Fr. Louis Brioni sx
Reflection on the Readings of the XV Sunday, 2020
by Fr. Louis Brioni sx
July 8th has always been a memorable date for us Xaverian Missionaries of Sierra Leone. The reason being that today, as I am fortunate to write this short reflection, the first four Xaverian Fathers finally arrived to Freetown, our capital city, in 1950, exactly seventy years ago. Finally, yes, because they were the first ones of us to come to Africa, after all kinds of difficulties both from Rome and London, to start sharing the Gospel in the north of the Country, which was then labeled as “unconvertible”.
As in the Gospel of today, they came here to sow the Word of God abundantly, with their words and their very life. After leaving everything for the sake of the Kingdom, they spared no sacrifices to spread the Gospel in Sierra Leone. With their missionary zeal they would endure a lot of obstacles, like the birds, rocks, thorns in Jesus’ parable, but that would never dampen their efforts to keep on trying and to actually turn some of those obstacles into opportunities for success. They certainly lived well this Sunday’s message of the Lord in Isaiah, for they succeeded in what they were sent to do.
The Church in Sierra Leone, and particularly the Diocese of Makeni, owes to those four “pioneers”, as they also liked to call themselves in later years, our gratitude and imitation. Without them, together with many others Xaverians in the following years, we would not have today a Church with almost 50 diocesan priests, many religious sisters and brothers, 25 parishes, hundreds of primary and secondary schools, one university, hospitals and clinics, charitable institutions and … you name it.
This is now history, the history of 70 years of mission, of which myself am part and parcel, having arrived here in 1968. But this history is not just a memory of the past, glorious or painful as it may be, but a history alive with people of faith, of Eucharistic celebrations, of universal charity. The crisis of the Covid-19 did recently close our church buildings to community worship; it stopped the meetings of our prayer groups; it did not allow to continue instructions with our catechumens; it kept our students at home; and even our contacts with the poor had to be reduced to a minimum. These are our sorrowful birds and stones and thorns of our days. But nobody and nothing can tell us to stop hoping and praying for days when we will continue to sow the good seed and the rich soil will produce crops a hundredfold.
It is in the logic of the Bible that the Word “does not return to the Lord empty” (Isaiah 55:11). All of us, followers of Christ, need to live the present moment in the best possible Christian way, that is with total trust in Jesus, with total availability to His will, with unconditional love for our neighbours.
This time of pandemic cannot be wasted in useless lamentations as though the Lord has abandoned us. How can He? Our challenge now, for priests, religious, and laity alike, is to spend more time with the Lord, making His Word deeply our own, sincerely experiencing His compassion and love in our heart, renewing our commitment to both community and mission, as did those Xaverian Pioneers. The good seed of the Gospel remains in our lap ready to be sown abundantly on all kinds of soil at the opportune time. And then we will rejoice with songs not only for the abundant crop but also for having faithfully endured the corona virus with all its restrictions.
With Saint Paul in today’s letter to the Romans, we can all truly and joyfully believe that “… what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory … which is waiting for us.”
Amen, we can pray together to the Lord, as we are all experiencing His persevering loving presence, calling us to be always hopeful sowers of His Word to the whole world.
Reflection on the Readings of the XV Sunday, 2020
by Fr. Louis Brioni sx
July 8th has always been a memorable date for us Xaverian Missionaries of Sierra Leone. The reason being that today, as I am fortunate to write this short reflection, the first four Xaverian Fathers finally arrived to Freetown, our capital city, in 1950, exactly seventy years ago. Finally, yes, because they were the first ones of us to come to Africa, after all kinds of difficulties both from Rome and London, to start sharing the Gospel in the north of the Country, which was then labeled as “unconvertible”.
As in the Gospel of today, they came here to sow the Word of God abundantly, with their words and their very life. After leaving everything for the sake of the Kingdom, they spared no sacrifices to spread the Gospel in Sierra Leone. With their missionary zeal they would endure a lot of obstacles, like the birds, rocks, thorns in Jesus’ parable, but that would never dampen their efforts to keep on trying and to actually turn some of those obstacles into opportunities for success. They certainly lived well this Sunday’s message of the Lord in Isaiah, for they succeeded in what they were sent to do.
The Church in Sierra Leone, and particularly the Diocese of Makeni, owes to those four “pioneers”, as they also liked to call themselves in later years, our gratitude and imitation. Without them, together with many others Xaverians in the following years, we would not have today a Church with almost 50 diocesan priests, many religious sisters and brothers, 25 parishes, hundreds of primary and secondary schools, one university, hospitals and clinics, charitable institutions and … you name it.
This is now history, the history of 70 years of mission, of which myself am part and parcel, having arrived here in 1968. But this history is not just a memory of the past, glorious or painful as it may be, but a history alive with people of faith, of Eucharistic celebrations, of universal charity. The crisis of the Covid-19 did recently close our church buildings to community worship; it stopped the meetings of our prayer groups; it did not allow to continue instructions with our catechumens; it kept our students at home; and even our contacts with the poor had to be reduced to a minimum. These are our sorrowful birds and stones and thorns of our days. But nobody and nothing can tell us to stop hoping and praying for days when we will continue to sow the good seed and the rich soil will produce crops a hundredfold.
It is in the logic of the Bible that the Word “does not return to the Lord empty” (Isaiah 55:11). All of us, followers of Christ, need to live the present moment in the best possible Christian way, that is with total trust in Jesus, with total availability to His will, with unconditional love for our neighbours.
This time of pandemic cannot be wasted in useless lamentations as though the Lord has abandoned us. How can He? Our challenge now, for priests, religious, and laity alike, is to spend more time with the Lord, making His Word deeply our own, sincerely experiencing His compassion and love in our heart, renewing our commitment to both community and mission, as did those Xaverian Pioneers. The good seed of the Gospel remains in our lap ready to be sown abundantly on all kinds of soil at the opportune time. And then we will rejoice with songs not only for the abundant crop but also for having faithfully endured the corona virus with all its restrictions.
With Saint Paul in today’s letter to the Romans, we can all truly and joyfully believe that “… what we suffer in this life can never be compared to the glory … which is waiting for us.”
Amen, we can pray together to the Lord, as we are all experiencing His persevering loving presence, calling us to be always hopeful sowers of His Word to the whole world.