Celebrating 170 years of MSC spirit – part 2 of Abzalon’s letter

 Mozambique

With great hope, we can say that we have 1560 reasons to celebrate these 170 years – the approximate number of MSC confreres worldwide.

For us MSC, there should be no room for discouragement, even though we live in a world beset by so many challenges, the war in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine, the eastern Congo, Sudan, among others. The problems of Safeguarding in the Church and in our Congregation. The ecological devastation of Mother Earth.

As I write this letter, I have received challenging news from two MSC places. Our two confreres in Mozambique have informed me that the situation of protests and police repression has reached the city of Pemba, where they live and work. They had to go immediately to pick up the formandi from the school where they study in order to get them to safety in Jules Chevalier House. Our confreres in South Korea informed us that a grave situation emerged in the political leadership of this beautiful and developed country; martial law was imposed and revoked. This has led to protests calls for impeachment, generating a situation of terrible chaos where the People of God are affected.

Korea

In Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Northern Cameroun, our confreres also face complex situations. These are just a few of the many examples we could give of challenging situations in which we are celebrating today, 170 years of missionary and prophetic self-giving and dedication amid challenging, complex, and, unfortunately, "eternal" conflicts.

This year I had the grace and opportunity to spend nine weeks in our largest Province, Indonesia. Listening personally and communally to the vast majority of members made me witness the MSC charism alive, resilient, vibrant, vulnerable, and committed in approximately 75 parishes and other ministries. In the vast areas of West Papua, I witnessed the presence of young confreres dedicating their lives to the People of God in parishes in the jungle and facing the overwhelming presence of companies that extract and exploit natural resources.

I have personally witnessed a new organisational awakening in Papua New Guinea, our first mission, with its provincial structures and mission work. We also received news of the progress in the process towards the canonisation of Peter To Rot.

US/ Colombia

The members of the General Team have also been able to hear the reality of our confreres in many parts of the world. For example, the United States Province is a multicultural, vibrant province, which has to address the missionary imperative of rethinking and reconfiguring itself in order to face a new and less certain future.

How inspiring is our presence in Japan. While the church has small numbers of parishioners, and in a country not known for demonstrative expressions of love, the people know they are loved because of the faithful dedication of our confreres. One older man told an MSC that he knew the MSC love them because even though only a few people came to Sunday Mass, the MSC continued to turn up and be there for them.