New MissionA new mission in Greece!

A few weeks ago we received a letter from our SSpS Missionary Sisters informing us and asking prayers for their new mission in Greece. So on Good Shepherd Sunday, May 7, 2017, five of our SSpS Missionary Sisters came and shared with us their new mission in Greece. Two members of the SSpS Euro Council, Sr. Anna-Maria Kofler, Leader of the German Province, and Sr. Maria Jose Rebello, Leader of the Spain/Portugal Province, with Sr. Ada from Austria, Sr. Clara an Indonesian assigned in Spain and Sr. Rastislava from Slovakia, shared with us their new mission to reach out to the refugees in Greece in collaboration with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) there. They will go there not to establish a new foundation but to be present to the refugees – to reach out to them for as long as they are needed. They will also provide a kind of oasis to the volunteers working there – a space where they could renew themselves, draw strength and courage so that they could continue serving their unfortunate brothers and sisters who have fled or have been driven out of their own land. They will be “missionary-contemplatives” in action, bringing, by their loving and compassionate presence, God’s own merciful presence.

Their group pioneers a so-called “community on the move” – a new call and a new way for the whole congregation to respond to the needs of the present time. They will be there for as long as they are needed, for as long as God wants them to stay. With this first group, they hope to form in the future many more small groups who will bring the light and love of Christ to the world.

Listening to them, we become part of their vision and mission. Their enthusiasm and dedication were inspiring and contagious. In our own God-given way, in our own “mission field” – our community – we promised to accompany them, for their mission is ours, too.