My
Dear Young Students, Greetings of love and joy of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Pope Francis in his recent post-synodal
apostolic exhortation states “I am a mission
on this earth; that is the reason why I am
here in this world.” (Pope Francis, Christus
Vivit, 254). We are called upon by the
Church to respond generously by virtue of
our baptism to leave behind home, family,
country, language and local church and to be
sent forth to the nations, to a world which
seeks and is in pursuit of Kingdom values
and Gospel witness. We are called upon to
respect the freedom of each person and enter
into dialogue with the cultures, the
traditions and the religions of the people
among whom we are sent.
Fundamentally, every Franciscan vocation
is missionary. The Franciscan life-plan
according to the Gospel implies, at its
root, a natural apostolic dimension without
limits, just as the Gospel of Jesus is
without limits: “Go out to the whole world;
proclaim the Good News to all creation.” (Mk
16:15). For St. Francis, the proclamation of
the Gospel was a natural consequence of his
total adhesion to Jesus Christ.
St Francis of Assisi the guide of all the
Franciscans reminds the young catholic
faithful to take risks in life. In order to
achieve great heights of meaningfulness,
satisfaction, holiness and eternal happiness
one has to sacrifice the temporary worldly
joy. This is exactly meant by taking risk.
In the view point of St Francis we have
these five methods, namely;
Fraternity: living as real brothers
among ourselves and practising different
styles of fraternal life with the people
among whom we work;
Minority: living as true servants of
all, humble, poor, respectful, peaceful,
simple in life-style and in our
relationships with others;
Experience of the Spirit in our own
lives: showing that in all things we
are truly “men of God”, attentive and
open to any divine inspiration, whether
direct or received through life and the
experience of others;
Sensitivity to the problems of integral
human development: so that our
missionary presence may be a real
incentive towards development, justice,
dialogue and solidarity;
Evangelical radicalism: making us
ever more generous, ready to accept the
Cross and to show a sound pioneering
spirit as a courageous response to the
more urgent needs of mankind and the
Church.
Today, the
Capuchin Franciscan Order is awakening us
with new perspectives for ‘now’ and for
‘future’: “Never forget the
missions…Harvest is plentiful…Wake up!” is a clarion call of the Blessed
Trinity to our Holy Trinity Province,
Karnataka.
Missionary work is close to the heart of the
Province of Karnataka. We deeply appreciate
all our elder Capuchin brothers who have
rendered selfless service in the missions
far and wide.
Prophet Isaiah said, “Here I am, Send me” (Isa
6:8). He is a wonderful example for many of
you young students to venture in to the
Capuchin religious life and find true
meaning and purpose in life.
On behalf of Fr Jawahar, the vocation
director of the Karnataka Capuchin Province
I invite all the young men out there to
listen to the Lord’s call and dedicate your
precious life for the Lord’s mission.
