Comboni Brother and Priest
The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) have two distinct ministries ~ the Ministry of the Brother and of the Priest. I'm often asked what is the main difference. In fact, the two have much in common though there are some differences for the success of the missionary goal, which is unique to each one of them.
What is common:
* The Founder: St. Daniel Comboni provides the MCCJ the same style of discipleship and spirituality. He provides the MCCJ also with one global apostleship that is to the poorest and a methodology of empowering through various initiatives.
* The Mission: With it's goal of building-up the Kingdom, through the proclamation of the Word of God, through the foundation of local churches, through liberation of society from whatever is against the dignity of all human beings and by imbuing it with the Gospel values of the Kingdom of God. In short, a mission which has religious and social objectives.
* The MCCJ Community: Both in daily life and in the apostolate, religious consecration strengthens our bond of fraternity and commitment to collaborative ministry.
What is different:
* Specific of the two Ministries: The MCCJ priests have their ministry marked by Ordination, the brothers' ministry is marked by a particular orientation to social apostolate. Our Rule of Life gives a definition of the different roles:
11.1 The missionary priests are consecrated for the ministry of the Word and celebration of the Eucharist, towards which all the other sacraments are ordered... in virtue of their missionary charism, they are ready for the concrete services required by the growth of the ecclesial community and the promotion of more human conditions.
11.2 The Brothers fulfil their missionary consecration to God, by taking an active part in the upbuilding and growth of the human and Christian community, through the exercise of their professional work, their cooperation in the pastoral work according to the concrete needs of the individual communities, and their evangelical witness of life.
