Consolata missionaries in the delegation of South Africa-Eswatini are in the final stages of preparatory activities as the delegation gears up for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Allamano on 20th October 2024 in Rome.
By John Bosco Othieno *
The Delegate Superior Fr. Nathaniel Kagwima IMC, will represent the delegation at the grand event in Rome. Meanwhile, within the delegation, several activities have been taking place concerning the animation of Christians within and beyond Consolata-run parish communities.
The steering committee for the events developed several programs with various activities including preaching seminars and retreats based on the life and teachings of Blessed Allamano in various parish communities, social media animation on WhatsApp and Facebook platforms where Christians are animated daily through prayers with orientation to Blessed Allamano’s consolatory spirituality, and short write-ups chronicling the life of Blessed Joseph Allamano.
Currently, a novena towards the canonization of Blessed Allamano is ongoing. The success of the activities has come through the collaborative effort of several Consolata priests, seminarians and Christians as well. Other forms of animation are conducted through printed materials such as banners, brochures and t-shirts with portraits and short sayings from Blessed Allamano.
Several parish communities shall hold thanksgiving celebrations to honour the Blessed Founder but ultimately, the delegation will have a joint thanksgiving mass in honour of the new saint on 20th November 2024 at Merrivale Seminary.
It is noteworthy, that Consolata missionaries have significantly impacted the lives of the Christians in the delegation, especially in the diocese of Dundee, where even though the Consolata missionaries are not present anymore, the Christians are still so much connected to the spirit and family of Consolata to such an extent that they have organised a thanksgiving mass to celebrate Blessed Joseph Allamano in one of the parishes formerly ran by Consolata missionaries.
According to the delegation’s steering committee chairperson Fr. Charles Orero IMC, the period of preparations for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Allamano is “first and foremost a spiritual moment, when we should be doing what the Founder loved doing the most, which is praying.”
Therefore, like a two-pronged fork, the spiritual preparation aims first at giving thanks to God for granting the Blessed Founder the grace to be among the saints. The other is that the period reminds each missionary of his journey towards holiness and yearning for union with Christ.
Blessed Joseph Allamano himself exhorts that it’s not enough to honour saints by praying through their intercession, rather their exemplary lives must be imitated. The imitation that Blessed Allamano urges each missionary to, is one that configures the missionary to Christ, the true consolation of humanity and creation as a whole. A configuration whence emerges the missionary’s identity and orientation to affiliated operations as a herald of the consolatory message of Christ. This is precisely what Blessed Allamano summarised in his famous maxim “First saints, then missionaries.”
Moreover, quite recently we heard from the gospel of Luke (Lk 10:17-24), that Christ emphasises this ontological priority of the missionary’s holiness and identity, obviously without downplaying the achievements of mission, when he tells his disciples “Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The Blessed Founder always assured the missionaries of his prayers, with him now being numbered among the intercessors before the heavenly throne, may he continue to pray for the missionaries to be extraordinary in their ordinary endeavours towards union with Christ and in extending God’s consolation to humanity.
* John Bosco Othieno, IMC, Merrivale Theological Seminary – South Africa.
