“Here I am, send me (Is 6,8)” is the theme of World Mission Sunday, which is to be celebrated on October 18. But what does this invitation mean in concrete terms in the life of those who have accepted the call of the Lord? Agenzia Fides has collected the responses of some missionaries active in Chad.
Mgr. Jean-Claude Bouchard, Bishop of Pala, has spent fifty-two years of missionary life in the African country. The Bishop was called to proclaim the Gospel far from his homeland, Canada, where he was ordained in St-Éloi, his native village, on August 30, 1969. The Bishop of Pala explains: “I arrived in Chad in January 1970, assigned to the Guelendeng mission. I collaborated with Father Honoré Jouneaux, former Apostolic Prefect. We stayed together seven years before I was appointed Bishop… Those seven years went by too quickly and I was appointed Bishop too soon. I felt like the prophet Jeremiah who said to the Lord: “I am too young”. But I had to answer yes to the Lord who called me through the voice of Pope Paul VI”.
The Bishop concludes: “The Church of Chad has grown in quantity, but it is urgent to make it grow in quality. There are many baptisms, but not enough knowledge of Jesus and the commitment of the baptized in the Church and in the life of the Country. Let the words: ‘Here I am, send me!’ become the answer for each of us”.