Novena for the Centennial - Day 5

Since 1921, the Quebec Foreign Mission Society is at the service of the Gospel.  We are celebrating 100 years; we wish to celebrate together the journey of our missionary commitment. We are celebrating the dynamism of our missionary Society, and with gratitude, we remember our past, we renew the passion of living the mission in communion in our historic present, and we rekindle the hope for the future.
 
This novena is meant for the members and associates, former members and associates, candidates and seminarians in formation, affiliates, friends, members of our Churches and/or local communities, the youth who belong to our networks, and the persons of good will who wish to join us in our thanksgivings to God for the dynamism and the renewal of our missionary Society. 

Oh God, we give you thanks for allowing us to share the joy of the Gospel with people of generous cultures and of different religious traditions.  
 
Bible reading for reflection: John 3.16
 
 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him”. 
 
Prayer of thanksgiving:
 We give thanks for having been witnesses of the presence and of the love of God in other cultures and in peoples of different religious traditions.    
We are grateful because you have opened our hearts to new customs, you have made us speak different languages, be impregnated by new realities, ways of thinking and doing, while remaining faithful to the message of the Gospel.   
 
Thank you, dear Father, for the richness of the cultures and of the encounters, for letting us feel our brotherhood without any distinction of race or religion, for having made us discover that your Son lives in each and every one of us.

Commitment: We invite you to pray for a foreign person whom you know, for his/her country or for someone who is very different from you in his/her way of being, of doing or of thinking. If you wish, you can place your intentions with the comments.  

 

Prayer for the Centennial of the SME

God ever faithful,
“Whom shall I send?” - you ask us.
On this path, on the same boat,
where we all are,
we answer to you:
“Here we are, Lord, send us" (Is. 6,8)
 
Your Spirit pushes us and carries us,
encourages us and sends us to mission
to the world and to all peoples.
It is your endless love
the one that moves us
"to run the risk of the encounter
at the service of the Gospel".
 
In today's Church and history,
here we are, Lord, send us.
We are a small Missionary Society that,
humble and confronted with many challenges,
wants to be part of the transformation of hearts,
minds, bodies, societies and cultures,
at all times and in all places.
 
Here we are, Lord,
at the service of your Gospel,
to bear witness to your love
and your salvation,
attentive to the needs of bread and justice,
freedom and work, dignity and peace
of our brothers and sisters,
taking care of all your creation as well.
 
Here we are, Lord, send us,
to seed hope,
to build up a new world,
holding your word and discovering your presence
in all peoples and cultures.
 
Reaching out to their encounter,
we proclaim that you are
the ever-merciful God,
whose love last forever.
 
May, the Virgin Mary, first disciple and missionary,
pray for us, now and forever. Amen.