,7). For us that gift is the missionary vocation. We will only understand its value in eternity. And if we reject this gift? The Lord calls us to a state of perfection, offers us our own place in the Church, gives us a sign of his favor and if we reject all this? Do you think this is a matter of little consequence? One might say that the Lord’s call is only “advisory.” This is true but is this how we should treat “advice” from God? If St. Francis Xavier had rejected God’s counsel what would he be today? Certainly not a saint.
How many “displaced” persons there are in the world who rejected God’s gift! Remember that the first offering I received for the Congregation was 100 Lire from a priest whose name I never knew. He gave me the money to banish his remorse for rejecting the call to work among non-Christians that he felt as a young man.[3] No, we should never believe we are doing God a favor by responding to His call! He is giving us an enormous gift.
27. Without extraordinary signs. Sometimes we doubt our call to the apostolate. This painful affliction can destroy vocations or dampen the fervor with which we prepare for the apostolate. Do you really have a vocation? Extraordinary signs are by no means necessary and we should not even expect them. Even if an angel were to come down from heaven it might be a hallucination. There may have been an extraordinary sign and we did not notice it – even though it was foreordained by God: something in a missionary periodical or book, a sermon on the missions, the example of a friend, the word of our pastor or confessor, certain occurrences in the family, etc. These can of themselves be signs. This is the usual way God fosters a missionary vocation among His chosen.
28. Only for evangelization. Anyone who enters the Congregation for any reason other than becoming a Consolata Missionary is out of place and will have to render an account to God, the community and our benefactors. The Congregation is not a college or seminary where a variety of vocations evolve – its only purpose is to foster missionary – Consolata Missionary – vocations. If one enters our Congregation with the right intention but then discovers that he has not really got a missionary vocation he should seek the prudent advice of our superiors and then return home or to whatever state he thinks appropriate. Someone with a genuine call from God who fails to respond or take missionary formation seriously is failing in his duty.
Response to Our Vocation
29. If only you knew what a gift God has given you! You are indeed fortunate – you who have heard the call of God. Strengthened by prayer and wise counsel you have courageously abandoned your home and comfortable life; with disregard for human opinion or motivation you have entered our Congregation to prepare for a life in the missions.
Let me repeat the words of the Lord: “If you only knew the gift God has given you!” (John 4,10). If you knew the great gift God has given you by calling you to this missionary Congregation! If you appreciate this gift – your vocation – and respond appropriately, Jesus, from the tabernacle, will bestow an abundance of other graces upon you. All of you here present and those who came before you enjoy the same benefits and graces. But will you all persevere in your vocation? It is not enough to be called; it is not enough to respond to the call, nor to enter the Congregation or even go to the missions. Not everyone who is called will persevere; not all who are called will respond appropriately. To persevere – and let no one forget it – is an obligation freely assumed when we entered this state; we are bound by solemn promises. We have a duty to God to whom we made these solemn promises and a duty to ourselves. Only he who has persevered to the very end will hear the God say “Come, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25,21).
30. To respond appropriately. Your presence in the Congregation is evidence of the hope – and the certainty – that you have a vocation. Now that you have a more intimate knowledge of our Congregation and what the missionary vocation involves you must pray for greater insight; pray that you, your superiors and those charged with your training may determine whether you are called by God and are resolved to respond wholeheartedly to this call. This is the only way you can become authentic missionaries; this is the only way you will overcome the difficulties and dangers of life in the missions.
I urge you to strive for a deeper understanding of and respect for your vocation. Thank the Lord every day for this great gift and ask Him to grant you the strength and constancy to respond worthily to it. “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received” (Ephesians 4,1). The apostle here is talking about the grace of faith but the same is true with regard to the grace of a missionary vocation. This vocation may not be as necessary as faith but it is a sign of God’s favor. Do not accept this gift passively; respond actively and make it fruitful in this special time when you are preparing for a life in the missions; God will shower you with abundant graces. Be serious, I beg you! You must respond and respond appropriately to the very best of your ability. Do not be lackadaisical but decisive. Better no missionary at all than a half-hearted missionary.
If up to now we have not really done our best – we must begin now: “Nunc coepi!” (Psalm 76,11) I begin now! We must get back on the right path whatever it costs and renew our determination every day. We will never really do enough but we must do what we can. The Lord will take care of the rest, He will fill in the gaps. He knows our weaknesses – all He asks for is our good will. Are you determined to offer yourselves to the Lord, let yourselves be formed in accordance with His heart and one day be holy Consolata Missionaries?
