Being and Doing

In a world that is deeply scarred by the negative effects of globalization, where the success of the individual is often exalted to the detriment of everyone, the Comboni community becomes a sign of the kind of global village we want to construct. In it, internationality and cross-culturalism are lived as gifts and assets, not as problems or threats. Saint Comboni wanted his work to be catholic and not Spanish, Italian, German or French... The call to mission is indeed individual, but lived and expressed as community. Personal charisma and gifts enrich the mission and make missionary service more fruitful.

Contemplation of the Pierced Heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd was the source and focus of St. Comboni’s missionary spirituality and calls us to make holiness the foundation of our life and mission, recognizing the missionary consecration as a gift God has planted in us. We cultivate this gift by constantly taking up the process of conversion. And we can do this by learning how to be with and for the poor, making “common cause” with them as St. Comboni often said, and learning to read the Word and everyday reality together.

In an attitude of contemplation capable of discovering the love of Christ even in the most disturbing events ~ this requires the practice of the disciplines of spiritual life: listening to the Word, reflection, spiritual and apostolic discernment and an intense sacramental life.

In the concrete life of the missionary, being and doing are two dimensions that both challenge each other and fuse together constantly. In personal and community planning, we cultivate a contemplative vision of the apostolate and human development, and an apostolic vision of the whole spiritual journey, thus avoiding an uncontrolled activism and a disembodied spiritualism.