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src=”https:\/\/combonimissionaries.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/African-Crucifix.jpeg” alt=”Crucifix featuring Jesus as an African on a simple wooden cross, hands raised to heaven” title_text=”African Crucifix” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” max_height=”440px” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″ height=”385px”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” header_2_font=”||||||||” hover_enabled=”0″ text_font_size_tablet=”14px” text_font_size_phone=”” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|tablet” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Message from the Comboni General Council in Rome<\/em><\/p>\n The world can change, beginning with the heart \u2013 It is only by starting from the heart that our communities will succeed in uniting\u00a0 and reconciling differing minds and wills, so that the Spirit can guide us in unity as brothers and sisters. Reconciliation and peace are also born of the heart. The heart of Christ is \u2018ecstasy\u2019, openness, gift and encounter. In that heart, we learn to relate to one another in wholesome and happy ways, and to build up in this world God\u2019s kingdom of love and justice. Our hearts, united with the heart of Christ, are capable of working this social miracle.<\/strong><\/p>\n Dear confr\u00e8res, [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” min_height=”1089px”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″ theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” theme_builder_area=”post_content” text_font_size=”16px” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″ custom_margin=”-18px|||||”]<\/p>\n The Word of God tells us that God\u2019s love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). Hope \u2013 which is also the central message of the Jubilee 2025 \u2013 is born of love and is based on the love that flows from the Heart of Jesus pierced on the Cross: \u201cIndeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.\u201d (Rom 5:10).<\/p>\n It is this love that makes us missionaries: not an external choice, but an inner strength that sustains our service. We are called to take to heart the sufferings of others, to share the bread of hope with the poor, the sick, the excluded. When the world seems overwhelmed by war, injustice, climate change or indifference, the Heart of Jesus reminds us that true revolution starts from the heart of the believer.<\/p>\n St Daniel Comboni saw in the pierced Heart of Christ the source of his commitment to Africa. In \u201cthe divine flame\u201d that warms the heart of the apostle we find the model of the missionary: humble in accepting the guidance of the Spirit, courageous in proposing the Good News, generous in leaving every \u201cpitiable human interest\u201d in order \u201cto embrace all humanity\u201d and make \u201ccommon cause\u201d with every marginalised person (cf. Writings, 2742-2753)<\/p>\n To be \u2018pilgrims of hope\u2019 is not a cosmetic title, but an ongoing journey. The hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rom 5:5) is renewed every day in the gaze of those who encounter the Lord in their brothers and sisters. Even in great crises \u2013 wars that do not end, hunger, forced migration, environ-mental crisis \u2013 we can sow tenderness, build bridges, welcome the other as a gift.<\/p>\n The symbol of water and blood flowing from the side of Christ (John 19:34) recalls Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments that shape the Church. From this pierced Heart is born a larger family to which we are united. In the Paschal Mystery we find the strength to renew our commitment: \u201cLet anyone who thirsts come to me and drink; … rivers of living water will flow from within him\u201d (Jn 7:37-39).<\/p>\n Like St. Thomas, who, touching the wounds of Christ, exclaimed: \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d (Jn 20:28), we too are called to go beyond our human ability. Weakness becomes strength when it is crossed by redeeming love. This kerygmatic experience \u2013 first, unique and foundational \u2013 is the root of the Comboni proclamation.<\/p>\n We live in an era marked by divisions and fears. Nationalisms grow, walls are built, migrants are criminalised. Yet, the Heart of Jesus teaches us to weave fraternal bonds, to recognise the dignity of each person and to care for creation. This is not utopia: it is the concrete way of transforming charity.<\/p>\n This Heart is not an abstract concept, but a reality to be lived. It invites us to radical choices in favour of the \u201cpoorest and most abandoned\u201d, to co-responsibility, to a fraternity that becomes a sign of a new humanity. Every gesture of welcome, every project of integral development, every interces-sory prayer starts from that Heart and returns to it.<\/p>\n Let us be guided by the \u2018reasons of hope\u2019 that flow from the Heart of Jesus to confidently accept the task of \u2018pilgrims of hope\u2019, capable of living the future as a promise and realising it as a new brotherhood.<\/p>\n The great French poet and essayist Charles P\u00e9guy wrote: \u201cThe faith I prefer \u2013 God says \u2013 is hope. To hope is never to become habitual\u2026 always to get out of the habit\u201d. We are called to keep wonder alive, not to take the journey of faith for granted. Animated by the Spirit, let our communities become places of rebirth, where everyone finds new meaning in their lives. Our hope is in the Heart of Jesus. From him we learn to build healthy and happy relationships, and to contribute to the birth of a Kingdom of love and justice.<\/p>\n Dear confr\u00e8res, the Heart of Jesus is an inexhaustible source of love and hope. Let us be its guardians, witnesses and tireless workers. May this feast rekindle in us the desire to be pilgrims of hope, capable of building fraternity and justice, until we can celebrate the banquet of the Kingdom together.<\/p>\n Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart!<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Donations” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_color=”#151f33″ custom_padding=”0vw||0vw||true|” custom_width_px__hover=”1080px” custom_width_px__hover_enabled=”1080px” custom_width_percent__hover=”80%” custom_width_percent__hover_enabled=”80%” global_colors_info=”{}” gutter_width__hover=”3″ gutter_width__hover_enabled=”3″ parallax_1__hover=”off” parallax_1__hover_enabled=”off” parallax_2__hover=”off” parallax_2__hover_enabled=”off” parallax_3__hover=”off” parallax_3__hover_enabled=”off” parallax_method_1__hover=”on” parallax_method_1__hover_enabled=”on” parallax_method_2__hover=”on” parallax_method_2__hover_enabled=”on” parallax_method_3__hover=”on” 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on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus this year, we want to make ourselves \u2018pilgrims of hope\u2019: a title that sums up the heart of our Comboni vocation. The Heart of Jesus \u2013 whose \u2018sons\u2019 we pride ourselves on being \u2013 speaks to us of a love that is both a gratuitous gift and a dynamic force, capable of transform-ing our lives and our communities.<\/p>\nRead more news from the Comboni Missionaries<\/h2>\n