After fifty years in the Congregation one may still be a child – i.e. one may have accomplished nothing. Look closely at your years in community: have they been written in gold, ink or water. Reflect on your response to God’s call: what would a holy missionary have accomplished in all these years? Each of you must ask himself, what will I be in twenty years time? Examine how much your vocation is a response to God’s call. To respond to God’s call is to strive for holiness: this is the primary goal of our Congregation and the primary goal of your vocation.
31. Right intention. Why are you here? You will answer: to become missionaries. Anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken. Our only purpose here is to train missionaries. The first step in responding to our vocation is having the right intention. If anyone has come here does not intend to become a Consolata Missionary – for God’s sake he should leave now! He cannot in conscience remain here. He will be a square peg in a round hole, a bone out of joint. In other words he will harm the others, upset the proper running of the community and make it difficult for us to achieve our common goal. He should either adjust his goals or leave the community.
32. Great esteem. Secondly you must esteem your vocation. How often you have heard this vocation praised! Before you entered the Congregation you too thought nothing was more beautiful, more important or holier than this vocation. And for this reason you decided to become missionaries regardless of the cost and to achieve this goal you have made considerable sacrifices. From that time the missionary vocation appeared the most beautiful of callings. How often while reading the Gospel did you not think: if only I had been one of the Apostles! Well, you are. The Lord has given each of you the same command he gave the Twelve: “Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creatures” (Mark 16,15). We might say that the Lord has assigned the whole world, all nations and all peoples to missionaries. What greater commission could there possibly be?
Think of all the vocations that bind an individual to the Lord and you will find none more perfect than your own. The Lord has poured out His infinite love in giving you this vocation. He could not possibly have given you a more perfect vocation: He has asked you to continue His own mission: ”As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (John 20,21). The very same mission Jesus received from His Father He passes on to you. And along with this mission He passes on the same divine power: “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and teach all nations” (Matthew 28, 18-19).
33. With real love. You must not just respect your state in life – you must love it. In spite of the weaknesses you encounter or that the Lord permits for our growth in virtue we must show this love in what we do. We must love this vocation with our whole heart so that the world’s attractions seem as nothing compared to the beauty and grandeur of our calling. Should someone say to us: “You are talented, you could have made something of yourself in the world, had a career, etc.” We can only repeat the words of St. Paul, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3,8).
From this love of your vocation there springs spontaneously an equally strong love of our Congregation. You must respect the Congregation and love it. You must feel proud to be a member, proud not just to be missionaries but Consolata Missionaries. The Congregation has taken you to its bosom: it nourishes and prepares your for the missions. Here you will become saints because here and not elsewhere you will find all the grace you need to be saints. Anyone who does not share these sentiments either is not cut out to be a member of this Congregation or has not responded to the grace of his vocation.
The more we think about It the more we will respect the gift of our vocation, and the more we will do to correspond to it. Oh what a paradise it is when a missionary is not caught up in petty things but is alive and awake! You see since I was never able to be a missionary I do all I can so that those who desire this vocation are not held back. Every missionary will shine in heaven like a fixed star surrounded by all the souls he saved during his life as an apostle. If everyone knew or understood what it means to be a missionary everyone would want to be one.
34. Firm will. Everyone, but you especially, must show good will. This is the quality that defines your personality and the virtue appropriate to your state in life. The missionary life is continuously beset with sacrifices and trials. We need the strength to withstand adversity and persevere in good. If we hope to have this strength when we are in the missions we must begin to cultivate it now. We must begin now with little sacrifices, fidelity to the rule, punctuality and reliability. We must do this all year long and throughout our years of formation. Only then will we become true missionaries.
I am often tempted to say to all of you: “If you only understood the importance of your vocation! If you would only make an effort, if you only had a little more energy the Lord would meet you halfway and would work miracles through you!” Instead you are so passive, so halfhearted, so ungenerous, so unreliable.
The grace of a vocation is not something you can take up or lay aside as it pleases you. Should your vocation be subject to your whims? Be strong and steadfast in your calling. Canon Giacomo Camisassa[4], our beloved Vice-Rector, lived his whole life with fierce determination. A priest once said of him: “I always admired his constancy. He was never concerned with what others thought or said, he marched straight ahead!” Do you think he never encountered any difficulties? There were countless problems of all sorts. If we had given up or been discouraged by the obstacles we encountered the Sanctuary would still be in the state of disrepair in which we found it and the Congregation would not yet exist. No, once we discerned the will of God we forged ahead trusting blindly in God’s assistance. I can only hope that each of you would share my feelings for the ViceRector. Never forget this man; pray that you may possess only some of his energy.
