Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Xaverian Mission
Volume 67 - No. 3| August 2019 Newsletter
www.xaverianmissionaries.org • http://xaverianmissionaries.org/missionblog/
Fr. Joe Matteucig SX at the Franklin Knoll Xavier Mission Festival. Photo
by Fr. Alex Rodriguez SX
Missionary Mandate
Message from the US Provincial Superior
Xaverian Dear Mission Friends,
Missionaries
Provincial Headquarters It has been hot lately... But not “as hell,” they say. So,
12 Helene Court we shouldn’t complain, even though too much heat
Wayne, NJ 07470-2813
Tel.: (973) 942-2975 affects us, especially our sisters and brothers who
Fax: (973) 942-5012 don’t have the luxury of air conditioning...
Email:
missionmedia@xaverianmissionaries.
org
While in the missions, I heard the story of a fellow,
supposedly poor and blind, who used to beg for alms at the
Xavier Knoll Mission Center
4500 West Xavier Drive church’s door in a parish. An older parishioner used to help him often
Franklin, WI 53132-9066 enough out of her generous heart. One Sunday she met him at a movie
Tel.: (414) 421-0831
Fax: (414) 421-9108 theater. She recognized him and asked him: “Aren’t you the needy person
Email:
franklin@xaverianmissionaries.org
begging at our parish?” “Yes, it’s me,” came the answer. She asked,
“Aren’t you blind?” He replied, “Yes, I am, but today is my day off.”
Global Youth Mission Services (the
GYMs) Thank God, Jesus never takes a day off, he always walks with us. We may
Fatima Shrine
101 Summer Street
not always walk with him on his path. However, it is essential that we
Holliston, MA 01746-2207 do that each day, especially in the summertime when some folks may be
Tel.: (508) 429-2144
Fax: (508) 429-4793
on vacation, as a family and as a community, so to make of our lives a
Email: journey towards holiness, together.
holliston@xaverianmissionaries.org
Xaverian Mission Newsletter This year in a particular way as we approach the Extraordinary Month of
Official publication of the the Missions upon Pope Francis’ exhortation:
Xaverian Missionaries
of the United States This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always;
Publisher: Fr. Mark Marangone SX you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.
Communications Board: People in love never stand still: they are drawn out of themselves; they are
Fr. Carl Chudy SX
Fr. Tony Lalli SX
attracted and attract others in turn; they give themselves to others and
Fr. Rocco Puopolo SX build relationships that are life-giving. As far as God’s love is concerned,
Fr. Alejandro Rodriguez SX
Fr. Aniello Salicone SX
no one is useless or insignificant. Each of us is a mission to the world, for
Editor
each of us is the fruit of God’s love.
Mary Aktay
God’s choicest blessings and much peace on you and your loved ones.
Printing
AlphaGraphics, Totowa, NJ With deep gratitude for your generous love,
Email & Web:
missionmedia@xaverianmissionaries.org
Website: www.xaverianmissionaries.org Fr. Mark and the Xaverian Missionaries
Donation: $5.00 per year
“Each of us is a mission to the world, for each of us is the fruit of God’s love.”
Contact: Fr. Mark Marangone, SX
12 Helene Court
ave Wayne, NJ 07470 In
yo cre
L e ac y d e
eg lu er Tel: 973-942-2975 I f y u r im a s e
a l ! Inc Xavi h
o ur pac
e s
lov nc
i
io n Gif as a “ emplo t!
of . Fra Miss your Or visit: t” M y
S t gn in con Prog atchi er
i
the Fore , Inc. ll & www.xaverianmissionaries.org for online donations t r i b ra m n g
t y i . be utio , you
cie ast W ent We extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who d ou n c
ble an
r
So L t am
s have included the Xaverian Missionaries in their wills. d.
