In actual fact, we are still attempting and let us hope that we shall be doing so until the end of times, to understand what mission is, because mission is a mystery. God is the source and origin of all mission and the Word Incarnate, its force and ultimate content. A fundamental mission already existed in God before the foundation of Israel, before the Exodus, before the call of Abraham or even before the creation of the world.
However, it is important to bear in mind that God’s mission is not an exclusively spiritual, transcendent affair. The Bible depicts a God who is involved in the lives of his people, in their stories of wars and exiles, migrations and occupations, divisions of land and laws governing properties, social relations and conflicts, in the agony of drought and famine, in the ecstasy of rain and harvest. He listens to the story of extortions and appeal for justice, is interested in the asses, camel, oxen, goats, sheep, bushels and bins full or empty. The God of our mission is an engaging God, a God who says, I have seen… I have heard… I have felt deeply… (Ex. 3:7,9). Above all, the God whom Jesus came to reveal is a God who is ‘moved’ by sickness and suffering, poverty and pain, toil and tears. Therefore, human life in its totality is the raw material for mission.
The SSpS Mission is but a sharing in God’s Mission including in its social dimensions mentioned above. We grew in our understanding of mission through our encounter with grassroots realities, through collective reflection and discernment in the General Chapters and through openness to the signs of the times.
It was the 8th General Chapter (1978) that for the first time paved the way for a feeble and reluctant appearance of the word Justice and Peace in our mission statement. In the 10th General Chapter (1990) we came up with a clear statement on our commitment to JPIC as an integral part of our religious missionary vocation, and as a perspective that should permeate our way of life and ministry. We felt, for the first time, the need to widen our vision to embrace global issues and articulate them in the Document. The 11th General Chapter (1996) further deepened this intrinsic bond between our mission and our involvement in JPIC issues and traced its origin back to the Gospels and to our Trinitarian Spirituality.
Consequently, in the 12th General Chapter (2002) a decision was made to create a new structure in the Generalate on an experimental basis which can accommodate and further our understanding of mission without multiplying offices. Thus the Mission Secretariat Staff (MSS) was born, entrusted with the service of helping the Congregational Leadership Team animate the Congregation through:
Sr. Mary John SSpS