Introduction
In this article, I share three defining moments in my life as a lay missionary in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the invitation, the preparation/training, and the mission.
With humility and joy, I share a glimpse of this journey, striving to be a “melody of compassion,” as the XV General Chapter of the Missionary Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) inspires us; a “faithful and creative disciple in a wounded world,” as the XIX General Chapter of the Congregation of the Divine Word (SVD) asks of us; and a “pilgrim of hope,” as Pope Francis invites us, especially during this Holy Year.
In this article, I share some experiences as a lay missionary, with the goal of: (i) testifying to how I have lived my vocation as a companion in the mission of the Arnaldina family; (ii) inviting reflection on the challenges, lessons learned, and fruits of the missionary journey; and (iii) inspiring other lay people to share their missionary experiences ad gentes and ad intra. The Word of God has many accounts of rejection, persecution, misunderstanding, violence… This is part of the journey, but “let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap the fruits if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9)
The invitation
I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test what God wants—what is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)
In 1988, at the age of fifteen, I began studying at Our Lady of Mercy School in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, run by the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit. Father Matheus Nurak, SVD—of the Brazilian National Spirituality Team—would often joke with me, saying, “When you walked into that classroom, Saint Arnold Janssen said, ‘That girl will be my daughter.’”
With great joy, upon completing my training course, I received an invitation to teach at the very school where I had attended. Over time, I took on other roles: coordinator, Religious Education coordinator, and supervisor… I also worked with Missionary Childhood.
In 1999, I received a special invitation from Sister Oracina da Silva Dias, SSpS—known as Sister Felicidade—to join the newly emerging group of Lay Missionaries of the One and Triune God.
– How have the encounters and invitations that arise in life revealed the path that God dreams for you?
The preparation
May the Heart of Jesus live in our hearts and in the hearts of all people!
In 2000, I had the grace to participate, along with a group of ten education leaders and two SSpS sisters—Sister Aglaé Pascoal (in memoriam) and Sister Heloíse Matos—in a pilgrimage to the Arnoldus family’s places of origin. We visited Steyl, in the Netherlands, where the Central House is located; Goch, in Germany, the city where Saint Arnold was born; and Oies, in Italy, the birthplace of Saint Joseph Freinademetz. We made pilgrimages to other significant places, following in the footsteps of the founding generation, to gain a deeper understanding of the Arnoldus family’s charism and the characteristics of each congregation: the Society of the Divine Word (the Word); the Servants of the Holy Spirit (witnesses to the love of community life); and the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (love of the Eucharist). This pilgrimage to deepen our family’s charism was led by Father Anthony Bom Pates, SVD.
As I delved deeper into the life of Saint Arnold Janssen, I felt increasingly touched and enveloped by his Trinitarian, incarnate, and missionary charism. This closeness was made even more meaningful by some very personal experiences. I was part of the Apostleship of Prayer movement and received the monthly newsletter “Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”. It was with gratitude that I discovered that Saint Arnold was one of the great propagators of the Apostolate. For him, “in the Heart of Jesus, he saw the perfect dwelling place of the Trinity, of God who invites us to shape our existence according to this model. Arnold himself became a missionary and an apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the school of the Apostleship of Prayer”. (Rehbein, 2004, p. 53)
Another fact that brought me even closer to Saint Arnold is that I was born into a family of printers: my grandmother and her eight siblings worked their entire lives in the family printing shop. I myself, at eighteen, founded my own printing shop. Therefore, I was filled with enthusiasm when I discovered that “in 1876 the Mission House in Steyl quickly became known for its printing and publications” (SVD, 2003, p. 33) and that the mission benefited from the collaboration of the printer, benefactor, and fellow layman, Joseph Stute.
I returned to Brazil feeling even more deeply involved in and committed to this great international and intercultural family, present in seventy-nine countries. In 2018, I joyfully received an invitation from Sister Maria Percila Vieira, then SSpS Provincial of BRN, to join the Province’s Spirituality Team, along with three sisters. The following year, the Provincial entrusted me with a new mission: to represent the BRN Province on the National Spirituality Team.
From this invitation, and inspired by fraternal coexistence with the Servants of the Holy Spirit, with the SVD priests and brothers, as well as with lay men and women, I recognized, with gratitude and profound joy, that I had become a lay missionary of the Arnoldus family. I follow this path, aware of my smallness, affirming with simplicity and faith: “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty”. (cf. Lk 17:10)
In 2019, I had the joy of participating in the III SVD Congress, held in Santa Isabel, Espírito Santo, whose theme was “SVD and Lay People Committed to the Mission”. I was alongside Brother Paolo Delucca, SVD, Sister Heloise Matos, SSpS, and other sisters, collaborating in the leadership of a workshop.
