“Cast into the Deep” (Luke 5: 4) - Mission Declaration

We, twenty-two CICM confreres, who completed the Initial Formation between 2010-2014 and participated in the 2022 Ongoing Formation Session organized by our General Government, at the CICM Mission Center, Maryhill, Taytay, Rizal- Philippines, from October 9 – 30, 2022, are grateful to the Congregation for:      

• Receiving us as members and allowing us to fulfill our dreams and passion to be missionaries;
• Bringing us together as confreres of the same generation to share our experiences and hopes for the future of our Congregation;
• Believing and investing in us to continue the Mission.

After three weeks of prayer, listening to speakers, sharing of experiences, self-evaluation, and reflection on our identity as men consecrated to God for mission, we have allowed ourselves to be rekindled with the fire of our original call, and we commit ourselves:

• To deepen our relationship with God through prayer, retreats, missionary Spirituality, personal devotion, and self-care;
• To generously surrender our personal securities and protections to God and rely only on his grace as Moses did when he took off his sandals in God’s presence;
• To renew our vows daily in the silence of our hearts as a way to achieving holiness;
• To keep sight of our being religious missionaries by creating boundaries for a safe environment in our communities and ministries;
• To build healthy communities through self-knowledge, storytelling, proactive conflict resolution and management;
• To witness intercultural living in a multicultural world;
• To be familiar with CICM financial systems and be good and accountable stewards of our resources;
• To be attentive to the new challenges and opportunities to do Mission in this ever-changing global world, and be responsive through new ways of evangelization in the following priorities: Youth, social media, migration, care of “our Common Home”, option for the poor, and Interreligious dialogue;
• To use the synodal process in our decision-making.

With a strong desire to give back what we have received, we count on the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary our Patroness. May her example and the courage of our Founder Théophile Verbist and his first companions give us the strength to embrace the future with renewed passion for Christ and for humanity by being joyful, passionate, and zealous CICM missionaries. May God bless our Congregation.  

Taytay, Rizal, Philippines October 29, 2022