There are and will always be trials; determination is therefore an absolutely necessary part of your vocation. Before your arrival here what did you think about this state of life? What did you imagine it would be like? A life of serenity and comfort or a life of conflict and sacrifice? Do you think that people in the world have no problems? The very briefest experience to know otherwise; we need only ask people or remember what it was like in our own families. What those in the world endure out of necessity you do for love. I want you to be generous, reliable and persevering in your vocation.
Obstacles to cooperation
35. Attachment to one’s own will. Our heart is so conditioned that it must have attachments. If it is attached to the world it will be worldly. If it is attached to God it will be godly. You have made so many sacrifices to quit the world and now you must detach your heart from it. If you are less than generous in this process of detachment you will belong neither to God nor to the world. St. Alphonsus de Liguori places attachment to one’s own as the primary obstacle to total cooperation with one’s vocation. Believe me, we are all willful. “What I want” and “what I do not want” are dominant motifs in the world and are also found in religious and missionary communities. This “weed” is not always immediately apparent – but given time it will sprout. Father Giovanni Semeria [5] wrote: “If a religious works hard and long – but following his own will – it counts for nothing. If he studies to become erudite and learned it is similarly worthless. If one does penance for his sins and manages to correct his vices – this counts for something. If he is diligent and fervent at prayer, humble and modest in speech – this is no small thing. But if for the love of God he renounces his own will – this is much, this is enormous, this is everything.” This, he adds, is a non-physical martyrdom that is much more painful than real martyrdom; this struggle will win us a special award in heaven: a victor’s crown from God; this is the narrow path Jesus spoke about.
Woe to those who go to the missions brimming with self-will. They will do no good wherever they go and wherever they go will not suit them. They would have to create their own assignment and even then would be unsatisfied. They are never happy, they find fault with everything. They are a cross for their communities, a torment for their superiors, a scandal for their confrères and a negative and wasted life for themselves and for the Congregation. Believe me, I know this from experience. I have experienced these types in both the male and female version in our communities – I know what I’m talking about. Woe to those who remained attached to their own will.
To control our self-will we must look to the example and teaching of the Lord Jesus. He made His Father’s will the norm of His entire life. He said as much through the words of the Prophet: “On the scroll of the book it is written about me that I do Your will” (Psalm 40,8). His Father’s will close to His heart: “My God, this I desire, that Your Law be in the depths of my heart” (Psalm 40,9). He found continuous nourishment in His Father’s will: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me” (John 4,34). Carrying out the Father’s will perfectly is what His mission was all about: “I came down from heaven not to do my will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6,38). His every action conformed to this will: “I seek not my will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5,30). Should not all this lead us to renounce once and for all our own will?
36. Attachment to possessions and comfort. The second obstacle to cooperating with out vocation is an attachment to possessions and comfort. Missionaries must renounce even this. In our communities few are detached from their little comforts, indifferent to their food, shelter or clothing. If they could only practice detachment and carry that attitude into the missions how much more good they would accomplish!
Father Giovanni Semeria wrote: “Love of comfort is the companion of lukewarmness. The lukewarm have need of a thousand little things that the fervent would regard with contempt. Facile excuses like “times are changing,” “customs change,” “physically weaker …” etc are simply that: excuses that allow what should never be permitted.”
This is something we must guard against especially in the missions. We have left our country, relatives, worldly comforts – we have generously sacrificed all this to God. Now we must be careful lest other attachments take their place: self-importance, self-will, love of comfort. Divine Providence will care for you – you will never lack what you need but you must never look for the superfluous. You must become accustomed to local food and not expect your native cuisine.
Certainly when the Lord sent out his disciples to preach He did not provide for them as we do with our missionaries. And yet when He later asked them if they were lacking anything they replied, “Nothing!” This is how it will be for you as well. If perchance you cannot immediately get hold of something you think necessary remember your vow of poverty. The spirit of this vow requires that you feel the effects of poverty and accept them with patience even with joy.
37. Attachment to relatives. The world accuses religious and missionaries of two contradictory shortcomings: they have no affection for their relatives or they are too attached to them. The first accusation is false. It is not true that religious and missionaries are hardhearted. They are affectionate, very affectionate indeed; they bring spiritual blessings to their relatives. Parents share in the good their children accomplish: good works, prayer, mortification, etc. Parents and relatives share in all the good religious accomplish in the missions. The holy life religious lead is the cause of countless benefits – even earthly benefits – for their relatives.
