About Mission Ministry
I. RATIONALE
1. Two years ago, HJM agreed to become a Lay Partner of SVD. The creation of a Mission Ministry is the actualization of that agreement as proposed by our Spiritual Director, Fr. Glen Paul Gomez, SVD also the Mission Secretary of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) for Philippine Central Province (PHC).
2. A Mission Ministry will bring to reality our desire to expand our own mission: the “renewal of Catholic families” through the Marriage Encounter Program, not only in Luzon but in also in the Visayas, Mindanao and in other countries as well.
3. “By the nature of our Baptism, we are Missionaries, we go where we are needed”. Jesus life is our life, His mission is our mission” (St. Arnold Janssen)
4. Jesus commands us to “Go into the whole world and preach the Good News”.
BRIEF HISTORY OF SVD LAY PARTNER
T. ARNOLD JANSSEN, in his life time founded four congregations or societies: Society of the Divine Word (SVD) for men, Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (Blue Sisters), Sister Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (Pink Sisters) for women and the Lay Partners for lay people. Today, SVD is the largest missionary congregation in the Catholic Church. The members of the Society include 47 bishops, 4,103 priests and 507 brothers working in 70 countries.
The SVD Lay Partners did not take off during St. Arnold Janssen’s life time. It was re-invigorated by Fr. Tony Pernia when he was elected Superior General of the Society from 2000 – 2012. Fr. Tony is the first Filipino Superior General of the Society. He is presently the Dean of Studies of the Divine Word Institute for Mission Studies (DWIMS) in Tagaytay City.
II. WORKING DRAFT OF GOVERNANCE / STRUCTURE OF THE MISSION MINISTRY
With the blessing of the Triune God and under the protection of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Arnold Janssen, we place ourselves in the service of the WORD as SVD Lay Partners.
As SVD Lay Partners, we share in the Spirituality and Charism of St Arnold Jansen
* Through a life of prayer and encounter with God who is WORD, through meditation of the Sacred Scripture;
* Experiencing the will of God in challenging situations and
* Fostering a life of communion with God through the community.
To conduct MEW and organize HJM ME Communities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao specially in SVD Administered Parishes with the help of the SVD Mission Secretaries and Lay Partners in these provinces and parishes.
Support SVD administered Parishes in “Mission Territories” either financially or through Pastoral Care
Establish HJM Prayer /Mission groups outside the Philippines.
The Mission Ministry shall be under the Supervision of the Board of Servant Leaders, specifically by the Spiritual Director, the Community Elders and the Head Servant.
A Shepherd Couple shall be assigned to directly supervise the activities of the Ministry. The Shepherd Couple will be one of the Community Elders.
A Ministry Head will be chosen to carry out the day to day activities of the Ministry. He shall be assisted by three (3) Deputy Ministers. The Deputy Ministers must be a Covenanted member.
* Deputy Minister for SVD North Province. His area of operation shall be from Aparri to Pangasinan
* Deputy Minister for the SVD Central Province. His area of operation shall be from Tarlac to Mindoro.
* Deputy Minister for the SVD Southern Province. His area of operation shall be the Visayas and Mindanao Provinces.
Each Deputy Minister shall have a CORE Group. The Core Group Head must be a Covenanted Member, while the members must be at least GSS graduates. The Core Group Head and the members, as much as possible, should come from the areas (provinces) of their operation, i.e.: the core group for the SVD North Province should hail from Abra, Mountain Province, Ilocos, La Union, Cagayan, Nueva Viscaya, Quirino and Pangasinan, The members of the Core Group are tasked to pin point possible Mission Area, preferably an SVD administered parish. The member of the Core Group shall prepare the ground works for the possible holding of a Marriage Encounter Weekend 0r other seminars as requested by the Parish Priest.
If the Parish Priest agrees, then the Mission Ministry Head, shall discuss the matter with the Ministry Head of the ME Ministry. The ME Ministry Head or an ME representative will survey the prospective mission area to make the necessary arrangements for the holding of an ME Weekend. After the ME Weekend, a Shepherd Couple, either from the ME Ministry or Mission Ministry shall be assigned to guide the ME graduates to sponsor the next ME.
The same arrangement will be followed for the Growth series, Charism, etc., until the Group can stand on their own or choose to affiliate with HJM PC.
Another Mission area that the Ministry can explore is outside the Philippines, like the United States or Europe. Missions outside the Philippines will be a Community Wide effort, led by the Mission Ministry Head and the Deputy Ministers and Shepherd Couple. It would be advantageous, if the Parish Priest of the possible mission area is an SVD.