“Proclaim the wonders of the Lord to all peoples”

Today, we joyfully celebrate the feast of St Daniel Comboni. This year, however, the occasion takes on a special significance in Verona: the public session of the inquiry into the reputation for holiness of Bishop Antonio Maria Roveggio, Comboni’s successor in the Vicariate of Central Africa, is coming to a close.

This connection invites us to recognise a continuity of grace between the Founder and his successor. The charism is not a relic of the past, but a living tree that continues to bear fruit through those who embrace its spirit and make it present in history.

The Word of God offers us three images to understand the heart of the mission: loving with the heart of the Good Shepherd, binding the wounds of the world, and proclaiming the wonders that God continues to accomplish.

Mission is born from the heart of the Good Shepherd

Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” In these words, we find the secret of mission: to love to the point of giving one’s own life. Mission is born from an encounter with Christ, from allowing ourselves to be won over by his love, and from the desire to share that love with others.

This is the secret of St Daniel Comboni. Before becoming a great missionary, he was a man deeply in love with Christ. His passion sprang from the conviction that every person is precious in the eyes of God and that no people can be forgotten by his love.

The Good Shepherd does not love from a distance: he knows his sheep, shares their wounds, and walks with them, even to the point of giving his life. Comboni made this way of living his own, understanding that the love received from Christ becomes a life to be given to others.

And so, let us ask ourselves: Where does our mission begin? With programmes, structures, or our own abilities? All these are important, but they are not enough. The decisive question is another: What kind of love inspires what we do?

For we are missionaries not merely because of what we do, but above all when we learn to look upon and love others with the heart of Jesus.

Mission means binding the wounds of the world

The prophet Isaiah offers us words of great relevance today: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me and sent me to bring the Good News to the poor, to bind up the wounds of broken hearts.”

Jesus makes these words his own in the synagogue at Nazareth, revealing the meaning of his mission. Comboni, too, lived out this calling. But where is the Spirit leading us today?

He sends us into a world still wounded by wars, poverty, forced migration, inequality, and loneliness. There are people who have lost their homes and their hope, young people who struggle to dream, and peoples who continue to bear the burden of injustice.

Mission means bringing the tenderness of Christ to places where life is wounded. Sometimes this means crossing a continent; at other times, educating a child, accompanying a young person, defending a woman’s dignity, caring for someone who is ill, or listening to those who have had to leave their homeland.

We do not always have to go far away to be missionaries. Sometimes it is enough to stop beside someone who is suffering, listen to their pain, and restore a little hope.

This is the mission of the Good Shepherd: to see the wound, allow ourselves to be touched by it, and refuse to pass by.

Mission means proclaiming the wonders God accomplishes

The Psalm invites us: “Proclaim the wonders of the Lord to all peoples.” This means not only speaking about God, but also recognising his presence and bearing witness to what he continues to accomplish in the lives of individuals and peoples, even in the most difficult circumstances.

This calling concerns all of us: not only those who set out for distant lands, but also those who pray, support, share, and open their hearts to others. Each of us, wherever we live, can become a witness to God’s hope.

This was the vision that inspired Comboni: a passionate concern for humanity, sustained by trust in God and by the desire for his love to reach everyone.

We, too, are called to preserve this vision, recognising signs of life where suffering seems to prevail and becoming, through our lives, a proclamation of the wonders of the Lord.

Let us ask St Daniel Comboni and Christ, the Good Shepherd who won his heart, to rekindle in us the fire of mission: a heart capable of loving, hands ready to bind wounds, and a life that proclaims the wonders of God with joy and hope.

Fr David Domingues, MCCJ