The Colombian Consolata missionary, Father José Martín Serna Jurado, who this year celebrates his 25th anniversary of ordination, has been the novice master of the Novitiate of the American Continent since 2022 and the vicar of the parish Family of Nazareth of the Missionary Area in Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon.
By Jaime C. Patias *
“The Novitiate’s protector is Saint Oscar Romero, martyr of justice and peace,” explains the master in an interview given to the Communications Office in Rome in this video from the series Formators and Formation.
With him are Brother Tarcisio Lot, Father Gabriel Oloo, responsible for the Family of Nazareth Missionary Area, where they carry out their pastoral activity, and a novice who is preparing for his first vows in December. Recently, Father Júlio César Caldeira also joined the community.
Father Martín Serna participated in the ongoing formation course for formators held in Rome in September of this year, and this is what he said about the course: “The course was very important because it helps us in the renewal and updating of our spiritual and pastoral life. The topics presented were very interesting. I was particularly interested in the topic of care for the person of the missionary. As pastoral agents, we must always pay special attention to ourselves in order to be able to give attention to others”.
Saint Joseph Allamano
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for the grace he is giving to the entire Consolata Missionary Institute with the canonization of our Father and Founder, a very important moment for our Institute and of course also for the Church. We ask the Lord that together with this grace of the canonization of Saint Joseph Allamano, he may also give to our Novitiate’s community the graces that we need, and to all the Consolata missionaries the zeal to carry out their missionary work”, concluded the novice master.
José Martín Serna was born in Marulanda, Caldas, Colombia, in 1968. The son of Luiz Eduardo Serna (diseased) and Maria Nely Jura, parents of nine children. He was baptized two days after his birth in Marulanda. Later he became an altar boy and received the rest of the sacraments.
Inspired by the example of his cousin, the Consolata missionary, Father Ariel Serna Granada, killed in Mozambique in 1991, he entered the Consolata Propaedeutic at the age of 19, studied philosophy in Bogotá, did his novitiate in Bucaramanga (Colombia) and theology in Rome. He was ordained a priest on March 13, 1999 in Manizales (Colombia). Before becoming novice master in 2022, Martín Serna worked for 19 years in Ivory Coast (Africa).
A bit of history
The Continental Novitiate of the Consolata Missionary Institute (IMC) before being established in Manaus, was located in other places: first in Bucaramanga, Colombia (1981-1994), and then in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1995-2019). In line with the reflections of the Amazon Synod (October 2019) and within the restructuring process of the communities in the American continent, the Institute decided to transfer the Novitiate from Buenos Aires, to Manaus, in the north of Brazil. The new opening in Santa Etelvina, on the outskirts of Manaus, took place on January 6, 2021, feast of the Epiphany, with the presence of two novices and Father Paco López as novice master. The Consolata missionaries are also in charge of the pastoral care of the Family of Nazareth Missionary Area, that include 13 Christian communities on the outskirts of Manaus.
* Father Jaime C. Patias, IMC, Communication Secretariat, Rome.
