Redemptorist Missions

Reprodução.

The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer strives to live up to and announce the Plentiful Redemption of Jesus Christ, Most Holy Redeemer, according to the ideal of St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, to every person, and especially to the poorest and most excluded members of society.

During that mission, Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers, religious sisters and laypeople assume the work of the Saint Redemptorist Missions, which serves as a “reinforcement” to the local pastoral works of a parish and its communities.

Their motto in Brazil is: “United in Christ, with Mary, to live and grow in communion!” and is the best way to summarize that mission: to spread the blessings of the Redeemer, under the protection of the maternal glance of Mary, through the ecclesial communities, and by adopting the poorest and most excluded members of society as the preferred recipients of evangelization.

Methodology of the Missions in Brazil

The Saint Missions have been modernizing their missionary method. They are held in many consecutive phases, consisting in a Missionary Action process with a fixed date to be started, but without any specific timeline to be concluded. It is organized into four phases:

1st Phase – Visitation Mission (Organization Time): At this stage, the large parish community is divided into smaller communities. These communities, on their turn, are subdivided into sectors with 30 to 40 families. Each sector will have a sector coordinator, and he/she sets up a group of assistants that must be dwellers from his/her own sector.

2nd Phase – Family Mission: At this phase, the sector coordinator and his/her group will gather local families for a common prayer, for Biblical reflection and sharing, in order to arouse friendship, good relationships, and mutual interest and knowledge among the families from his/her sector. The Family Mission reaches all the environments of a community, such as homes, apartments and even private condominiums.

3rd Phase – Strong Evangelization Time: At this third stage, the group of Redemptorist Missionaries becomes a more intense presence at local communities. The time of duration of this third phase will depend on the number of communities and on the number of families found in every one of them.

4th Phase – Post-Mission Work: The fourth phase is called Post-Mission or Perseverance Time, and does not have a fixed timeline. At this stage community coordinators are concerned with the continuity of their work in a sector, according to an Organic Pastoral Plan for the parish community, by creating moments of apostolic action in that sector, community and parish for children, youngsters, families, and elderly, sick and poor people; to summarize it, for all of our brothers and sisters.