Pope Leo XIV was an Augustinian and a missionary. For him, mission was not a programmed institutional task, but a personal response to God’s call, a constant offering of one’s own life. There is no authentic mission without a profound interior life, manifested in listening to God, ongoing conversion, and humble availability.
The missionary process has its steps: first, the person allows himself to be transformed; then, he/she is sent, not to a mission that is carried out “from above”, but sharing the concrete daily life of the people, with patience, accompaniment and daily fidelity.
According to Pope Leo XIV, “In an age marked by increasing conflict and division, we need authentic witnesses of human kindness and charity to remind us that we are all brothers and sisters. Words are not enough. Indeed, ‘love and our deepest convictions must be nourished, and this is done by gestures. To remain in the world of ideas and debates, without frequent and sincere personal gestures, will be the ruin of our most cherished dreams’ (Dilexi te, n. 119).”
Mission is not a set of projects directed by the clergy or pastoral specialists. It is a personal commitment that involves remaining, accompanying, sharing, and becoming part of the daily lives of those being accompanied in all their contexts: family, work, community, and social engagement.
From this point of view, Christian solidarity is not a political idea, or a generic feeling of altruism, or a not a humanist ethic, but an evangelical requirement. Not every human being has to feel altruistic; but every Christian must feel like a missionary, it is an inescapable part of the essence of their faith.
And Christian solidarity can never be about “helping from the outside.” It seeks to recognize the other as a brother or sister, to accept that the suffering of others concerns me. The Catholic Church is not an NGO, certainly, but its members cannot be indifferent to injustice.
The Gospel message unequivocally proclaims this “preferential option for the poor.” In the Word of God, space and prominence are given to the voiceless, the most vulnerable are cared for, and any minimal complicity with racism or hatred of the poor is banished. God feels at home with the impoverished, the migrant, the elderly, the excluded, the forgotten, the marginalized.
Solidarity is even a criterion for discernment: a believer who stands with the most vulnerable is credible. It is not just about providing material assistance, but about creating bonds, healing divisions, and promoting a culture of encounter. As Saint Augustine reminded us in his writings and as he demonstrated in his Church of Hippo, solidarity builds the unity of the ecclesial and human body.
In light of the centenary of the Lábrea Mission in the Brazilian Amazon, the Augustinian Recollect Family has journeyed—or rather, navigated—the rivers and lakes of the rainforest to encounter some of the most isolated and forgotten peoples in the world. Today’s missionaries recall the stories of those who felt such a profound call to mission that they even gave their lives for it.
Give me a drink: when God thirsts for us