The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Brazil have published the brochures for the animation of the activities of the Elderly and Sick Missionaries – IEM. The aim is to animate, train and accompany the elderly, the sick, and people with physical limitations so that, according to each particular situation, they can live their missionary vocation, cooperating with the whole Church, according to Fides News Agency. This missionary activity is addressed to the elderly and the sick, and to the animators who are responsible for accompanying the local groups of the IEM. Laity, men, and women religious and the elderly, are united by the motto: «In joy or sorrow, we will serve the Lord!».
The poster, created in view of World Mission Sunday on October 18, for the dissemination of the activity of elderly and sick missionaries, presents Pope Francis during a meeting with an elderly woman, which took place during his visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 2015. The Pope often insisted on the fact that mission should not be reduced to «doing things», but should be assumed and understood in an existential, totalizing perspective, in the completeness of the person, with all his being and his actions. The IEM presents the activities, objectives, suggested itineraries for meetings, commitments, and activities. A leaflet was also prepared for the formation and start-up of an IEM group, in which the understanding of missionary cooperation is deepened: the suffering, life, and prayer of these brothers and sisters are in fact a great missionary witness and an indispensable force for the missionary work of the Church. Finally, another leaflet is dedicated to prayer.
