Sent to Minister to the World, Spanish Missionary Working in Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio Explains what Mission work entails.

For over a year now, Rev. Father Christopher Hartley a diocesan priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Toledo, Spain has been in charge of two Parishes belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, South Sudan. His mission in Tombura-Yambio came as a result of a conversation with the Local Ordinary, His Lordship Barani Edwardo Hiiboro Kussala.

The two later met in Juba at the end of 2018 while he (Fr. Christopher) was preaching at a retreat to the Salesian sisters. The representative of the nuncio had encouraged him to speak to Bishop Edwardo and as a result of that meeting, Bishop Edwardo invited Fr. Christopher to come to the diocese where he was entrusted with the Pastoral care of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Nandi and The Most Holy Trinity Parish in Andari.

 Ordained almost 38 years ago on November 8, 1982, by Saint John Paul II in the city of Valencia and Fr. Christopher has been a Missionary for most of his priesthood; meaning that of 38 years, he has been “serving in missions in different continents, different places and in different capacities but always with the same purpose, with the same hope, with the same joy and with the same desire for 36 years.”

 “A missionary is not a volunteer, neither is he/she an employee. When you go to the missions, you go with an open heart, with open arms and you do not have a return ticket. It doesn't mean that you will never go back or you won't be sent to another place; rather, you do not come with a fixed contract for a certain amount of days or weeks or years. So I am here today, not knowing what the Lord has in store for me tomorrow; I abandon myself completely in his hands, he can do with me as he wills; he can use me without consulting me; I belong to Jesus Christ,” Fr. Christopher explains.

 According to him, a missionary is not someone who comes but rather who is sent. “To be sent means that

you do not take initiative, that someone greater than you, Christ himself is the one who leads us, who guides us, who comes with us, who waits for us; and this is what the missionary work of the church is about to; be sent.”

He expresses that all dioceses must collaborate with each other in the Mission work. He says that he is very blessed to come from a diocese with a very long-standing tradition of missionary service to many dioceses. “We are more than 150 priests of my diocese who are serving in different missionary capacities and that's an extraordinary gift from our diocese to the world. But it is a great richness also for our diocese, so everybody benefits.”

 Fr. Christopher feels that there is a communion in mission work as Bishops co-responsible for the well-being of the universal church. As such, Bishops need to listen to each other and to help each other as brothers in Christ and also share their resources including financial resources as well as their most precious gifts which are their priests.

 He expresses that the mission of a priest, of a parish priest, and of a missionary, is to announce Jesus Christ, to bear witness for the love of Jesus Christ; to celebrate the sacraments, especially Holy Mass and Baptism, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and other sacraments. To always be ready to preach the word of God as a prophet and to celebrate the mysteries because we are a priestly people and to engage in the works of charity and of service as a Good Shepherd. This he said is what he is trying to do.

 He underscores the need of a priest to be always at the parish where he is accessible to all his parishioners at all times.

 “There are many priests who are like visitors in their own parishes, who don't spend much time in their parishes. One of the things I'm grateful for is for being able to stay here, to remain in the parish so that people are aware that day and night, padre is there, that he is not going anywhere, and that they can trust in him because he will always be available for them.”

 He emphasizes that the mission of a priest is to defend the flock and to protect them. “So blessed are we if we can discover in Christ Jesus through the missionary work of the church that Christ loves the world today in a very particular way in every priest. That the Son of the Living God has called each one of these men by their name as we see in the seminarians who begin their ministry of service and of giving themselves to others. We see and discover this same gift, this same mission entrusted to each and every priest, to testify to the love of Jesus Christ, to proclaim his goodness, to proclaim the kingdom of God in the celebration of the sacraments, in the preaching of the word God and in the works of mercy and in the works of charity.”

By Rurugene