“Brothers and sisters, welcome to the Consolata Missionaries formation house. As you can see, they are Jesus' missionaries coming from different nations, countries and cultures”, said the Cardinal at the beginning of the Mass… His few words were able to describe exactly what our community is. Thank you, Eminence!
As the Mass went on, the introductory words of the Cardinal became more clear and evident: hymns from different countries were sung by the choir, composed by the Seminarians and Sisters from different religious congregations, in unison with the entire congregation assembled under an ample tent set up for this event. The choir was able to produce a real “symphony”, but allowed also moments of silence and profound prayer. No doubt we were under the effects of the Holy Spirit, whose solemn liturgical Feast was just few hours away!
– “Shout for joy, daughter of Zion. Israel shout aloud! Rejoice, exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem!” I thank the Consolata Missionaries for bringing consolation to the archdiocese of Durban. Jesus is the consoler. Mary was the first to be consoled because she was carrying Jesus, the true consoler – explained the Cardinal, commenting upon the liturgical readings of the feast of Our Lady Consolata.
“If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builder labour. If the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil” (Ps 127). After the Liturgical celebration, a procession took place from the lower to to the upper house so that the Cardinal could impart the blessing to the two buildings.
In a nice sunny day, enjoying the green lawn all around the house, the 130 guests could know each other, using the classic fundamental questions: what is your name? where are you from? what is your religious Congregation? Lunch was then blessed and served.
Amazing: in an informal moment, people repeated several times: – The Mass was well prepared, we prayed well, this place is beautiful and it looks like a family home. Our answer was simple and humble: Yes, we are the Consolata Missionaries!
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