Plenary Talks: Anne Falola, OLA

In this series, we will present the talks presented during the UISG Plenary Assembly in Rome in May 2022.

All the talks are available in the newest issue of the UISG Bulletin.

Vulnerability as a missionary - Sr. Anne Falola, OLA

Vulnerability is a fundamental quality of every authentic Christian mission, because we are called to follow Christ, ‘who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave.... (Phil. 2:6-8). The Kenosis of Christ makes vulnerability a way of being missionary and an important means for mission. The dictionary explains vulnerability as being exposed to the possibility of attack or hurt, either physically or emotionally. The vulnerability of Christ was not imposed; it is a condition He willingly assumed, from his birth in the manger as a defenceless baby to his death on the Cross as a common criminal. I invite us to hold in our minds any of the numerous icons of the vulnerable Christ as I share this reflection.

I approach this reflection by considering two aspects of vulnerability as experienced by missionaries. The first is what I call vulnerability from above, which I define as the decision to empty oneself of the power and honour which one legitimately possesses; it contradicts our innate desire to hold on to power, to dominate and to be triumphant.

While the experience of the pandemic brought the fragility of the human family close to everyone, we can only transform the pain brought by the pandemic when together we learn to embrace both forms of vulnerability. The first is something we have to let go of in order to follow the Kenosis of Christ, while the second is a reality imposed on us by our human condition which we learn to embrace for transformation.