In this workshop, we reflected on fundamental themes for the mission of lay Christians in the Church and in the world: the historical-ecclesial framework of the laity, the lay Christian in an outgoing Church, the insertion and discernment of Christians in the world; and the commitment of the laity as “salt of the earth, light of the world, and yeast in the dough”. (cf. Mt 5:13-16; Lk 13:20-21)
The workshop was enriched by sharing based on the guiding questions: What is the importance of these new times for the laity? Are we clear about our identity as lay Christians in the Church and in society? What are the consequences of this call for our community life? These exchanges strengthened our shared responsibility in the mission.
“There are different kinds of gifts, but one Spirit. There are different kinds of ministries, but one Lord. And there are different kinds of works, but it is the same God who works them all in everyone.” (1 Cor 12:4-6)
With this feeling of diversity of gifts, ministries and works, but one Spirit, I and eleven other SSpS lay missionaries from Africa, Asia, America and Europe, participated in the Seminar “SSpS Lay Missionaries Deepening Communion”, held at the Generalate in Rome in 2020.
These were days of profound sharing, joy, gratitude, and faith, during which we had the opportunity to exchange experiences about the paths of communion lived in our countries and missionary activities. We also shared about the activities of the Lay Missionaries of the Congregation of the Divine Word, further strengthening the bonds that unite us as a family.
Another training program, in addition to the in-person and remote retreats and meetings of the National Spirituality Team and the SSpS Spirituality Team, was the Bibliodrama course held at the Santíssima Trindade Cultural Missionary Center in São Paulo. It was held in four stages during 2019, facilitated by Brother Paolo Delucca, SVD; Sister Maria de Fátima Marques de Oliveira, SSpS; Sister Heloise Matos, SSpS; and Agostinho Travençolo Júnior.
Bibliodrama is an experiential biblical approach based on a contextualized and creative reading of God’s Word. Some elements that make up the methodology include circle dances, types of readings, mapping the biblical text, human sculpture, and more. Living God’s Word is liberating, therapeutic, and healing.
In November 2024, the annual meeting of the National Spirituality Team took place at the Central House of the Brasil Centro Province (BRC) in São Paulo. The meeting was attended by the provincial coordinators of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Divine Word (SVD) and the Missionary Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS).
During the meeting, the team reflected on the General Chapters of both Congregations — “Faithful and Creative in a Wounded World” (SVD) and “Compassion in a Wounded World” (SSpS) — and defined the main actions for 2025, seeking to strengthen integration between the provinces, SVD and SSpS dimensions and the laity.
– Do I recognize in ongoing formation a path of conversion, listening and docility to the Holy Spirit, who forms, transforms and guides me?
The mission
The man replied, “Sir, I have no one to carry me to the pool when the water is moving. When I come, someone else gets down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man was healed; he picked up his mat and began to walk. (John 5:7-9)
Like this sick man, who despite his limitations heard Jesus’ call and set out on his journey, I too journey, carrying my weaknesses, but sustained by complete trust in the Incarnate Word, who lifts me up, sends me, and strengthens me in my mission.
In December 2018, I had an intense and transformative experience during a week of volunteer service at the Migrant Integration Center (CIM) in Brás, São Paulo. These were days of concrete actions, service, listening, and welcoming migrant brothers and sisters, while also sharing community life with missionary sisters.
Every gesture, every encounter, every sharing was the loving hand of God, who cared for my wounds, restored my heart and strengthened me so that I could go out to meet my brothers, healed, renewed and bearing witness, with my life, to His infinite love. <https://blog.ssps.org.br/testemunho-missionario-maria-cristina-maia>
The mission is also marked by difficulties, but above all, it is a path of hope. Brazil, with its continental dimensions, has very diverse cultural and ecclesial realities. I recall that, during Holy Week of 2019, I went on a mission with Sister Heloíse Matos, SSpS, to a city in the interior of Minas Gerais. However, when I consulted the diocesan priest of the Parish Church about my presence as a lay missionary, he did not welcome my participation in the mission.
In light of this, the words of the Gospel came to my heart: “And where they will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that house or town and shake the dust off your feet”. (Matthew 10:14-15) Despite the sadness of Sister Heloise, who remained on the mission in that town, I continued with peace in my heart to a neighboring town, Campo Belo, where I was fraternally welcomed by the community and was able to live the mission intensely. This situation, although challenging, further strengthened my certainty that mission is God’s work and that He opens paths that lead us where He wants us to be.
The group of lay missionaries of the One and Triune God, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, companions in the mission of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), carries out activities that integrate fraternal coexistence, sharing, spirituality and concrete actions.
