Making the Saviour Known
To further our Salvatorian mission, Father Jordan urged us to be ready to use "all ways and means" given the signs of the times. While we engage in a great variety of apostolates, our God, Church and world continually call us to strengthen the authenticity of our personal and communal witness, to prepare ourselves for ministry, to evaluate the effectiveness of our apostolates, and to answer new challenges according to the following criteria:
1. to create methods to raise religious consciousness among people through Christian formation and spiritual development;
2. to collaborate with the entire Salvatorian family, share responsibility in partnership with laity, cooperate in ecumenical endeavours, and join forces with those involved in similar apostolates and in promoting the defence of life and human rights;
3. to prepare lay people and Christian communities to engage in leadership in the work of evangelisation;
4. to relate with those we serve through mutual experiences of life and faith, community and prayer;
5. to serve the needs of the poor and marginalized in a manner which empowers them to transform their situation;
6. to promote a missionary spirit and to support missionary activity through personnel and/or finances;
7. to educate ourselves and others to respect creation and so to use natural resources justly and responsibly.
The presence of these criteria marks our apostolates and ministries, whatever they may be, as authentically Salvatorian. Today, a reading of the signs of the times and the recommendations from the provinces/missions point toward an emphasis on:
· pastoral centres which serve the whole person by supplying a wide range of services; such as, religious instruction and preparation for ministry, human development and promotion of family life, health care and psychological counselling, and economic assistance;
· evangelisation at the parish level in light of our Salvatorian charism in communion with the local Church;
· evangelisation through social communications media;
· ministry to youth which demonstrates the varied dimensions of the Christian vocation.
