The language and gestures of the Church must transmit mercy:

In this Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, the Church calls on missionaries to be leaders of renewed evangelization, directed to all especially the poor and marginalised.

Addressing Diocesan Pontifical Mission Society (PMS) directors and Holy Childhood coordinators during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Little Daughters of St. Joseph in Nairobi, the Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan, Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo has said, missionaries are called to be attentive and sensitive to the needs of the people they serve particularly poorest.

“You, therefore, are instruments of communion among the local Churches, fostering and realising the sharing of human and economic resources.” The Nuncio said.
 
Archbishop Balvo added that the proclamation of the Gospel is a primary and perpetual concern of the Church hence the need for missionaries to develop a credible and effective approach to evangelization.

“It is absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures must transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once more to find the road that leads to the Father.”
The Nuncio whose speech was inspired by Pope Francis said, in mercy, one finds proof of how God loves his people. “In this Holy Year, we look forward to the experience of opening our hearts to those living on the outermost fringes that have been created by modern society, uncertain and painful situations. There are so many wounds borne by the flesh of those who have no voice because their cry is muffled and drowned out by indifference of the wealthy.” He added that, the Lent Season during this Jubilee Year of Mercy, should be lived more intensely as a privileged moment to celebrate and experience God’s mercy.

The PMS AGM, held from 15 to 20 February, 2016 brought together more than twenty directors and coordinators from different dioceses and the national Kenyan office. The gathering was also attended by the Bishop of Marsabit who is Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Chairman for the Commission for Missions, Bishop Peter Kihara.

(By Rose Achiego in Nairobi)

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