Filled with joy, we would like to share in a simple way, the experience of the solemn day of our definitive consecration in this religious family of the Missionary Servants of the Poor. It was on May 6, 2021, that we professed our Perpetual Vows in this Cusmanian family, a sign of unwavering consecration to Christ. These vows took place in the Parish of Saint Monique Muamba Mbuyi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an atmosphere of jubilation.
Indeed, the search for perfect charity by the evangelical counsels, has its source in the teaching and the example of Christ the Lord. And it is Christ who calls every man to follow him and to serve him according to his state of life. The latter, if necessary, is the consecrated celibacy that we have chosen. And this choice was made freely for our consecration to the Poor, Chaste and Obedient Christ. We wanted to consecrate ourselves totally to the service of our brothers and sisters, and to Christ who identifies himself in the Poor, because he who gives to the Poor lends to God.
To make perpetual vows in the congregation of the Missionary Servants of the Poor was for us first of all a reason for joy because it marked a decisive step in our vocational journey. Secondly, making final vows is also an awareness of a heavy burden, which oblige us to unite ourselves with the members of our institute to bring out the charism and the work of our Founder Blessed James Cusmano. Finally, by making Perpetual Vows, we also present ourselves as a model of life so that, through our lifestyle, we may draw others to Christ. We must not consider ourselves as people who have arrived but as those who are in constant search of Christ, dedicated to the service of others.
In our social reality, we respond to the charism of the Founder by our sustained attention and our multiform assistance to the neglected and to all those who share their daily lives with us. We also work to promote religious vocations, and counting on the grace of Christ, we ask him to make us religious according to his heart and always in the presence of God and who receive everything from his hands.
Fr. Samuel Beya, Fr. Merlin Kapinga e Fr. Jonas Tshipadi
