{"id":4560,"date":"2025-09-30T16:58:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T16:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/?p=4560"},"modified":"2025-10-04T07:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T07:40:07","slug":"course-g25-to-be-faithful-witnesses-of-the-gospel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/course-g25-to-be-faithful-witnesses-of-the-gospel\/","title":{"rendered":"Course G25: To be Faithful Witnesses of the Gospel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Procession during the closing Mass of the G25 course at the of the General House in Rome, September 27, 2025. Photos: Jaime C. Patias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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From September 1 to 27 in Rome, the General Office for Formation held the second ongoing formation course for a group of Consolata Missionaries celebrating their Jubilee, who in this six-year period are marking 25 years of priestly ordination and\/or religious profession.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

By Deogratias Makei Mlay *<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guided by several experts, the participants reflected on important themes of consecrated life and mission, visited historical places in Rome, Florence, Assisi, as well as the roots of the Institute in Turin and Castelnuovo Don Bosco, the birthplace of Saint Joseph Allamano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The course closing Mass, on September 27, was presided over by the Superior General, Father James Lengarin. The celebration began in the underground parking lot of the General House, symbolizing the dark world. Each participant was invited to light up a candle from the Paschal Candle, symbolizing that the missionaries celebrating 25 years of priesthood or religious life have passed from the world of darkness to the world of light, which is Christ Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, holding their lit candles, the missionaries recited a special creed related to ongoing formation<\/a><\/strong>. It was a creed centered on personal faith: the Word of God, consecrated life, Saint Joseph Allamano, the mission ad gentes, the renewed commitment to return to Christ, self-care, community life, and the Blessed Virgin Consolata.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With their candles lit, the missionaries processed toward the chapel, following the Paschal Candle, the statues of the Virgin Consolata and Saint Joseph Allamano, and a banner with the course logo and the participants\u2019 photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Mass, the Superior General, inspired by the Gospel passage of the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1\u201311), exhorted the group to \u201clive a holy life and to guide God\u2019s people with an exemplary life. In today\u2019s world, people follow lived experience rather than empty doctrine. The world calls for commitment and dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jesus\u2019 command to the servants, \u201cfill the jars,\u201d is, he said, \u201can invitation to action, to trust, and to mission for each of you celebrating the 25th Jubilee. What is expected of each of us is to take seriously the Word of God as a guide for our missionary life as servants of Christ,\u201d commented the Superior General, urging the missionaries to be \u201cattentive listeners of the Word of God. Listening to the Word and acting upon it, as happened at the wedding in Cana, will bring great miracles into our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father Lengarin also reminded the jubilarians of the Founder\u2019s famous words: \u201cFirst holy, then missionaries.\u201d Saint Joseph Allamano emphasized that \u201cmission springs from contemplation. Missionaries must be the visible images of God\u2019s tenderness, and holiness begins with silence. Vocation is not a personal gift, and it must be shared with God\u2019s people. It is important that the jubilarians be witnesses of consolation. God has chosen us to fill the emptiness in people\u2019s lives,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He also recalled the words of Pope Francis: \u201cThe priest is not an administrator of the sacred but a shepherd who walks with his people.\u201d Finally, the Superior General thanked the missionaries and encouraged them to \u201cbe faithful missionaries witnesses of the Gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The General Councillor in charge of formation, Father Matthews Odhiambo Oduor, expressed his appreciation to the Superior General and the entire General Council of the Institute for their dedication in ensuring that the missionary jubilarians could take part in this renewal course. He also gave special thanks to Fathers Antonio Rovelli and Ernesto Viscardi for organizing and coordinating the various moments of the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Group G25 with Fr. James Lengarin and Fr. Matthews Odhiambo <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A special word of gratitude was also addressed to the community of the General House for their hospitality, and to all the committees in charge of different services for their availability and commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last, but not least, Father Matthews Odhiambo thanked the group of missionary jubilarians for the dedication and maturity they demonstrated throughout the entire formation journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read all the articles about the G25 course <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangelization in the digital world and the offices of the Institute<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walking in the footsteps of St. Joseph Allamano<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disciplinary norms in Consecrated Life<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Missionary Trends: A Church that Goes Forth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-care and development of one\u2019s integrity towards old age<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coping with midlife crisis as a religious<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insights for discerning the future prospects of Consecrated Life<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting afresh from Christ: reviving the fire of the call<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Course G25: General Analysis of Consecrated Life and of the Institute<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Word of God as a Guide to Consecrated Life\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second ongoing formation course begins in Rome<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course, held in English, was attended by 15 missionaries (14 priests and 1 brother) from Africa, Latin America, and Europe. A first course, in Italian, was held in May 2025, and a third course is planned for September 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

* Father Deogratias Makei Mlay, IMC, missionary in Tanzania.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From September 1 to 27 in Rome, the General Office for Formation held the second ongoing formation course for a group of Consolata Missionaries celebrating their Jubilee, who in this six-year period are marking 25 years of priestly ordination and\/or religious profession.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,6,8,20,4,16,19,24],"tags":[324,121,265,92],"class_list":["post-4560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consolata-missionaries","category-featured","category-featured-news","category-mission","category-news","category-spirituality","category-training","category-vocational","tag-consacrated-life","tag-consolata-missionaries","tag-g25","tag-ongoing-formation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4560"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4572,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions\/4572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/consolataafrica.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}