Prot: N. 0350/2009

Rome, December 15, 2009

Christmas Message – 2009

A shoot shall come out of the stump of Jesse,
And a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
(Is. 1l: 1-2).

We are in Advent, a time of waiting for promises to be fulfilled, of waiting for the shoot to appear and be seen by us as a sign of hope, a reason for living: Christ our Savior. This shoot is here now and sprouts and grows whether we are asleep or awake (cf. Mark 4:27). It is time for us to look about and recognize its presence, time to rejoice in its growth.

And within our congregation's history, in its members who live by Fr. Dehon's faith experience, the Lord makes his Kingdom sprout and grow and beckons us to recognize his activity.

This year the most telling event in our life and institute was the XXII General Chapter. It was a time for gathering, re-examining, checking, rallying round, and fixing our directions as we face new prospects.

The chapter theme and its final message showed us the way we are to follow, the attentiveness we need, and where to find the necessary energy.

This assembly, the expression of the highest authority, gave the congregation a new general administration to direct it over the next six years in fidelity to Fr. Dehon'scharism. This charism needs to be lived in a real world which is undergoing rapid change and awaits unprecedented possibilities yet filled with contradictions and divisions, by an institute that is conscious of rapid change in the cultural makeup of its own membership.

This past year many provinces and regions have undergone a change of leadership. We remain convinced that in fidelity these new local administrations can bring fresh vigor to bear on the life of

various entities and enrich various apostolic projects with fresh appreciation, introducing new relationships among people, and putting new energies at the service of their growth and direction.

For several years now the institute has maintained a constant membership worldwide, but each year new members join us, thus creating a generational and cultural turnover. These new members are, for the most part, younger and more frequently live in countries that have been only recently evangelized or in countries where the Church constitutes a minority. These countries differ widely in culture and tradition from those in which the work of Fr. Dehon began and developed. Their association with us is an invitation to give thanks to the Lord and, at the same time, become our responsibility to forward the promise they represent. They serve to challenge the congregation to renew its charismatic legacy and to live it and express it in language that fits these new cultures.

In our service to the Church on a different note, we are reminded that four members were called this year to take charge of four local churches: Fr. Elio Gresselin as bishop of the Diocese of Lichingo in Mozambique , Fr. TeemoSippo as bishop of the Diocese of Helsinki in Finland, Fr. Adam Musialek as Bishop of De Aar in South Africa, and Fr. RenatoComastri as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Gurue in Mozambique. We acknowledge God's attentiveness to us but we fully recognize the value of a love for the Church that was a characteristic of Fr. Dehon his whole life long. Along with these new SCJ bishops , and through them, we are contributing to the growth of the People of God which rejoices in the coming of its Shepherd whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Is. 9L5).

A decision to begin a new SCJ presence in Paraguay is an expression of vitality and a desire to share the spiritual legacy handed down to us with other local churches. This will take place over the next few months through the efforts of participating SCJs coming from South Brazil, Argentina , and Uruguay , after a lengthy process of meetings and mature reflection and with the support of the general chapter. This new effort is not simply an enlargement of our presence but factored into the decision was the recognition of the urgency of proclaiming the gospel and the generosity of the respondents.

Our lived experience of God's love in so many events in the congregation and in each individual impels us courageously to prepare the hearts and pathways to which the Kingdom of God is coming. As the general administration, we have just published our Six Year Plan after pulling together and expressing expressing what the chapter was attentive to. The motto that expresses the direction in which we think the Spirit is calling us to is:

Communion in Christ at the service of a new world. Together with Christ who unites us in fraternal communities even with the multiplicity of our origins and cultures, we wish to be heralds of his love for the poor and wretched, to be servants of reconciliation, to be healers of the divisions in the world.

We certainly want to reaffirm the priority that initial and ongoing formation must have in order to care for the treasure that each vocation represents. The Lord has made the one allied to the other. Caring for our own formation and that of our brothers is a response to the love that God has showered on us. We shall hold a training course in Rome for formation directors that will last a year. We ask you to lift up this effort in your prayer, and in your daily oblation so that it brings about abundant fruit for the future of our congregation.

This road that we are eagerly walking as a result of our last general chapter will have an opportunity for re-evaluation at the meeting of the major superiors which will take place in October, 20010.

The prophet's promise became flesh in the Son of Mary; may he continue to inspire our life and plant hope and confidence in the possibility of a new world and in humanity's vocation to share in the divine life of Him who willed to take on our human nature. With a certainty founded on the experience of God's love for us, once again manifested this past year, we wish you the joy and peace of the Lord who comes; may you feel moved to respond to his benevolence in the simple daily faithfulness to your vocation.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year

Fr. José Ornelas Carvalho, scj
SuperiorGeneral
withhisCouncil