The letter encourages the sisters to celebrate the upcoming feasts of Mary Help of Christians and Pentecost, and to reflect on their missionary mandate to help migrants. It proposes that during the month of May, the sisters assess the language abilities and needs of any migrants working in their communities. Understanding others and promoting inclusion will help all people live as brothers and sisters in a common home.

1. Speakthesamelanguage…
Rome, 14 May 2018
Dearest Sisters,
From Turin, where I am in these days, I send you a sisterly and very joyful greeting as well as a
special remembrance before Mary Help of Christians.
It is significant to be able to live such a fruitful time: time of grace, of search, of a strong Marian
imprint! We are about to begin the Novena to Mary Help of Christians in this 150th
year of the
consecration of Her Basilica, wanted by Don Bosco as a place and space of gratitude, of devotion,
of the Mother’s encounter with Her children.
Yesterday, May 13, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Lord’s Ascension. Jesus’ command is very
clear: «Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature» (Mark 16: 15). For us
FMA, it is the feast day of St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello, a wise woman of great simplicity, of
broad horizons open wide to the world of the little ones, the suffering, those in need of help,
comfort, consolation. I had the joy of pausing before our Saint and I prayed for the whole Institute,
asking Mother Mazzarello the grace for each FMA to have a heart inflamed with new missionary
apostolic zeal.
On May 20, we will celebrate as Church, the Solemnity of Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles, in
describing the descent of the Holy Spirit, say that, «They gathered in a large crowd, but they were
confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language» (Acts 2).
As you can see, dearest Sisters, where there is the Spirit, there is Mary; and where there is Mary, the
disciples receive the missionary mandate of Jesus with joy and commitment.
For us, this missionary mandate at this time of history, becomes an imperative made of going out,
of encounter, of welcome. This is the meaning of the project “A common home in the diversity of
peoples”.
Diversity is a gift of God; it is the work of His creativity. What is different must not make us afraid,
distant. Rather, it should arouse in us a ‘holy curiosity’, to the point of making us take a step
beyond our frontiers, whether they be frontiers of mentality or geographical and/or social frontiers.
In the world of human mobility, it is the Spirit who must guide our choices; He is the one who
makes us speak the same language and allows us to understand each other with the language of the
heart, of sensitivity, of simplicity.
From when we re-launched the project “For a common home in the diversity of peoples”
(October 2017), we thought that the best way of living it in our daily life was to commit ourselves
to one movement:

2. Speakthesamelanguage…
Dearest Sisters,
During this month dedicated to Mary Help of Christians, open to the action of the Holy Spirit,
we want to journey together yet again, and go toward the migrants (or have a story of migration)
who work in our activities.
We propose that you verify if these people speak the language of the place and how they speak it; if
they are illiterate; if in some way, they had the possibility of studying, of learning to communicate,
to read, and to write…
From these small/large possibilities depends in great measure their success as persons, as citizens,
as believers, as mothers or fathers of families…as children of God, and therefore, the sisters and
brothers of many others who share the same road, the same search for a worthy and happy life!
I would like to close this message by thanking you, dearest Sisters, for your commitment in regard
to the migration phenomenon. I know that many of our communities are already carrying out
initiatives and projects that favor the acceptance and integration of many migrant sisters and
brothers. I am sure that our sensitivity will grow regarding the lot of those who had to leave their
land, home, culture, language, family. May the Holy Spirit continue to work the miracle of our
adhesion to the plan of God, which is that of dwelling in a COMMON HOME: our world, and of
sharing it in fraternity and in peace with those who are beside us, especially those who carry in their
heart the signs and experience of migration.
A strong embrace, remembrance in prayer, and the wish for a HOLY PENTECOST and a HAPPY
FEAST of MARY HELP of CHRISTIANS.
With grateful affection,
Councilor for the Missions