Te
T
General Direction Editorial
his year the Catholic Church will celebrate two insists on patience, “so that the Word of God can pene-
particularly important events in October: the trate the hearts of people and begin to work,” recalling
Extraordinary Missionary Month and the Synod of what one of the previous Bishops of the diocese of Alto
Bishops for the Amazon. Keeping these two Solimões said, repeating that in the region “the mission-
events in mind, one of the questions that appears in the ary must have patience, more patience and a lot of
Synod Preparatory Document concerns the characteris- patience.”
tics that missionaries in the Amazon should have. He emphasizes another necessity in the life of the mis-
Fides News Agency asked for a comment on this subject sionary, the physical presence: “if we are not in the
to Bishop Adolfo Zon, who since 2014 has been Bishop of community, among the people, we can hardly listen to
Alto Solimões, in Brazil, in a territory of over thirty thou-and accompany the whole process.” He also insists on
sand square kilometers, on the border with Peru and the need to “help people become aware of being the
Colombia. Born in Spain, he arrived as a Xaverian mis- Church of Jesus, here in this place.” In this sense, the
sionary in Brazil in 1993, and has since worked in the missionary Bishop explains that “many times we think
Amazon region. that we, having built a chapel, already have an evange-
Bishop Zon states that among the characteristics neces- lizing presence,” but we are far from reality, because
sary for all the missionaries in the Amazon, there must “what we have to work on is the Church People of God.”
be “first of all the incarnation, putting our feet on this “In the Amazon, given the distances and dispersion, every
earth, taking off our sandals, as on Mount Horeb, community must have this faith to be the Church of God
because God is already here, to listen, to know the idio- in that place, it must promote ministries to maintain the
syncrasies.” The prelate defines the missionaries “chan- presence of the Church in those small places, favoring
nels of God’s grace, which can help or hinder the incul- the growth of a wholly ministerial Church, to recognize
turation of the Gospel, so it is important to be there and the talents of each person and put them at the service
be with this people.” of the community,” concludes Bishop Adolfo Zon, who
Secondly, the Bishop of Alto Solimões stresses patience refers to the Santarém Document, published in 1972, as
as a requisite: “we cannot sow and already want the something “very alive and illuminating here in the
fruits, because evangelization is a process.” Bishop Zon Amazon.”
You can help the Fr. Sergio educate girls in Bangladesh. Either clip this paper and send it to the address
below or help the environment by donating online at: http://www.xaverianmissionaries.org/support/
Name: Donation Amount:
Address: City: State: Zip
Email: Phone: Xaverian House Supported:
Mail to: Fr. Mark Marangone SX, 12 Helene Ct., Wayne, NJ 07470 □Xaverian Knoll, Franklin WI; □Fatima Shrine
Holliston, MA; □Provincial House Wayne, NJ
FRIENDSHIP: PATH
OF THE MISSION
“After this, the Lord chose seventy-two
other disciples and sent them two by two
before Him, to all the cities and places to
which He was to go” (Lk 10:1).
T
his passage from the Gospel of Luke sum-
marizes very well aspects of my missionary
life and my experience in Taiwan. I was born
in Italy in 1958. I was sent to Chicago to study
theology. After my ordination, in 1984, I worked
in the United States for nine years, especially in
the field of youth vocation mission animation. In
1993, I received the great gift of going to the mis-
sion in Taiwan.
One of the reasons why I entered the Xaverians was the family spirit, the sense of fraternity and friendship that I
have touched with my hand from the first moment in the community of Udine (Italy). That experience made me
understand that the mission is a community act, an event that creates new bridges and relationships and reminds
us of the dream of our founder, San Guido: Making the world one family .
This call to relate and cultivate friendship, to enter into relationships and develop relationships, I have perceived
along the path of my life. I have always had the clear feeling that every time I have been called to enter a new
environment or a new reality, the Lord went before and prepared a house for me; prepared people open to receive
this stranger pilgrim .
When I arrived in Taiwan, I had the same feeling. I have discovered the world of 關係 - guan xi - relationships. A
world that at first seems strange, but then we realize that it is based on respect and the right relationship with
others. I have touched with my hand and I have lived in my own skin the beauty of the Chinese saying: 靠 父母 在
外 靠 朋友 - zai jia kao fu mu zai wai kao peng you - (at home you trust your dad and your mom, outside you trust
your friends ), which for me has become a source of joy and hope. Upon arriving in Taiwan without knowing a word
of Chinese, one must trust the language teacher. Little by little you realize that the teacher has not taught you just
for duty, but because he or she wants to help you, according to your ability, to enter this different world and feel
at home.
