Good morning,everyone!
Your Grace, Archbishop Emeritus Rev. Bernard Moras, my dear JMJ family members and friends! At the outset, we congratulate ourselves and pray for God’s abundant blessings on this most significant day in JMJ history. It is absolutelya greatjoy for me to join JMJ fraternity across the globe as we celebrate the Bicentenary Inaugural Ceremony of the founding of Soc. JMJ.

On this august occasion, we thank God profoundly for the invaluable gift of Fr. Mathias Wolff SJ, our beloved Founder– a man of God, aman of people and a man of all times - whoprophetically responded to the need of the hour,spurred by the unction of the Holy Spirit. His far sightedness vision came alive with a small group of sisters through a liberating education mission for the poor, on the holy soil of The Netherlands in 1822.A small seed that was sownhas now grown as a big tree over the past two centuries revealing to us thatGod has ways of small beginnings which yield mighty results.

Well, celebrating Jubilee is a time ofgreat joy and gratitude to the Lord for His mercy and faithfulness for the past two centuries. It is a year of grace, calling the global JMJ family, CJMJ, our sister institute CSJMJ and JMJ Associates and collaborators in our ministries, for revitalization of Mathias Wolff’s spirituality, charism, and mission.

The Bicentenary theme“Journeying with Mathias Wolff - Rekindling JMJ Legacy”offers us a golden opportunity to retrace the Founder’s steps going to the roots of the foundation by “Honouring the Past, Treasuring the Present, and Shaping the Future” thatis to look back with gratitude, to look at the present with confidence and to dream of the future transforming our apostolic ministries.

This celebration is a clarion call to makeMathias originalvision a reality in today’s context, the global pandemic where the humanity has encountered inexplicable traumatic experiences and tragedies of life.

The new Encyclical Fratelli Tutti of Pope Francis has come as a timely document to draw inspiration from it. We mustfind right solutions to the problems facing us today: How to be prophets and proclaimers of the Good News in a post-pandemic world? The best example offered is the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:25-27). It proposes “compassion” and “becoming a neighbour” as the sensitivity and the way of acting that makes it possible to heal those wounded, not to cling to the role that urges us to ‘pass by’ wounded people. How can we become good Samaritans in our wounded world? Can we make a radical shift in our ministries? How should we discern our new path? These challenging concerns should find a place in our reflections.

Well, this jubilee is no doubt an important landmark, as it is another beginning for us CJMJ as a newly founded Congregation to build our future based on solid structure of the splendid past. As Pope St. John Paul II said to all the religious “You have not only a glorious history to remember and to tell, but also a great history to build. Keep your view towards the future, towards the Spirit, who continues to inspire you to great things” (VC 100).

Therefore, as we commemorate the long journey of past 200 years, we are called to a radical and prophetic newness and lively proclamation of the Gospel.It’san opportunity to review the original vision, charism, andspirituality of Fr. Mathias Wolff, with greater vigour and vitality, zeal and enthusiasm, dynamism and radicalism to transform ourselves to be dynamic followers of the Ravening Wolf who worked like a giant with great apostolic zeal, kindlingour hearts to be the champions of frontier missionsrevitalizing, renewing and recommitting our lives to the cause of the Kingdom.

“We human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage” (LS 92) to walk together, to work together young and old on the path of humanity and fraternity that makes us become "one family", one community. Apath ofSynodality as an experience of conversion and renewal, a call to change.

The joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially those who are poor or afflicted are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ. When we are on the side of the poor, the vulnerable, the suffering people and when we stand in solidarity with those without hope and act together, we can be channels of hope.

This is a real challenge for the global JMJ family to continue to be the radical followers of Christ as we embark on a new path. It is my earnest desire that during this Bicentenary Jubilee year, we attune ourselves to the Lord’scall, set out with courage and hope on a holy pilgrimage to become icons of hope with a passionate love for God and passionate love for humanity.May thelegacyof Fr. Wolff’s undaunted spirit, and unshakable trust in the Divine providence; hisstrong weapon of prayer,and perfect obedience to God will inspire us to become true sisters of JMJ.

May the fire of the beginning continue to burn among us all. May we continue to remain faithful to the example our Founder and earlier sisters have left us. Let us move on… march forward… walking and working together for the greater glory and honour of God. Let your roots grow down into Him. And let your lives be built on Him. (Col 2:7) Wish you all a Happy Jubilee!

Thank you and God bless you.

Sr. InnammaYeruva JMJ
Superior General
Congregation of JMJ