In May 2019, we made a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Rio de Janeiro—an identical replica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal. This moment of faith and communion was also an opportunity to recall that Saint Arnold Janssen entrusted to Mary’s protection the three congregations of the Arnoldus family, all founded on Marian holidays: on September 8, 1875, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, he founded the Society of the Divine Word; on December 8, 1889, he founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. On the same date, in 1896, he founded the contemplative branch, the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP).
In January 2024, together with Fr. Matias Maciej Suszczynski, SVD, and Fr. Thaddeus Momanyi Obuya, SVD, I facilitated the retreat of theology students, seminarians of the Province of Brazil Center (BRC), at the Monastery of Itaici, São Paulo. The book “Fascinated by the Mystery: Arnold Janssen – Man of Prayer” by Sister Franziska C. Rehbein, SSpS, was the material for the retreat.
In January 2025, at Casa Nazaré in Suzano, São Paulo, I led—along with Brother Jairo Godinho and Father Agustinus Syukur—the retreat of theology students, seminarians of the Central Brazil Province (BRC), on the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word and 130 years of presence in Brazil. The closing Mass was celebrated by Bishop João Batista de Oliveira, SVD, of the Diocese of Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul.
In 2025, during the Meeting of the Leaderships of the SVD Parishes of the North Brazil Province (BRN), held in Barbacena (MG), Sister Ashrita Soreng and I shared about “the participation of the laity in the SSpS”, with the presence of the provincial Fr. Denzil Crasta. We concluded our sharing by planting a fruit tree – a concrete gesture of the dimension of eco-spirituality and symbolizing our commitment to be “witnesses of the Light” (cf. Jn 1:6-8; Jn 1:9; Jn 8:12; Mt 5:14-16; Acts 13:47; 1 Peter 2:9), “from the whole world to all people” (cf. Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; 1 Tim 2:3-4; Rev 7:9; Acts 10:34-35; Ps 96:3; Rom 10:12-13).
In March 2025, I had the joy of leading the retreat for the Divine Word Parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Vila das Belezas, São Paulo. During the retreat, we reflected on the Holy Year, with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”, the 150th anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word: “Witnesses of the Light: From All the World to All People”—and the inspiring homily of Father Anselmo Ribeiro, SVD General Coordinator, at the opening of the Jubilee Year.
In May 2025, at the Santíssima Trindade Cultural Missionary Center/SP, we shared the theme “Missionary Spirituality: Faithful and Creative” at the Assembly of the Verbite Laity of the BRC province with the presence of Fr. Omir de Oliveira, Brother Paulo Eugênio de Lima, Fr. Cireneu Kuhn, provincial and others.
The Verbite Christ the Redeemer Parish in Rio de Janeiro celebrated its 80th anniversary in June. During the celebratory week, I had the joy of sharing the “Verbite Charism” with Fathers Milan Knezovic, SVD, and Anbu Bakianathan, SVD.
– Where is my gaze focused, fixed? What is my focus, goal, direction?
Final considerations
The love of Christ is what drives us. (2 Cor 5:14)
I would like to devote myself entirely to the mission ad intra and ad gentes, day and night, night and day, every day, seeking to be and live as a witness to the Light. But today, my mission is to care for my mother. Although not very elderly, she is seventy-four years old, profoundly deaf from birth, and has severe motor impairment and dementia, requiring my dedication and care. This has been my main mission for the past six years.
Living with docility and openness to the action of the Holy Spirit, rooted in the Word, is a daily, demanding YES, which drives me to announce the Good News with fidelity and creativity in the wounded world with the intercession of Saint Arnold Janssen, Saint Joseph Freinademetz, our saints, blessed men and women, and martyrs.
<https://blog.ssps.org.br/oracao-a-santo-arnaldo-janssen>
References
CONGREGATION OF THE DIVINE WORD. Arnaldo Janssen: A Life in Service to the Mission. Brasília: Editora Verbita, 2003.
Address of Pope Francis to the Participants of the General Chapter of the Missionaries of the Divine Word. Available at:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/speeches/2024/june/documents/20240628-verbiti.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
FRANCIS. Bull of Indiction for the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025: Spes non confusat. Vatican, 2024. Available at:
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/bulls/documents/20240509_spes-non-confundit_bolla-giubileo2025.html
JERÓNIMO, José Hipolito. Saint Arnold Janssen: The Search for God’s Will. Ed. Paulus: São Paulo, 2010.
NOUWEN, Henri. The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society. Petrópolis: Vozes, 2020.
REHBEIN, Franziska C., SSpS, Fascinated by the Mystery – Arnold Janssen: Man of Prayer. Steyler Verlag, 2004.
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Cristina Maia, university professor, works in the area of Education and Management, master in Management Systems and doctoral student in Education, member of the National Spirituality Team BR and secretary of the Editorial Team of Vivat Deus (vivatdeus.org).
