MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF GOD'S LOVE FOR THE POOR:

An initial discussion document about the establishment of a missionary association that is part of
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal

I am at the very initial stages of the process of seeking to move forward in starting, or helping to start, a
missionary association that is part of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. This would probably be one
which at some stage would seek to be recognized as what the Catholic Church calls an “association of
the faithful”. The name that I have in mind for this association is the Missionary Servants of God's
Love for the Poor (MSGLP) and that is what I am calling it in this paper. However, I do not have a firm
sense that this is definitely the correct name and some other name could be given to it.

This paper is an initial discussion document for consideration by, and discussion with, those who are
interested in either supporting the MSGLP or in becoming members of the MSGLP, or for others who
are willing to give advice, constructive criticism or any other input. This document outlines the vision
and mission for the MSGLP which I believe God has given me as well as some important aspects of
the nature of the MSGLP. I would welcome feedback, input, and constructive criticism (both positive
and negative) even from those who do not feel called to be part of the MSGLP in any way.

The sense that I have is that this association should probably not be part of any single charismatic
community. In fact, I hope that this missionary association would be supported by different charismatic
communities and indeed that it would be started through a partnership of different communities,
ministries and other entities within the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. If this is the case then maybe
one particular community, such as the ICPE Mission, Couples For Christ, or Ligaya ng Panginoon,
might need to take a leading role. I also hope that the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal
Services (ICCRS) and maybe the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and
Fellowships would also play some important role.

As envisioned in this document, the MSGLP is not in anyway meant to be an alternative to

communities like ICPE Mission, Couples For Christ or Ligaya ng Panginoon. I very much hope that
members of the MSGLP will be members of different such communities or of stable charismatic prayer
groups. At least eventually, I hope that there will be a core group of celibates within the MSGLP who
will form a Religious Order or more likely a Society of Apostolic Life. However, the MSGLP would
not seek to have any “pastoral authority” whatsoever over anyone, whether single or married, who is
not in this celibate core. This is the sense that I have, and this is what I would prefer. However, I do
also think it possible that the way forward is for this missionary association to simply be part of one
particular community (as, for example, the Missionaries of God's Love are part of the Disciples of
Jesus Community).

It might be easier if this missionary association were simply part of a single community. This would
not necessarily mean that the association only serves or relates to its own community (the Missionaries
of God's Love for example clearly serves the wider Church and not just the Disciples of Jesus
community). It night well be that this is the way forward. Indeed originally I did think that this was the
way forward and that this association would be part of Couples For Christ (while still serving the wider
Church and the wider world and not just CFC itself). However, while I still think this might be the way
forward, I hope, and also I sense, that maybe the Lord is wanting an association that is not limited to
any one part of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (this is one reason why I hope ICCRS will play an

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important role).

MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF GOD'S LOVE FOR THE POOR

VISION

• To be missionary servants of God’s Love for the poor

MISSION

• To live lives of love

• To live missionary lives dedicated most especially to the particular purpose of:-
- evangelization
- serving the poor
- fighting poverty
- leading, equipping and facilitating others to evangelize, to serve the poor and to fight
poverty

• To live mainly among the poor (for those in the first and second categories of membership).

God's heart is broken by the poverty in this world. The number of the poor is utterly staggering, as is
the rate of increase in their number. The majority of the world lives in some sort of material poverty.
Even the number of the absolutely poor, living on less than one US Dollar a day, is mind-blowing. The
number living on less than two US dollars a day is far greater. There are literally billions of people
living in abject poverty, in squalor, misery and destitution. Included in these billions are the urban poor,
many of whom dwell in the rapidly proliferating urban slums, squatter settlements and informal
communities, especially in the two-thirds world (the so called “underdeveloped countries” or
“developing world”).

