“Living the Here I Am as a Sign of Hope”
The Mother House of the Consolata Missionaries in Turin opened its doors to 18 young IMC missionaries from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Morocco for an intense community gathering that will conclude on September 13.
By Comunication Team *
These are days of fraternity, prayer, and formation, offering the opportunity to rediscover the beauty of vocation and to reread together the meaning of mission today. Guided by the theme “Living the Here I Am as a Sign of Hope” (cf. Mk 1:14-20), participants are experiencing moments of spirituality, listening, and sharing, strengthening their bond with their roots and renewing their enthusiasm for the future.
At the Tomb of the Holy Founder
On the morning of September 9, the group of missionaries celebrated Holy Mass at the tomb of Saint Joseph Allamano, founder of the Consolata Missionaries and Missionary Sisters. The celebration was presided over by the Regional Superior, Father George Kibeu, who in his homily invited those present to “return to the foundations,” as Jesus did when He returned to His homeland, and as the disciples sent on mission did when, upon their return, they shared with the Master both their joys and their struggles.
Father Kibeu reminded them that “the true joy of the missionary is not measured by the results achieved, but by knowing that one is loved by God. For this reason,” he added, “it is important to pause, to share, to listen again to the Lord’s voice, and to rekindle the light of one’s vocation, allowing oneself to be guided by the Spirit, the Founder, and the Virgin Consolata.”
Starting Again from Christ: Returning to One’s Galilee
After the celebration, the missionaries experienced an intense moment of listening and reflection led by Paolo Curtaz, writer, theologian, and digital evangelizer. In his talk, Curtaz invited the young missionaries to rediscover the centrality of Lectio Divina as a method that enables one to grasp the meaning of the biblical text and to apply it to one’s own life.
The meditation focused on the Gospel according to Mark (1:14-20), which describes the beginning of Jesus’ mission in Galilee after the arrest of John the Baptist. Curtaz explained that Mark structures his narrative in two parts: the first ten chapters set in Galilee, covering nearly three years of public life, and the last five chapters dedicated entirely to Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Curtaz emphasized that “the Christian message is summed up in one certainty: ‘You are loved.’ God draws near, loves freely, and calls human beings to conversion—that is, to a change of mindset and direction. The calling of the first disciples is a concrete example: Jesus did not need collaborators, but He chose to involve them to highlight that the proclamation of the Kingdom is always a communal mission.”
Sharing and Fraternity
At the end of the presentation, the young missionaries shared their vocational experiences in a climate of great openness and fraternity. In the afternoon, the dialogue was enriched by an encounter with the Regional Superior and his Council, a precious moment to reflect together on the common journey and the challenges of mission in Europe.
The gathering thus proved to be not only a time of formation and reflection, but above all an opportunity to renew the joy of the call, to live fraternity, and to rediscover the “Here I Am” as a concrete sign of hope for today’s world.
* Fr. Adolphe Mulengezi, Father Alex Watene, and Father Titus Maina.
