Catholic.net. On February 18 the Catholic.net has published in its web page the missionary vocation of the Congregation of the Claretians. Because of its interest, we reproduce here the really topical text although it brings us to earlier dates. This is the text: We, the Claretian Missionaries were born in the Church as a community with a clear evangelizing objective. From the very beginning, Saint Anthony M. Claret, our Founder, and his five companions organized the life of the new-born community according to the missionary service they desired to render: to announce the Word of God through the popular missions and the preaching of retreats. During the time available for preaching they went out in small groups to the parishes where they were called or sent and organized batches of retreats for different groups of persons. They dedicated the rest of the year to sharing the experience and to prepare themselves for the new missionary campaign. The common life therefore moved around the evangelizing objective that defined the community.
This has been the tradition that has marked the history of the Institute. The means of evangelization have been diversifying according to times and places. The way of sharing the missionary experiences and helping one another in the preparation for the ministries was also varying with the passing of time. But the identity of the Congregation, as a “community for mission,” has always remained immutable.
The new technology of communication offers us today a new range to share our resources in the service of the mission. It helps us to amplify our cultural and theological horizon, it sensitizes us toward situations and themes that, other wise, would be unattainable for us, it allows us to take advantage of the experience and wisdom of so many of our brothers who are wearing out their lives in the service of evangelization. This is the objective of the page that the Prefects of Apostolate of the Claretian Provinces of Iberia, the persons in charge of animating and coordinating the evangelizing action of the Claretian communities of Spain and Portugal, place at the disposal of all in the telematic net. It is a matter of widening our sharing to give a greater quality and effect to the evangelizing task.
Claretian Missionaries Materials and Resources for the Mission.
