Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Goa (Agenzia Fides) - “The Love of Christ urges us to proclaim the news of God’s Love (cf 2 Cor. 5:14).” This is the Final Message of the Goa Mission Congress, celebrated February 6-8, a copy of which was sent to Agenzia Fides by Fr. Francisco Caldeira, Director of the Diocesan Center for Social Communications. In the text of the Message, which was read during the Closing Mass for the Congress (presided by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman and concelebrated by Archbishop emeritus Raul Nicolau Gonsalves and another 50 priests), it states that God created man for love, sending His Son into the world as “a missionary of love” and that out of love, he saved us through His death and resurrection, later sending the Apostles to the ends of the earth with the mission of salvation through love, and over time an ever greater number of people have come to share in this mission of spreading the message of Jesus' love.
“Five hundred years ago, St, Francis Xavier arrived in Goa with this news of love and we were graced with the life of Jesus,” says the message, recalling that “to share the riches of the received faith, a good number of Goans, Bl. Joseph Vaz and Ven. Fr. Agnelo D’Souza among them, reached out to different places.” From the experience of God's love in the Congress, “our faith deepened and we were newly challenged by Jesus to proclaim the love of God in our families, in our wards and to the world.”
Thus, the Message focused on three main points: “It is in our families that initially we tasted, experienced the love God and grew up in it. Let our families be ever more loving so as to spread it in our neighbourhood and Small Christian Communities. In this context, let us be specially concerned for the formation of the youth; 2. Every faithful is called for a daily witnessing of Christ. When this witnessing cannot be done there is always a possibility of doing it in deeds. We need to do it in our workplace and in the politico-financial-cultural-social field. We need to create such an atmosphere in our homes and Small Christian Communities. It is particularly imperative that we take other people into confidence in this task and foster dialogue and peace amidst conflicts. 3. In two years time, we shall be celebrating the third centenary of death of Bl. Joseph Vaz (1651-1711). He went to the far off Sri Lanka to proclaim the love of God. Let this celebration be an occasion to pray for and collaborate generously first of all in the mission of proclamation of this same love of God. “Let us work hard, in the footsteps of Bl. Joseph Vaz, to carry the Christian message to the far off countries.”
In the final report, at the close of the Message, it is recalled that the Congress began on February 6, anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral in Goa and finished on February 8 in Pilar (Goa). The inauguration ceremony was presided by the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, His Excellency Filipe Neri Ferrao, in the presence of 400 people from the 164 parishes of Goa and Daman and a hundred others from the Daman mission. The Archbishop recalled that the gift of faith, proclaimed in Goa by the missionaries coming from the west, completes 500 years next year. This same soil gave Missionaries to the other Eastern Countries; their work contributed towards proclamation of the Good News in those countries.
The theme of the Congress: “Let us spread God’s Love fired by Jesus’ Love,” and was illustrated by Fr. Seby Mascarenhas, Rector of the All India Mission Seminary of Pilar. Fr. Saturnino Dias, President of the Organizing Committee of the Congress mentioned the rich inheritance of faith received from the missionary activity of the last 500 years. “This celebration was a joyous expression of the faith which has inspired generations of the faithful who form the present Archdiocese of Goa and Daman which besides including the territory of Goa, extends Daman, Dadra, Nagarhaveli, Silvassa and Diu. This expression was divided in three parts: Faith received, Faith Lived and Faith shared.” There was also a sessions where people of other faiths were called to share their experience with Christians, explaining the positive and negative aspects of the situation. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2009)