This friendship, this coming into relationship with others, I have also lived in my service in the center of youth
ministry of the Archdiocese of Taipei. The Archbishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Ti-kang, whom I had met in the United
States, asked me for my availability to collaborate as head of youth ministry at the center of the archdiocese.
Although I was still struggling with the Chinese language and culture, I accepted the invitation because the youth
ministry center worked with high school and university students, whose majority (95%) were not Catholic. I accept-
ed because I saw the friendship and the desire to collaborate... Youth ministry, programs and training courses for
youth animators become a joint effort based on the contribution of all, as a community event that creates friend-
ship relationships based on values common and not only in external aspects.
This collaboration and friendship has shown me even more clearly that the mission and the proclamation of the
Gospel is the fruit of a community testimony, of friendship and relationships... The missionary is not a solitary
worker, but one who enters into relationship with others, Christians or not, to collaborate with them for the com-
mon good and ultimately for the construction of the Kingdom of God.
For Xaverians the mission is always a community event and this is a great testimony. As St. Francis of Assisi reminds
us: “Proclaim the Gospel always, use words when necessary.”
~ Fr. Joe Matteucig SX
Fr. Joe is returning to Taiwan after again serving in the USA where he was rector/coordinator of Holliston from
October 2006 until December 2017 and then in Mission animation in Franklin. He will leave the USA at the end of
August 2019 and should reach Taiwan in November, after a bit of rest in Italy.
“H
e judged well who said that the great Apostle of the Indies belonged entirely to God in
proclaiming God’s glory, to his neighbors in procuring their salvation and to himself in
attending to his own sanctification.
The foundation of holiness is love for God because this is the first and the greatest of the
commandments, the vivifying flame of the Christian life. If any saint upon the earth emulated the
most high Seraphim, it was without a doubt St. Francis Xavier. From the day of his conversion to
the last day of his life, he grew constantly in love and it was almost as if he was consumed by it
at the early age of 42. His ecstasy, rapture, constant union with God, tireless efforts to make Our
Lord Jesus Christ known and his unceasing aspiration to greater things all bear witness to this fact.
As he grew in love for God, so did he also constantly grow in love for the brothers. His desire was
to lead all those who had strayed back to the heavenly Father’s house and win over all [those who
did not know Christ] to the Gospel. For this reason he abandoned his homeland, embarked on long
journeys by land and sea, traveled immense countries inch by inch to announce the good news to
all.
Dangers of every kind, persecutions, deprivation, hardships, inclement weather and physical and
psychological suffering, far from diminishing his zeal only made it stronger. In the face of these
many crosses he joyfully exclaimed: “plura, Domine, plura!” (more, Lord, more). All this is the key
to understanding the secret of his fruitful apostolate that conquered millions of souls to the Gospel,
as extraordinary gifts with which the Lord wanted to honor His servant and endorse his mission in
the eyes of the peoples.
And while he was constantly attending to the salvation of souls, he lost nothing of his union with
God. In the midst of the various and most serious difficulties, he found time for all the devotional
practices that nourish the spirit. He constantly drew strength and energy from these devotions for
new endeavors for the salvation of the brothers and further growth in Christian perfection.
Let us take inspiration from the example of Francis Xavier and let us always remember that if we
wish to be worthy Apostles of the Gospel, we too must belong entirely to God, our neighbor and
ourselves. In this way alone shall we be able to give to God all glory.”
1923, July-August, Parma, In his own hand “La parola del padre”; Pagine Confortiane, 339-
340; CONFORTI ANTHOLOGY edited by Fr. Alfiero Ceresoli SX and Fr. Ermanno Ferro SX
Wayne, NJ 07470
Permit #1141
PAID Wayne, NJ 07470-2813
U.S. Postage 12 Helene Court
Non-Profit Org. Xaverian Missionaries
Return Service Requested