In Mission 2019

About Living the Gospel

Sister Roxanne Schares

Sister Roxanne Schares, General Superior

Committed to Christ’s mission, we are impelled into the heart of the world to address critical global concerns. On this journey, we often find ourselves at the peripheries, encountering those who are vulnerable and marginalized. In today’s world, migrants and refugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking have become signs of exclusion.

To understand and respond well, it is vital to see the faces, hear the voices, walk with and share the pain of children and youth, women and men, fleeing unbearable conditions. Their journeys reveal their desperate desire to save their lives and create a future. My ten-year ministry with those affected by violent conflict and war in Africa was challenge and grace. By becoming painfully aware of the suffering and daring to allow it to become my and our personal suffering, we discover what each of us can do about it (cf. Laudato Si’, 19).

This issue of In Mission highlights experiences of School Sisters of Notre Dame, reaching out and being with people forced to be on the move. The stories reflect ways of responding that welcome, protect, promote, and integrate our sisters and brothers into our lives and societies, that respect the dignity of all. Our sisters pray and accompany, educate and advocate, discern and take action that can transform us and our society.

Through these experiences, we learn that “it is not just about them, but about all of us” (Pope Francis, Message for the 105th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2019). It is not just about migrants and refugees; it is about encountering Christ in the other, about being compassion and love, healing and hope. It is about living the Gospel.