We love our parents now more than before and we love them better. We bring them the greatest possible benefit and hence love them more than others. The benefits we earn for them are far more important – spiritual benefits. My mother used to say to me: “All the others may forget me – but you, no; you say Mass and every day you pray for me.” Don’t you see affection for our parents does not diminish? When they are about to die and when they are in heaven they will see how helpful it was to have given a son or daughter to the missions, to the service of God.
The second accusation alas has some grounds in reality. St. Joseph Cafasso said: “Lord help me be detached in those areas where I feel the greatest affection.” This is something all the saints have done. We must be determined to be attached to the Lord and to Him alone. He wants to be the first and the last, the only one in our heart. And he has a right to expect this. If our parents have given us life the Lord is the one who gave it to them. Whoever loves his mother or father more than Him is not worthy of Him. The Lord is jealous for our hearts.
Remember God’s command to Abraham: “Leave your country, your people and your father's household” (Genesis 12,1). Each of you has received a similar invitation: Leave your country, your people and your father's household, bid farewell to everything, everything and come follow me. And you accepted this invitation. And what a reward for Abraham! “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12,2).
You will have the same reward. The Lord will make you into a great nation – all the people you have converted to the faith. Your name will be great in heaven you and your whole family will be blessed in time and in eternity.
38. Trials and temptations. No one should be surprised if this great gift, a vocation, is subjected to trials and temptations. Often everything goes well in the beginning but then we encounter dryness, boredom, desolation of the spirit … and suddenly we feel abandoned by God; we are saddened and lose our way. This should not happen! Everyone with an intense spiritual life will encounter spiritual desolation. This will happen regardless of your state in life – even if you live in the world. This is a trial that will purify and perfect the spirit. It is a movement of love on the part of the Lord. One month of dryness may bring us closer to perfection than years of fervor.
Let us pray that the Lord will strengthen us on the path we have chosen; that He will give us the grace to cooperate and persevere until the end. “Confirm, O God, what you have done for us” (Psalm 68,29).
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[1] Allamano used the phrase “zeal for souls” habitually. We have no desire to detract from the power of these words but we have occasionally substituted “passion for souls” a phrase Allamano knew and sometimes used. Another expression we use that says the same thing is “missionary fervor.” These substitutions represent an effort to make his teaching more contemporary.
[2] Using pre-Vatican II terminology Allamano spoke of “pagan countries;” we prefer the expression “human groups.” Nowadays the use of a geographical expression to define the world of the missions is thought to be more inclusive.
[3] Missiology texts and periodicals from the first half of the last century used the word “infidel” as a simple description of non-Christians without in anyway imputing blame for their status. Allamano used the word in a similar fashion. Allamano did not have a tragic view of humankind’s religious situation and so we have replaced this word (infidel) with other equivalent expressions more in use today: “non-Christians”, “members of other religions” and even occasionally “pagans.”
[4] Giacomo Camisassa (1854-1922) was born in Caramagna Piemontese the fifth child of Gabriele Camisassa and Agnese Perlo. After working as an apprentice carpenter he entered the Salesian Oratory in Turin and then the Seminary of Chieri to study philosophy. In 1873 he went to the Turin Theological where his vice-master and spiritual director was Joseph Allamano. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1878 and was later became a professor at the Theology and Canon Law Faculties of Turin. From 1880 he worked alongside Allamano as bursar and then as vice-rector of the Consolata Sanctuary and the Ecclesiastical Residence (Convitto). He worked with Allamano in establishing the Consolata Missionaries in 1901 and the Consolata Missionary Sisters in 1910. Along with Allamano he launched and edited the periodical La Consolata. The newsletter was a report on events at the sanctuary and the restorations taking place; later it described the life and development of the Congregation and its missions. From February 1911 to April 1912 Camisassa visited the Kenya missions on behalf of Allamano. For 42 years he was Allamano’s close friend and collaborator. They shared the same ideals. They devised and worked out each of their projects together. Each recognized and respected the other’s special talents. It is only fitting to see Canon Giacomo Camisassa as the co-founder of the Consolata Missionaries and the Consolata Missionary Sisters.
[5] Father Giovanni Semeria (1867-1931) was a prolific Baranabite writer and preacher from Liguria. Allamano invited him to hold a series of conferences – Nove sabati alla Consolata [Nine Saturdays at the Consolata Sanctuary]. He was accused of modernism and went abroad. When the First World War broke out he returned to Italy and became a military chaplain (1915-1918). In 1918 he established L’Opera nazionale del mezzogiorno d’Italia [National Project for Southern Italy] for war orphans. Allamano makes several references to his book La Vita Religiosa. Trattato ascetico, Savona 1896, 320 pp.