The Two Attributes of
the CICM Identity
1. DEDICATED TO JESUS, THE INCARNATE WORD
The CICM at the Service of the Work of
Redemption, the CICM Consecrated to the
Incarnate Word.
The heart of the CICM spirituality is
“completely centered on the Incarnation
of the Word, as a principal source”. That
is the reason why the CICM is at the
service of the work of Redemption.
Article 12-16 of the CICM
Constitutions of 1988 deal with this
dedication to the Incarnate Word – this
constant reference to the person of Jesus
should profoundly characterize the whole
life of a CICM missionary:
“We must thus enter into the life and the
mission of him who ‘emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7).
Thus, the incarnation of the Word
inspires all our missionary commitment.
The Incarnate Word is our fundamental
inspiration.”
This is the meaning of the cross in the
topmost part of the CICM emblem: “The
cross-means poverty, suffering,
deprivation, and failure that often mark
the life of missionaries and their
enterprises.
But the cross also always carries in it
the seed of life and resurrection.” The
emphasis on the ‘incarnation’ refers for
sure to the ‘down-to earth’ approach of
the CICM.
It means that the God who is at the
center of their spirituality is in the first
place a “human” God, a God who has
shared human and bodily conditions while
retaining his divinity.
Mission consists in the announcement
of the good news to the poor, but this is
more than just preaching, but also
involves a practical dimension. As this
includes a confrontation with exteriority, it
also means ‘challenge’, ‘sacrifice’,
‘suffering’.
To be prepared for this, a missionary
must shed all personal pride and embrace
humility: “The attitude you should have is
the one that Christ Jesus had: He always
had the nature of God, but he did not
think that by force he should try to remain
equal with God.
Instead of this, of his own free will he
gave up all he had and took the nature of
a servant; He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path
of obedience all the way to death – his
death on the cross. For this reason, God
raised Him to the highest place above, and
gave him the name that is greater than any
other name (…) that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father”.
Lastly, the prevalence of the Incarnate
Word in CICM spirituality can further be
explained from the role of Jesus Christ as
the archetype of all Christian missionaries.
“During the [1974] Synod, the Bishops
very frequently referred to this truth: Jesus
himself, the Good News of God, was the
very first and the greatest evangelizer: he
was so through and through: to perfection
and to the point of the sacrifice of his
earthly life”.
2. MARY: THE PATRONESS AND
INTERCESSOR FOR THE CICM
(as the model of mission in the CICM schools), Mary,
Mother of the Incarnate Word
Fr. Verbist and his first companions
during their first meetings draw up the
statutes of the new Congregation
unanimously agreed to consecrate the Mission
to the Incarnate Word and to the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, “…to whom they committed
themselves to recommend daily the interests
of the Congregation.
Article 16 of the CICM Constitution
connects Mary to Jesus, to whom the CICM
identity and mission are hinged: “God chose
Mary to be the Mother of the Incarnate
Word. In her, He reveals himself as the One
who exalts the lowly.
She has a special place in our lives as
missionaries of the Congregation of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
The CICM missionary, therefore, is
invited to look into Mary’s heart in her
unqualified “yes” to the call of the Father to
follow Jesus. Meanwhile, Mary is not only the
one conceived without sin;
as the mother of the Incarnate Word, she is
also (1)a model of faith, having made herself
infinitely available for God’s Will: “I am the
Lord’s servant”; “may it happen to me as you
have said” (Lk 1,38.).
THE CHARISM: AD EXTRA, AD
INTRA
Like our founder, each one of us heard
the call of Christ: “Go out to the whole
world; proclaim the Gospel to all creation.”
(Mk 16:15).
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.
Following Jesus, we address ourselves
preferentially to the poor as the privileged
recipients of the Kingdom of God”.
Ad extra, ad intra, therefore, express the
reality of a CICM missionary vocation:
Ad extra (mission beyond borders) to be a
CICM is to leave one’s home, family, and
culture, and even one’s country or simply
one’s region, to 'preach the faith', to learn a
new language and a new culture, and to be
with other people.
Ad intra (mission at home) the
understanding/stress now is not necessary
therefore to physically leave one’s country but
to respond to a situation where one’s
missionary presence is most needed.
END OF THE MODULE FOR
THE FIRST TERM.
