CICM Spirituality CICM Charism - Ad Intra - Ad Extra

CICM CHARISM
CICM Spirituality
CICM Charism
- AD INTRA
- AD EXTRA
INTRODUCTION
The mandate to evangelize is first entrusted to the disciples and such task is carried
on by the Church as she is born of the evangelizing activity of Jesus and the Twelve. This
mission to evangelize is accepted and now, has expanded to the whole world. Having been
born consequently out of being sent, the Church in her turn is sent by Jesus."
God bestowed upon each one gifts that would help him/her in the service of God. As
stewards of these gifts, each one must cooperate in the spread of the Gospel for the building
up of the, Church. All these gifts are meant for the promotion of the Kingdom of God. They
must be lived in a spirit of service.
"Therefore, by the Holy Spirit, who distributes the charismata as He wills for the
common good (1 Cor 12:11), He inspires the missionary vocation in the heads Of
individuals, and at the same time He raises up in the Church certain institutes (2) which take
as their own special task the duty of preaching the Gospel, a duty belonging to the whole
Church. They are assigned with a special vocation Who, being endowed with a suitable
natural temperament, and being fit as regards talent and other qualities, have been trained to
Undertake mission work; or be they autochthonous or be they foreigners: priests, Religious,
or laymen. Sent by legitimate authority, they go out in faith and obedience to those who are
far from Christ They are set apart for the work for which they have been taken up (cf. Acts
13: 2), as ministers Of the Gospel, 'that the offering up of the Gentiles may become
acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spiff (Rom. 15:16').
(Ad Gentes, ChapterlV, # 23)
What are you really good at? Painting? Counseling? Maybe you've never met a car
problem you couldn't repair, or you're an amazing chef. Perhaps you just find opportunities
to help people wherever you go.
Whatever your talent or skill is, guess what? God's behind it! But He doesn't bless
us with talents or skills so we can get noticed or earn lots of cash. Yes, that can be a result
of it. But it's so much bigger than that. God wants us to honor Him with those gifts! He
wants us to be "good and faithful servants" with our talents.
How exactly does God want us to use our talents for Him?
Two ways: blessing others and building His kingdom.
God wants us to bless others.

In 1 Peter 4:10, we're called to use our gifts to serve others as faithful stewards of
God's grace. Now, in that context, Peter was specifically talking about spiritual gifts, like
prophecy and healing. Those are supernatural abilities God gives each Christ-follower, but
the general idea of blessing others also carries over to talents. God doesn't give us anything
just for our own benefit. After all, we're blessed to be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2)
Just as with spiritual gifts, God wants us to use our talents and skills for the
benefit of others.
God wants us to build His kingdom for His glory.

God made us all different. That's great, because together, all of us make up
the kingdom. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul compares the body of Christ to a human body: Each
of us is unique, but together we make the body complete. And Christ is the head of the body
(Ephesians 5:23), so everything we do points back to Him. He directs it all! In other words,
God wants you to use your unique role in the body of Christ to glorify Him. So, if God made
you an amazing singer, sing for Him. If your talent is a little less conventional—maybe
you're good with numbers or with writing code—then find a way to translate that into a job
or volunteer work for a God-honoring company or ministry. Use your God-given abilities
to reach those who don't know Him—and give Him the credit for your talents.
Jesus gives us two commandments:

to love the Lord and to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). And when we
steward our talents to honor Him and to bless others, we're doing just that.
“…The Church is born of the evangelizing activity of Jesus and the Twelve. She is
the normal, desired, most immediate and most visible fruit of this activity: "Go,
therefore, make disciples of all the nations. "[37] Now, "they accepted what he said and
were baptized. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.... Day by
day the Lord added to their community those destined to be saved. "[38] – Having been born
consequently out of being sent, the Church in her turn is sent by Jesus."
-(Evangelii Nuntiandi,#15)
The response of the CICM is clear as indicated in their mission statement

which says:
“…Enlightened by those who preceded us and who – like our founder — left their
familiar surroundings to follow Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, by integrating themselves
into a foreign culture, and by living in solidarity with another people ; enriched by those we
serve, especially the poor who reveal to us the sin of the world and who help us discover the
true meaning of God's plan of love, we CICM missionaries of different races and cultures
live and work together as brothers in order to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever
it is most needed."
Etymologically, the word comes from the "charism" Greek charis, meaning grace,
free gift. The word "grace" in current spiritual language gives expression to the primordial
gift that allows Christians to participate in the divine life—in Christ. It is what makes a
baptized person a child of God and a member of the Church.
The Second Vatican Council, in various documents, describes charisms as the Holy
Spirit "allotting His gifts accordingly as He wills (cf. 1 Cor 12:12) … also distributing
special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts, He makes them fit and ready
to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Churc h, as it is
written, 'the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit' (1 Cor 12:7) (LG 12).
The “spiritual gifts” termed charisms are gifts given for the benefit of the common good. for
the building of the Church. The Spirit distributes them to many different people. They are
given to each and every one according to the needs of the community. All "charisms" or
graces come from the same.
Spirit and all charismatic gifts serve the higher gift of charity - the supreme
charism: love of self and love of others are united in charity. Charisms that serve the
people of God are numerous.
Given for the good, charisms must be lived out in a spirit of service. (1 pet 4:10-11)
"All congregations are marked by their There is something of the charisma.

