austraLasia 1561
Telling the story of Jesus in Asia - First Mission Congress in final stages of preparation
CHIANG MAI: 15th May 2006 -- In fact, the first ever Asian Mission Congress will not be taking place in the Thai city of Chiang Mai until October, but it has already been four years in the making. Cardinal Crescenzo Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples first addressed the question in 2001 at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) in Bangkok on 27 September 2002, pledging "the total cooperation and full support of our missionary dicastery for this missionary venture".
Several significant reasons emerge for holding this first-ever Asian Mission Congress. It is to be an offshoot of the year of the Eucharist, in fact a concrete Asian response to the late Pope's call 'Eucharist: The Principle and Plan of Mission'. To that one can add the 500the anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, a providential sign focusing Asia's attention on a model of mission ad gentes and intra gentes. This year is also the 300th anniversary of Asia's first indigenous Society of Apostolic Life, which developed from the oratory of Blessed Joseph Vaz.
The Gospel of Mark anchors the spirit of the Asian Congress: "Go home to your people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you" (Mk 5:19). The biblical challenge to tell the story of Jesus becomes an Asian expression of faith. No surprise, then, that the overall theme of the projected Congress is "Telling the story of Jesus in Asia: A Celebration of Life and Faith".
The proposed dynamic for the Congress is worth a close look. Personal faith stories and reflections by ten faith sharers and four missiologists will be central, around daily themes such as The Story of Jesus in the Peoples of Asia, The Story of Jesus in the Religions of Asia, The Story of Jesus in the Cultures of Asia, the Story of Jesus in the Life of the Church in Asia. This last named will fall on Sunday 22nd October, also World Mission Sunday.
The pedagogy of presentation too is interesting - sharing joy and enthusiasm, celebrating Asian ways of mission in the midst of daily reality, raising awareness in the Asian churches about renewed understandings of mission in the Church since Vatican II.
At this stage, the writer would not know if any members of the Salesian Family are enrolled for the Congress, but with six months good warning, and knowing that there is also a developing Salesian work in Chiang Mai - the opportunity is there!
_________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please
contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml
Telling the story of Jesus in Asia - First Mission Congress in final stages of preparation
CHIANG MAI: 15th May 2006 -- In fact, the first ever Asian Mission Congress will not be taking place in the Thai city of Chiang Mai until October, but it has already been four years in the making. Cardinal Crescenzo Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples first addressed the question in 2001 at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) in Bangkok on 27 September 2002, pledging "the total cooperation and full support of our missionary dicastery for this missionary venture".
Several significant reasons emerge for holding this first-ever Asian Mission Congress. It is to be an offshoot of the year of the Eucharist, in fact a concrete Asian response to the late Pope's call 'Eucharist: The Principle and Plan of Mission'. To that one can add the 500the anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, a providential sign focusing Asia's attention on a model of mission ad gentes and intra gentes. This year is also the 300th anniversary of Asia's first indigenous Society of Apostolic Life, which developed from the oratory of Blessed Joseph Vaz.
The Gospel of Mark anchors the spirit of the Asian Congress: "Go home to your people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you" (Mk 5:19). The biblical challenge to tell the story of Jesus becomes an Asian expression of faith. No surprise, then, that the overall theme of the projected Congress is "Telling the story of Jesus in Asia: A Celebration of Life and Faith".
The proposed dynamic for the Congress is worth a close look. Personal faith stories and reflections by ten faith sharers and four missiologists will be central, around daily themes such as The Story of Jesus in the Peoples of Asia, The Story of Jesus in the Religions of Asia, The Story of Jesus in the Cultures of Asia, the Story of Jesus in the Life of the Church in Asia. This last named will fall on Sunday 22nd October, also World Mission Sunday.
The pedagogy of presentation too is interesting - sharing joy and enthusiasm, celebrating Asian ways of mission in the midst of daily reality, raising awareness in the Asian churches about renewed understandings of mission in the Church since Vatican II.
At this stage, the writer would not know if any members of the Salesian Family are enrolled for the Congress, but with six months good warning, and knowing that there is also a developing Salesian work in Chiang Mai - the opportunity is there!
_________________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please
contact admin@bosconet.aust.com Try out BoscoWiki to be interactive. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/RSS/rssala.xml
