Fr. Daniele Sartori, s.x.

May 1, 2006

Chicago | Italy | Cameroon | Mexico | Philippines

hanks to God, this year there is a good group of 76 young men who are getting ready to serve the Lord as priests and missionaries in our Xaverian family. Many are the languages spoken, and varied are the cultures represented. They study in the five international theology communities scattered around the world. These theologies are located at the Motherhouse in Parma, in Italy (Europe), at Chicago in the USA (North America), at Mexico City in Mexico (Latin America), at Yaoundè in Cameroon (Africa), and at Manila in the Philippines (Asia).

The theology students come from ten different nations. They are the sons of the people the Xaverians have been working and serving with for a long time, witnessing the Gospel, giving their lives, and serving the Reign of God. They have answered positively to the call from the “Master of the harvest”, and have welcomed the Xaverian charism of Blessed Conforti, so that they may go to other peoples and give their lives for the service of the Gospel.

Here is the list according to number and nationality of these young students:

 

A station at the borders

There are two images that come to my mind when I think of an “international Xaverian community.” Every community resembles a border, which is like a passage point: it’s an opening between two lands, an area of seeding and harvest, of growth and rebirth, of departures and arrivals, of responsibility and pardon, of long waiting and hopes, of dreams and concrete realities, of poverty and faithfulness. These are areas of welcome and of faith. In fact, our communities come together through the gift of faith, for it always requires steps to take, in order to realize that what divides us is very little to what unites us. Moreover, our differences and diverse personalities reveal in essence the infinite features of the Face and Love of God who invites us to go beyond ourselves.

But each international community provides also an event, something in progress. It looks like a train station, made up of roads that come together, of belongings that are ours, of horizons that transform our ideals into real stories. This dream goes beyond us, yet we are living it in reality. It is a place where one leaves and one arrives, where one stops and one is anxiously waiting to leave. It is an event of grace and meeting, of memories and future. This is the place where the roads come together, the roads that the Lord himself with great might has guided us.

We could have remained distant from one another, like our own roots, our parents, and our lands which saw our birth. Instead, we are here, in an international community, called by the Lord to be together, and love each other. We must model our lives on the Gospel, as we reflect on the many brothers and sisters around the world who wait anxiously for us. For we belong to them, for ever.

Chicago | Italy | Cameroon | Mexico | Philippines
 

Frs. M. Storgato and D. Sartori, s.x.

(From "Missionari Saveriani" - Xaverian News)