Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Offer Mission Formation for U.S. Hispanic Catholics and Youth
MARYKNOLL, N.Y., May 3, 2013 /
Christian Newswire/ -- The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers and Instituto Fe y Vida have partnered to develop a long-term Mission Formation Program that will begin during Fe y Vida's summer program (June 30 - July 6) at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas.
Maryknoll is the foreign mission society of the U.S. Catholic Church. Fe y Vida is a national nonprofit Catholic leadership institute widely recognized as the authority in the field of Hispanic youth and young adult ministry in the United States.
A radical rethinking of the call to mission, the Mission Formation Program's objective is to provide the Hispanic community with the information required to animate and strengthen the mission of the Church in the United States within the context of the New Evangelization throughout the Americas. Through this joint program, Maryknoll and Fe y Vida will help U.S. Hispanic Catholics activate the Church's mission vocation as an integral part of their Christian life with the same apostolic zeal as that of early Christians.
"Pope Francis relates the New Evangelization to a renewed sense of mission," said Father Thomas Henehan of Maryknoll who has contributed to the development of the formation program. "This project is meant to nurture the mission vocation of every baptized Hispanic youth, man and woman so they may actively live out their vocation both within the Church and in society."
This unique Mission Formation Program has been developed for members of diocesan pastoral offices, priests, religious men and women, pastoral formators, lay ecclesial ministers, coordinators of youth ministry, advisors of the National Catholic Network of Pastoral Juvenil Hispana (La Red) and young adult leaders with pastoral formation and experience. The program will provide training that will allow Catholics to become professional ministers and multiply the formation of mission animators across the United States. It also will allow ministers to offer diverse mission formation workshops in their dioceses and parishes.
The Mission Formation Program will draw on the richness and lives of missioners and missionary societies and congregations as they are called to share life experiences and inspire youth leaders to discover their mission vocation generated at baptism.
"We are happy to partner with Maryknoll on this project," said Dr. Carmen Cervantes, director of Instituto Fe y Vida. "I am certain their long and valuable mission experience, together with the apostolic zeal of our young Catholic people so committed to the Scriptures, will profoundly revitalize and form local teams that will become fountains of new life for our families and communities."
"By his example, Christ taught his disciples to love one another and they passed on that message of love. It is time for us to do the same," said Gustavo Escrucería, Hispanic outreach coordinator at Maryknoll. "Our vocation as baptized Christians is to spread the Good News, in word and deed, in order to continue the mission of Jesus."
For more information about the Mission Formation Program, contact Mr. Escruceria at 1-888-444-8957 extension 555.
Both Maryknoll and Fe y Vida indicated that some people who attend the Mission Formation Program will feel inspired to participate in overseas mission immersion trips while others will be empowered to respond to their baptismal call to be missioners where they live. Through involvement in this long-term Mission Formation Program, Maryknoll and Fe y Vida hope to keep the flame of mission alive and actively contribute to the building of God's Reign here on earth.
The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers follow Jesus in serving the poor and others in need in 27 countries that include the U.S. All Catholics are called to mission through baptism and confirmation, and Maryknoll’s mission education outreach in parishes and schools throughout the country engages U.S. Catholics in mission through vocations, prayer, donations and as volunteers. Maryknoll missioners share God's love and the Gospel in combating poverty, providing healthcare, building communities and promoting human rights. For more information, visit the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers at maryknollsociety.org.
Instituto Fe y Vida is a national non-profit Catholic leadership institute widely recognized as the authority in the field of Hispanic youth and young adult ministry in the United States, and the leading agent in bringing the Bible to young Latinos throughout the Americas. Fe y Vida fosters mature, hopeful and faith-filled Latino Catholic youth and young adults and equips them for leadership in Church and society by advancing their human, social, and faith development, through a comprehensive approach grounded in our Catholic tradition. For more information, visit Instituto Fe y Vida at www.feyvida.org.
