Laity for Mission

“Lay people inspired by the love of God to work freely for the Institute...
are considered benemeriti of the Institute and share in all its spiritual benefits.”
– Guido Maria Conforti –

T he Lay Missionary movement is certainly an important phenomenon in the missionary life of the Church in this century. This movement is made up of people, who within the context of Church, are very convinced of their personal responsibility for the mission “ad gentes.” Their responsibility flows from their Baptism, by which they were in nested into Christ as branches to the vine, and they place themselves within the Church as members of a living body.

Lay missionaries leave for mission to make their own contribution there where churches are being born or where there is a particular need. Lay missionaries may be single, young spouses, families or groups. Many of these, by the witnesses of their lives in their home churches, stimulate the missionary consciousness of the local churches. It is often among this laity that mission vocations to lifetime consecrated service may be found. Here solidarity which supports mission activity (schools, hospitals, cooperatives, churches and seminaries) may be experienced.

The presence of Lay missionaries gives witness that the mission “ad gentes” is within the reach of the Xaverians, while glancing back over all these years of their existence, recognize how much they are indebted in their work of evangelization to laity:

+ the parents of Xaverians presently engaged in evangelization;
+ the friends and benefactors who support our houses for Xaverians in formation, and for the vast network of initiatives in mission lands made possible through their cooperation. Blessed Conforti considered — to be a part of the Xaverian family, and sharers in the merits of his missionaries — such most valued mission cooperators.

Speaking to the laity Blessed Conforti wrote: “My dear brothers and sisters, you too share in the great merit of the works to which the missionaries dedicate themselves, because you have contributed both morally and materially to help them reach their desired goal. You have supported them with your prayers by asking the Lord to confirm them in their chosen vocation. You have helped them by your generous assistance in support of the Institute within which they have prepared themselves for the apostolate.”

Today it is the wish of the Xaverians that these persons, who come from every social rank and continent, may become a “third missionary family,” and that inspired by the same Xaverian spirituality, may live and share in a special way in the activities and realizations of the Institute.