Fr General Arturo Sosa with lay collaborators in Kuching | Photo by Robert Ballecer SJ
… I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him…” Deuteronomy 30:19 – 20
Fr General Arturo Sosa SJ, in his recent address to our laypersons in Kuching, Malaysia, emphasised that they do not collaborate in our Jesuit mission but in the one mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is only one mission—the Lord’s mission of reconciliation, of which all of us in the Church are invited to share. In other words, we are all collaborators in that mission. He reminded us of the threefold dimension of this ministry of reconciliation as stated in General Congregation (GC) 35, Decree 3: reconciliation with God, with one another, and with creation.
GC 36 follows up on this threefold dimension with a sense of urgency in a world deeply wounded by war, violence, hatred, sin, and greed. This work of reconciliation “is always a work of justice, a justice discerned and enacted in local communities and contexts. The Cross of Christ and our sharing in it are also at the centre of God’s work of reconciliation. This mission can lead to conflict and death, as we have witnessed in the lives of many of our brothers. While we speak of three forms of reconciliation, all three are, in reality, one work of God, interconnected and inseparable.”
In that same address, Father General went on to say that for this mission of reconciliation to be a reality in our lives, it must be carried out through a spirit of discernment in common and practical action of collaboration in all our ministries. In this way, we are led by the Holy Spirit to move forward in faith and hope, not relying on our human efforts but God’s grace. And this perfectly aligns with the invitation of Pope Leo for the Church to become more synodal in spirit and practice.
As we celebrate the feast of St Ignatius, we recall his single-mindedness of following the Crucified and Risen Jesus and totally entrusting himself and the whole Society of Jesus to God. We recall his exhortation in the Formula of the Institute, “first of all to keep before his eyes God”. Thus, amidst a scarred world, we carry out the mission of reconciliation as collaborators, ever mindful of God’s presence, who in turn is always ceaselessly aware of us. Indeed, the Lord Jesus accompanies and strengthens us in our journey as he did to the disciples on the road to Emmaus!
May we all have a truly blessed and joy-filled celebration on the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola!
+AMDG+
