Ucchimunai, Kalpity, Sri Lanka is a beautiful peninsula with a very narrow attachment to the main
land without any roads leading in or out of it essentially making it an island.
The main occupation of the people is fishing. The islanders live a very simple
life. My novitiate batch and I went to Ucchimunai during Holy Week for an
exposure experience.
There were many activities we
organized along with the people, such as: praying the Rosary, Adoration, Holy
Mass, English classes, playing card games, sports activities such as
volleyball, and watching movies. We also had ecological activities such as
picking up litter from the beach, helping the fishermen to clean their nets,
and house visiting.
One
challenge that I came across during my stay was to move past my shyness to be
among the people. As a missionary, I should use all means possible to make God’s
Word reaches the people. Each difficulty
has its own grace for life. I thank God for giving me the grace to overcome
my challenge so that I could go and do house visits.
The
purpose of the house visits was to get to know the people better, to hear their
stories. We were divided into three
small groups and we spread out across the different zones of the village to
make sure that we did not miss anyone who would like a visit. This was the most
memorable part of my stay at Ucchimunai because we were able to hear about the
issues and struggles the people deal with on a daily basis. We ended each house
visit with a short prayer for the family. I am certain that our house visits
brought hope and courage to those who were facing difficulties or challenges in
their life. I learned many things which are important for my Claretian vocation.
The house visits were my “going forth” experience of being sent out to the
peripheries.
“Going
forth”: An important action for a missionary
The term “Going Forth” is consists of
two words: go and forth. Go (verb): to move or travel from one place to another, and forth (adverb): away from a place; out;
towards a place. (Cf. Oxford Dictionary new eight editions). “Going forth” means
to go out from one place towards another place. It is an act of going out.
Then
Jesus called the twelve disciples and gave them power and authority… and He
sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick… So they set out
and went through the villages, proclaiming the good news and healing the people
everywhere (Cf. Luke 9:1ff).
The Father sent His Son to earth,
and the Son, in turn, sends His disciples to the peripheries to proclaim The Kingdom of God and heal the sick. In this Gospel passage, we see how the
disciples went through the villages. They met the people and did what Jesus had
told them. That was a “going forth” experience for them. Without going forth,
we will not be able to experience the life of the people in every corner of the
world. It is an essential thing that a missionary should have in doing the
mission of God.
In order to face the many challenges
of evangelization in today’s world, “the Church has proposed to serve the
kingdom as a ‘Church going forth’ towards
the human peripheries: accompanying the life of the poor, inserting herself
into their lives and trying to understand the soul of each people, recognizing in
them the signs of the presence of God, creating bridges and opportunities of the encounter between the Gospel and all cultures” (Cf. Witnesses and Messengers of
the Joy of the Gospel, Declaration of the XXV General Chapter of Claretian
Congregation, No. 19).
Going
forth is very important for servants of God. Missionaries are required to
put it into practice in their daily life. A missionary should be ready to
accept God’s invitation to leave their comfort zone and to go out to proclaim
God’s Good News to all creation. Every religious is personally sent to proclaim
the Good News through their life promoting communion and the mutual belonging
to Christ (Cf. VC 72-73). Our God is a God who moves towards His people.
Br.
Ram Busa Paga, CMF
Philosophy - I