The urban slum areas already probably constitute not just the largest single group of the world's poor,
but the biggest single sector of society as a whole. For the first time in history we now have more
people living in urban areas than in rural areas. At least one billion of these urban dwellers, that is to
say at least one in every three urban residents in the world, live in urban slum areas. Very often these
areas are without electricity, clean water, health and medical services, and sewerage or waste disposal
systems. Formal education for the children is usually either completely lacking or greatly lacking in
quantity and quality. Overcrowding is the norm and large families often live in tiny makeshift
accommodation. The conditions are normally extremely insanitary. Rats, cockroaches and other
vermin abound. Sickness and disease are rife and many die from causes that would be easily
preventable if money or other resources were available.

God's heart bleeds for those who live in such poverty and it is for such people that Christ came to bring
the good news. Yet most often there is no Church presence in these areas, and even when there is a
Church presence it is normally minimal. Furthermore whatever Church presence does exist among the
urban poor is usually limited to relief and development work. Such relief and development work is

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important, indeed it is absolutely vital, but it is not the only work the Church should be doing. As John
Paul II insists in his letter Redemptoris Missio, it is missionary evangelization that is “the primary
service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity in the modern world.”

Unfortunately holistic missionary evangelization among the poor which includes social action for and
with the poor and oppressed, relief and development work, the witness of Christian life, and a clear
verbal proclamation of the gospel is often sadly lacking. There are probably billions of people in the
slum areas who have never heard the Gospel of Christ. Certainly, without any doubt, there are many
hundreds of millions of poor who have not heard a full and credible presentation of the Gospel, who
have not heard the message of eternal life, who have not heard of God's amazing, gracious and
merciful love revealed in Jesus Christ, who have not had proclaimed to them the forgiveness, healing
and strengthening that Jesus Christ freely offers, who have not heard the call to follow Jesus Christ in
repentance and faith, who have not heard Christ's call to love and holiness, who have not heard of the
transformation that is possible in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, who, through absolutely
no fault of their own, do not know what it really means to be a Christian and to live a Christian life.

As St Thomas Aquinas said, “He who is dying of hunger must be fed rather than taught”.The Church
cannot and must not ignore the material, social and economic conditions of the poor. The Church
cannot and must not offer a “spiritual gospel” which is unconcerned with the material world. It is an
absolute scandal that such a lack of concern has often seemed to be the case. This should never be the
case anywhere. The Church must be concerned with giving food to the hungry, clothes to the naked and
shelter to those who have none. The Church must be concerned with social, political, and economic
issues. The Church must be concerned with issues of justice and peace in a world full of injustice,
hatred, and violence and with an ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. The Church must be
concerned with the need for structural change at local, national and international levels. This is a vital
part of living out the teachings of Jesus in the world.

Also, the Church must be concerned, in its work with the poor and its fight against poverty and
injustice, to join together with Muslims, with those from other non-Christian religions and with those
who do not believe in God. It must be concerned to do this with integrity. It must be concerned to do
this with a sensitivity for the beliefs of others. It must be concerned to do this with humility, with
respect, and with an openness to learn.

But such concerns, so absolutely vital as they are, must never blur the uniqueness of Christ as the fully
Divine Son of God and as the the only Saviour. Such concerns, so absolutely vital as they are, must
never lead to a refusal to state the Church's teaching on the reality of heaven and hell. Such concerns,
so absolutely vital as they are, must never be substitutes for the Church seeking to lead those who do
not know of Christ, or who do not believe in Him as Lord, God and Saviour, to repentance and to faith
in Christ. Such concerns, so absolutely vital as they are, must never replace the missionary mandate to
establish and build up the Church where the Church has not yet taken root or is lacking in vitality. Such
concerns, so absolutely vital as they are, must never be substitutes for the Church seeking to proclaim
verbally the good news of Jesus Christ and his Kingdom to the poor.

The poor have a right to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and a right to hear the announcement of
the Kingdom of God, they must not be deprived of this right. They have a right to hear the Gospel and
they also have a right to hear it - and see it - presented in a way that is relevant and intelligible to them.
Yet, unfortunately, a credible verbal proclamation of the good news to the poor is sadly lacking. As Viv

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Grigg disappointedly declares concerning the urban slum areas, “the Church has given bread to the
poor and has kept the bread of life for the middle classes.”