fingerprint of the founder that continues to give the CICM its own face, and its own
contribution to the CHURCH. If anything marks CICM, it is the call to leave everything for
the sake of the mission." - Fr. Gabriel dieryck, CICM
01 AD EXTRA
The CICM is an international religious missionary congregation, dedicated to the

Incarnate Word under the name and patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a
missionary congregation founded in order to participate in the mission that Jesus has
entrusted to the whole Church. Every CICM missionary is called to follow Jesus, to share
His life and destiny, and to conform everything to Him in faith. The CICM missionary is
called to go beyond geographical and religious boundaries to share Jesus Christ with all
those who do not know Him. This is the CICM charism ad- extra (towards the outside): to
go where they are sent...where they are most needed … in frontier situations.
Like the founder, Fr. Theophile Verbist, the CICM missionaries heed the call of
Christ as they say with conviction; " We are sent to the nations to announce the Good News,
wherever our missionary presence is most needed, especially where the Gospel is not known
or lived. We leave our country to proclaim salvation as the great gift of God which liberates
from everything that oppresses and divides people." Every CICM missionary then, is willing
to leave behind everything, including his family, culture and possessions. He is sent to
proclaim the Good News of salvation to all nations. This Good news of salvation is a gift
of God that liberates people from all forms of oppression and sin.
Throughout the years of its existence. the CICM missionaries are committed to the
proclamation of the Good News where they are sent . Its soul has been, and still is, the
charisma that animated the Founder from the very beginning, namely the call to leave
everything and to go out and spread the Good News. Inspired by Father Verbist's example,
other young men took up the challenge to evangelize in some of the most remote areas of
the world and have been among the first to bring the Good News of the Gospel to the
peoples of China, the Congo, the Philippines and Indonesia. "CICM members leave
countries, culture, and enter into the life and culture of others — the so-called ad extra
character of the CICM. Mission is self-giving." (Fr. Jean Didier Badianga, CICM, 2017)
Indeed, today, more than 850 missionary priests and brothers from Europe, the
Americas, Africa and Asia, are living and working together in multicultural communities
as brothers, continue this long tradition of caring for God's poorest and most neglected
people in many parts of the world.
02 AD INTRA
Another dimension of the CICM charism is the "ad intra". This dimension is
expressed in their mission statement as follows: “… Enriched by those we serve, especially
the poor who reveal to us the sin of the world and who help us discover the true meaning of
God's plan of love, we CICM missionaries of different races and cultures live and work
together as brothers in order to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever it is most
needed." The phrase “to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ wherever it is most needed"
does not necessitate the missionary to leave his own country but to be where his service is
most needed, may it be in his own country or anywhere.
Art.3 of the CICM Constitutions states: "The missionary goal of the Institute must
inspire and motivate all our commitments, both communal and personal. Wherever we are,
we share in the same corporate commitment. We are alert to new situations in the world as
well as to new needs Of the Churches. We regularly question ourselves about the tasks we
undertake. We willingly adopt the reorientations deemed necessary.
Also, Art 13 explains: "Through the Incarnation, the Son Of God entered into the
history of the Jewish people. While sharing the life of his people, he took a prophetic stance
in view of the Kingdom. His example is always before us in our efforts to integrate
ourselves among the people to whom God sends us"
Similarly, Art. 4 also states: "We sincerely love and respect the people to whom we
are sent. We adopt a listening attitude and try to gain a knowledge and understanding of
their socio economic, political, cultural and religious realities."
Ad extra, ad intra therefore expresses the reality of a CICM missionary vocation: to

be a CICM is to leave one's home, family and culture, and even one's country (ad extra) or
simply one's region. to learn a new language and a new culture. to be with other people. The
understanding/stress now is not necessarily therefore to physically leave one's country, but
to respond to a situation where one's missionary presence is most needed (ad intra).

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CICM CHARISM

God wants us to bless others.

God wants us to build His kingdom for His glory.

Jesus gives us two commandments:

The response of the CICM is clear as indicated in their mission statement

"All congregations are marked by their There is something of the charisma.

The CICM is an international religious missionary congregation, dedicated to the

Ad extra, ad intra therefore expresses the reality of a CICM missionary vocation: to

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