These words of Pope Francis, which we find in the document Evangelii Gaudium at n. 273, situate us in our being missionaries, which does not consist in feeling only sent “Ad Gentes”, but is a universal identity.
The vocation “ad gentes” in my life was a choice, when at 21 years of age, my ideal, my calling, was to go beyond my land, to be able to leave my family, my job, my friends and go where there was greater need and also to make “Jesus known, since he is not loved because he is not known”, as St. Magdalene said.
For this reason, leaving my family and my environment, I totally dedicated myself to responding to the call of the beautiful vocation of being able to become a Canossian Religious Missionary in Argentina.
Today, with so many opportunities and possibilities for travel and communication, the vocation of the missionary “Ad gentes” is not as demanding as it once was.
It is the Missionary Heart, the interior willingness to feel “I AM THE MISSION” and to live it in everyday life that must characterize being a missionary today.
I wish everyone may express in their lives a total dedication, the Gift of I AM THE MISSION, integrating the soul and the body for the Lord and His Glory, according to the vocation and the call received.
M. Mirella Fiorentini
Religious province “Our Lady of Luján”
Argentina-Paraguay