The harvest is ripe, but the labourers are few. Urban slum dwellers are certainly among the most needy
part of the world’s population and sometimes they are also the most receptive to the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. The billions of poor in today's world are crying out for those who will bring the good news of
Christ to them in both word and deed. They need to see Christian disciples who continue the
incarnation of Christ. They need to see Christian disciples who live among them in lives of prayer,
friendship, hospitality and service. They need to see living among them men and women who reveal
God through their lives of love, joy, humility and compassion.

Jesus Christ is calling for such people to come forward and to go and live among the poor. The Holy
Spirit is touching people’s hearts to form communities of disciples who will live among the poor and
seek to reflect Christ through lives of love, joy, humility and service. The Lord wishes to raise up
communities of Christians who will “incarnate” or “flesh out” the gospel among the poor rather than
simply proclaiming the gospel from without. The Lord wishes to raise up communities of apostolic life
who intentionally seek not only to live among the poor but also to share at least some of the conditions
of the poor, voluntarily living lives of simplicity or non-destitute poverty. The Lord wishes to raise up
communities of disciples who will suffer with the poor and yet who will also mirror the joy of Jesus
Christ and celebrate his goodness. The Lord is calling, but not enough people are hearing and
responding. The harvest is indeed ripe but unfortunately the labourers are few.

The Missionary Servants of God's Love for the Poor is one response to this call of God, to this call of
God for his disciples to love the poor, to serve the poor, to fight poverty and even to go and live among
the poor. The members of the MSGLP seek to grow as disciples who desire to respond to Christ's call
to continue his mission of bringing the good news to the poor. MSGLP members seek to be disciples
who also recognize that Christ is already to be found among the poor and who desire to meet him in the
poor. The MSGLP seeks to develop as a Catholic association that is in some way similar to the so
called “incarnational ministries” that God is raising up among Evangelical Protestant Christians, some
of whose members have been called the “new friars” and who not only serve but live among the poor
in the rapidly proliferating urban slum areas.

Inspired by these Protestant “new friars”, who have appropriated so much from the Catholic Church,
the MSGLP has arisen from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) and has its original roots most
particularly in the communities movement within the CCR. The MSGLP believes it is called to play a
prophetic role and a teaching role both within the Church and in the wider world, that it is called to
make known God's special love for the poor and that it is called to make known the imperative for
God's people to have a preferential option for the poor and to build the Church of the Poor. Thus
MSGLP members will not just serve among the poor but in the wider church and in society as whole in
order to make known the imperatives of serving the poor and fighting poverty and in order to inspire
and equip people for this task.

Also, as is the case with some of the “new Friar” movements, the MSGLP will not limit itself to being
concerned with urban poverty in the two-thirds world. Urban poverty in the economically richer
countries is very different from urban poverty in the two-thirds world but it is still nevertheless a
reality. The MSGLP will also have members who live among the urban poor in cities such as London
in economically richer countries and it will also be concerned about evangelising the poor, and

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otherwise serving the poor and fighting poverty in such places.

Although seeking to be an active, apostolic and missionary association, the MSGLP also seeks to place
prayer, praise and worship at the very heart of its life – loud, vocal prayer and silent, contemplative
prayer. MSGLP members are called to be “active contemplatives” or “contemplatives in action”. As
such, silent contemplative prayer is to be an essential part of the MSGLP way of life. However an
equally essential part of the charism of the MSGLP is that it seeks to foster a spirituality that springs
from the Charismatic Renewal - which expresses itself in loud vocal praise and worship - and which is
also liturgical - centered on the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours.

