Three missionaries of Shalom Catholic Community from London (UK) made their solemn commitments on the 24th and 25th of July, 2015. Francisca de Oliveira made her First Temporary Promises as Covenant Community and the couple, Clelio and Josi Souza, were admitted as new Disciple members also from Covenant Community.
The first celebration took place at St Monica’s Catholic Church in Hoxton Square, London. The Rite of First Temporary Promises occurred within a Eucharistic celebration and marked an important step in Francisca’s vocational life. Francisca, a Brazilian young woman, had moved to London in 2004 searching for a change in her life. Less than a month of her arrival she was invited to a prayer group led by Shalom Community. “I didn’t want to go at all and tried to keep giving excuses to decline the invitation from my roommates. But one day I had no choice and was almost ‘forced’ to go. I had a deep experience with God’s love that day and never stop going anymore”, she recalls.
She then got more and more involved in the prayer group and other activities organized by Shalom. After a closer contact with some of Shalom’s missionaries who were living in London at the time, she developed a sincere desire to become a missionary herself one day. And so did God. After a few years as a prayer group member, part of the Work Shalom, she started a Vocational discernment path and was accepted as a Postulant member in 2009. In 2012 she became a Disciple member and received for the first time the Tau cross, a distinctive sign worn by Shalom’s missionary around the neck. Now, she was able to make her first promises and become missionary in full sense, something desired by her and by the Lord for years.
On the following day, at St Patrick’s Church in Soho Square, London, it was the time of two other people to make their commitments in the Community. Clelio and Josi, a married couple also from Brazil, came to London in 2009 due to a work contract. They already knew Shalom Community from their home town in Brazil. They too began to participate in a prayer group and get more involved in evangelizing activities. In 2013 they were accepted as Postulant members and for two years they had the opportunity to live as missionaries in a probational period. The Postulancy is a time where the candidates embraces all aspects of a missionary life according to Shalom’s statutes while continuing to discern and pray if they have an authentic call to this specific vocation. After that process, now they were admitted into the Discipleship period. A Disciple is what we call a member in formation as they are recognized as missionaries, members of Shalom, but still in a special process of deepening their call, their life of prayer, of service, of discernment and a wonderful moment to grow in maturity and sense of responsibility towards the call made by God.
A vocation is a particular way designed by God for someone to serve Him, the Church and others. It is both a spiritual and apostolic way. It bears a specific spirituality usually inspired by the Lord in the heart of a founder or founders. There are many different vocations and, as St John Paul II use to compare, they are like different flowers and fruits that together makes the beautiful garden which is the Church.
If you want to know more about the vocation Shalom and how to become a missionary, read more HERE.
To see the pictures taken from the Rite of First Temporary Promises click HERE. To see the pictures from the Rite of Admittance into Discipleship click HERE.