Messaggio di sr. Alaide Deretti - 14 novembre 2016 (inglese)

1. Astrongmissionaryimpulse
Rome, November 14, 2016.
Dear Sisters,
Although I am still in Paraguay, I would like to express my heartfelt greetings and thank you for having
accompanied me with your prayers.
Continuing our monthly reflections for the Year of Mercy, soon coming to an end, I would like to
remind you of the words we have reflected upon up to this point – MISERICORDIA (MERCY):
MISSIONARIETÀ (January - Missionary), INCONTRO (February-Encounter), SPERANZA (March
- Hope), EUCARISTIA (April - Eucharist), RAPPORTO con Dio e con gli altri (May - Relationship
with God and others), INTERCULTURALITÀ (June - Interculturality), CONVERSIONE
MISSIONARIA (July - Missionary Conversion), OBBEDIENZA (August - Obedience),
RESILIENZA (September - Resilience), DA MIHI ANIMAS (October). Today, I present you with the
second to last word and I also do a INVITATION.
The word that I propose for reflection and personal prayer is the
mpulso missionario (a strong missionary impulse).
It all began when Jesus, having conquered death and the darkness of the tomb, met his disciples during
different circumstances. He confirmed their faith and commanded them to “Go into the whole world and
proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mk 16:15). From then on, the Gospel became “Pilgrim” - served
by women and men of all time, from the work of their hands, but above all, from their hearts, the Gospel
reached the hearts of many brothers and sisters in faraway lands - those who were lost, those in the
cities, in the country, in the suburbs - everywhere. Once the Gospel began to be known in the world, it
was never stopped.
Dear sisters, let us now revisit our Constitutions and let ourselves be provoked by Article 1:
“Through a gift of the Holy Spirit and the direct intervention of Mary,
St John Bosco founded our Institute as a response of salvation
to the profound hopes of young girls.
He endowed it with a spiritual heritage that had
its inspiration in the charity of Christ the Good Shepherd,
and imparted to it a strong missionary impulse.”
This article is the "front door" of our Constitutions; it is first above all the others exactly because it
presents our charismatic identity with an explicit missionary dimension. Mother Yvonne loves to
highlight the fact that Don Bosco founded our Institute not only with a missionary impulse, but with a
strong missionary impulse. It is precisely on this topic that concerns the invitation that I address you
today.
On November 14, 2017, the Institute will celebrate the 140th anniversary of the first missionary
expedition. Today, I wish to invite all our communities to officially inaugurate this important event that
helped bring the charism of Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello from Europe to the far ends of America.
With the departure of the first six FMA, the spirit of Mornese traveled across the ocean to an unknown
"new world" and, there, gifted a multitude of children, teenagers, women, families with joy and hope.
There, our first sisters lived as missionaries of joy and hope, and their hands became industrious because
in their hearts they carried the inheritance left by our founders: a strong missionary impulse!

2. Astrongmissionaryimpulse
In this special year, as we prepare to remember and live the First Missionary Expedition, I invite you to
revisit the history of our Institute to reawaken in our educating communities the "taste" of deepening the
knowledge of our origins and the missionary fervor that sustained and supported our FMA missionaries.
I invite you to form a “GREAT MISSIONARY EXPEDITION” involving all our educating
communities, particularly the various missionary groups such as the Holy Childhood Association
(HCA), Volunteer Groups and the FMA missionaries - wherever they exist. My wish is that no FMA
be left out of this Missionary Expedition! Each of us, by virtue of our baptism and religious
consecration are “missionary disciples”. And, while we have this great joy, we must realize it is also a
responsibility to proclaim Jesus to new generations, first and foremost with our lives, and then with
words... if necessary!
Dear sisters, a little at a time, and more specifically on the 14th of each month, we will share the
proposed journey with you for the celebration of this 140th anniversary.
There is not much to do to celebrate this significant moment, other than to intensely live out our
vocation as Daughters of Mary Help of Christians: with simplicity, with a strong missionary passion,
bringing to everyone, the joy and hope that flows from a heart that has truly encountered the Lord;
and, in Him, the desire to meet the young, in a special way, in the poorest, the “invisible”, those who
live on the periphery of existence in our cities; the young, who have no one to lend them a hand, no one
who is looking out for their good, no one who is interested in them; those rejected by our social systems,
and as a consequence, refuse any educational proposals for their own growth and that would give
meaning to their lives.
Dearest sisters, let us prepare ourselves to leave... while remaining in our present mission. Let us
open wide our minds and hearts towards mission horizons and give our 'yes' to the Lord's call who
renews the dawn of each new day. We don't need to bring large suitcases... an open heart and a broad
vision are enough to allow us to be missionaries of hope and of joy with the young. It is enough to
rekindle the flame and dynamism of the Da Mihi Animas Coetera Tolle within our hearts...to take the
message given to us – “I entrust them to you” to bring forth a joyous and credible response: to “be
missionaries” 24 hours a day, in whatever the situation may be, in whatever place we find ourselves, and
with whatever work is asked of us, with the desire to embrace it as one's true mission! All we need is a
strong missionary impulse!
We are waiting for all of you, together, for the “GREAT MISSIONARY EXPEDITION” of
November 14, 2017, carrying in our hands and hearts the fruit of a missionary journey lived with
GRATITUDE, FIDELITY and PROPHECY.
In communion of prayer and mission, I greet each of you with a sisterly embrace,
Councillor for the Mission