An important aspect of the MSGLP is that it will not normally set up its own ministries. Rather
MSGLP members will normally serve in the context of the local Church (at diocesan or parish level),
or in the context of Catholic or ecumenical communities (such as the ICPE Mission, Couples For
Christ, Ligaya ng Panginoon, Bukas Loob ng Diyos, or the Light of Christ), or in the contexts of
organizations (such as Gawad Kalinga, Caritas International, World Vision, Habitat for Humanity). It
is envisaged that, eventually, there will be MSGLP priests who will help set up, lead and otherwise
serve parishes and mission stations among the urban poor.

The MSGLP will consist of three different expressions of membership. Members in each of these three
expressions will normally also be members of some stable community or prayer group that is part of
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

The first expression of MSGLP membership, at least eventually, will be a core group of single celibate
people. The intention is for this core group to become recognized by the Church as a missionary
institute. Probably, at some stage, this celibate core group will seek to become first a Public
Association of the Faithful and then a Society of Apostolic Life. The members of this missionary
institute will include priests, deacons and brothers. It is very possible that at some stage a congregation
of sisters may also arise. It is not necessarily the case that this first expression of MSGLP membership
will be chronologically the first to develop.

The members of the celibate core of MSGLP will not necessarily take formal ecclesial vows of
poverty, chastity and obedience (members of religious institutes are required to take such vows but
members of societies of apostolic life are not so required). However, regardless of whether or not they
take formal vows, members of the celibate core will be called somehow to seek to live out the
evangelical counsels in a particularly focused, codified and committed way.

A very important aspect of the life of this celibate core within the MSGLP will be that its members will
not normally live alone but will live some form of common life. They will normally live their life
among the poor in community, together with at least one or two fellow members of the MSGLP. The
daily praying of the Divine Office, combined with daily charismatic praise and worship, will be an
important aspect of the common life MSGLP celibates. Daily times of silent prayer will also be vital
for each member. Regular meals together will also be an important part of the MSGLP celibates
common life. The daily celebration of the Eucharist will be part of the life of those MSGLP
communities which include priests (this may not be possible for MSGLP communities which do not
include priests, especially if they are living in a poor area with little Church presence).

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The second expression of MSGLP membership will comprise of single people, married people and
priests. These members will not necessarily make lifelong commitments but they will commit
themselves to living and serving among the poor as members of the MSGLP for at least two years. If
possible, these members will live with, or near ,other MSGLP members. Daily personal prayer and
regular common prayer will be an important part of the community life of those who live out this
expression of the MSGLP way of life. Service and hospitality will also be an important aspect of life
for these members. Whilst these MSGLP members will need to commit themselves to follow a rule of
life, the MSGLP will not exercise any pastoral authority over them.

The third form of membership of the MSGLP will be for those who share the values of the MSGLP but
either do not believe that God is calling them to actually go and live among the poor or cannot live
among the poor for whatever reason. These members could be seen as a “third order” who seek to live
simple lives of love inspired by the vision and mission of the MSGLP, who commit themselves to pray
for the Church's mission among the poor and to play their part in evangelisation, serving the poor and
fighting poverty and in inspiring, equipping and otherwise enabling others to evangelise, to serve the
poor and to fight poverty. These members will seek to support those who live and serve among the
poor (especially, but not only, those in the first and second categories of MSGLP membership). These
members will be encouraged to make their own individual rules of life suitable for their particular
situation. It may well be that the MSGLP will consist mainly of people in this third form of
membership. It may even be that during the initial stages of establishing the MSGLP all members will
belong to this third category of membership (with perhaps some in the second category).

It is also envisioned that a wider network of friends and supporters will arise who give some of their
time, energy, skills and resources to further the vision and mission of MSGLP. Those who wish may
formally join the “Friends of the MSGLP”. They will support the MSGLP in various ways, including
through their prayers, friendship, financial support and material support. Also related to the MSGLP
will be those whom the MSGLP helps to live among the poor for a short period of time (between two
weeks to two years).

Fr. Paul Uwemedimo (13 November 2010 version)