“Growing up to be disciples of Christ, the Missionary”
Missionary pastoral ministries or apostolic works are very much part of the Xaverian formation programs of Indonesia. In all formation communities, young candidates – some of them already Xaverians – are trained on the field. The goal is to help the young Xaverians to know and be familiar with the real-life situations of the people and the places where they are sent, so to make present – in different ways – the gift of the Gospel. As it is written in our Constitution number 53, “The Xaverian Formation aims at transforming us into disciples of Christ the Missionary so that we can be sent to non-Christians as apostles of the Kingdom.”
At the beginning of new academic year, the philosophy community of Jakarta celebrated a sending Mass on September 3, 2022. During this Eucharist, we were sent by the community to do the apostolic work entrusted to us. The missionary pastoral activities carried out by the young Xaverians are: accompanying catechumens, teaching Catholic religion inn elementary schools, serving the poor, teaching street students, accompanying altar servers and Catholic Youth Association. As a humble community, we strive to learn, engage, and cooperate with other associations and communities (parishes, universities, schools, and other congregations).
During the planning of our Community Project of Life, we also considered the possibility of opening some new apostolic activities and closing others which no longer fits our charism (proclaiming the Good News). Therefore, we are reviving and developing apostolic activities that were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, we also chose some “new ways” and missionary activities according to the needs of the local church.
In the past, Xaverian students often taught Catholic religion in Primary, Secondary and High School. The community realized that that kind of apostolic work doesn’t fit any longer in our charism. So, we preferred to take on new activities that allow us to engage more with non-Christians, especially among the poor. It was a way of getting out of our comfort zone.
What spirit accompanies the students in these apostolic activity? As symbolically demonstrated in the sending Mass quoted above, each student received a statue of St Francis Xavier as a symbol to let ourselves be inspired by his missionary zeal to spread the Gospel. We also received the booklet of the new Community Project of Life. This was to remind us that we serve the Gospel not only during the apostolate with people ‘outside’, but also within our community, journeying together by carrying out the rules and agreements that we discerned for a greater Family and community life.
