It is a great joy to live in communion the 150th of the foundation of our Institute on August 5. From sunrise to sunset, every community in the world raised the hymn of praise and gratitude to God for the marvels He has worked in our history.

The echo of the Jubilee celebrations continues to reverberate, lived in the five continents with the variety of colours and cultures that enrich the FMA institute, in which the educating communities, local churches, and the territories where we are present have been involved.

In every place, the celebration of the 150th anniversary created a good opportunity for the revival of vocations and for greater visibility of the charism today. Our thoughts go in particular to the provinces which, despite the difficulties linked to the pandemic, wars, and suffering have creatively found different ways to express and celebrate this anniversary.

Pope Francis invites us “to be missionary communities in outreach, going out to proclaim the Gospel to the peripheries, with the passion of the first Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.” We thank the Holy Father for the esteem he continues to show towards the FMA Institute, recently confirmed by the appointment of our dearest Mother Yvonne Reungoat as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops.

The celebration of this Jubilee projects us with hope towards the future and commits us to express the charism with renewed creativity. With a strong commitment, the celebration of this event may mark a rebirth and reawakening of vocational and missionary freshness in every educating community.

We are called to live a new missionary season in which all of us can rediscover the strong appeal, "I am a missionary" renewing our vocational response to realize God's dream for each one of us.

May the mandate made to Mother Mazzarello, “I entrust them to you” become a stronger “I will take care of you,” said with the life of our communities, shown in daily fraternity, in unconditional sharing, as the expression of the maternal features of God’s face.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2022 edition of the Salesian Bulletin, which is available now!