During the celebration of the 3rd International Meeting of the Lay of Mother Candida, held in the Philippines, the Superior General Maria Inez Furtado had the opportunity to deliver a presentation before the participants.
Maria Inez’s presentation was entitled “Shared mission. A way of being Church”. In her presentation, the Superior General dealt with the relations between the laity and consecrated women.
Among the messages that she transmitted, one of the main ones was that the Mission is one, it is the same Mission of God for humanity: “we need one another and it is the Spirit of God who takes the lead in the process.” And she continues: “All mission is shared.”
It is, therefore, about “entering into the conception of Church, People of God, of Church-Communion” and ensuring that “communion happens and that communion is expressed in common-union to serve the Mission of Christ.”
Sr. Maria Inez also asked herself if the objective is to share a mission or to live in shared mission, to which she answered that it is not the same, because sharing a mission is born from a vocational experience to focus a work or mission. However, the Shared Mission goes further: “When the Shared Mission begins to take shape, a communion of faith comes to exist between laity and religious leading us to promote together an evangelical project.”
Both lay and religious are, in the words of the General, “called and sent to conceive new relational styles where leadership is shared, conflicts are assumed, roles are made more flexible and values are treasured.”
The last point underlined by María Inez for working in this Shared Mission was that of formation. The general urges and encourages the participants of the family of M. Candida to keep themselves in continuous formation: “a continuous preparation to live, stay and grow in Shared Mission”. A common formation in which the Word of God is placed at the center, interest in theology, knowledge of the Social Doctrine of the Church and the founding charism, etc.
The General finished with a breath of impulse: «Courage, because the way is beautiful and we are not alone!»
You can read the complete presentation in the following link
