Antonia TestaVocation is a gaze full of love that attracts another gaze".Fabiola Inzunza is a member of the Shalom Catholic Community. She was born in Culiacan, Mexico, 28 years ago, into a Catholic family where, as she says, "God's love reigned and this was reflected in my parents' mutual love, in their fidelity to each other and fidelity to the Christian values they had promised to pass on to us. From an early age I learned the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, thanks to them, who taught me to pray.
At the age of 13 Fabiola had a strong spiritual experience in a Christian initiation retreat where she experienced in a profound way that Jesus was a living person and that he lived in her: "It was from this experience that I began to want to know more about the faith, not because my parents told me but because now I myself wanted to find the path that God had intended for me".
At only 13 years old can one realize that one needs to be closer to God?
- I think so! In my case I felt that I needed to be closer to Him after listening to a couple of missionaries who had come to my parish to give testimony of the summer missions that take place every year in the diocese of Culiacan. The joy they transmitted was something I had not seen before, especially when they talked about announcing Christ in a simple place and in the midst of so many challenges.
Something awoke within me and I asked to go on mission with the diocese. I was only 15 years old but it was a life-changing experience: sharing God's love with others is undoubtedly the best mission in the world. I wanted to continue doing it and God heard my pleas. At the age of 19 I went to work and study in Boston, in the United States, and there the Lord surprised me a lot. I thought it would be hard for me to keep my faith, because that was what so many people said, since there were not as many Catholics or prayer groups there as in Latin America. However, the Lord made me get to know the missionaries of the Shalom Catholic CommunityI became a lay missionary who dedicates his life to serve God in the evangelization of young people. There I began my process of vocational discernment in this wonderful charism, a new vocation for the Church and for today's times.
What is this inner process like?
- After a two-year process of vocational discernment, a time of constant retreats, of listening to God, of spiritual accompaniment, of many strong conversion experiences - which continue to this day - and, above all, thanks to the personal relationship that I built with Jesus in every Eucharistic adoration, I understood that my vocation was to be "Shalom": a lay missionary, dedicated to the evangelization of young people in today's world.
To be in the world without being of the world. Today I have been living as a missionary for 5 years, I am currently living in Rome and my apostolate is to welcome groups of pilgrims who come to Rome. RomeWe are located at the St. Lawrence International Youth Center. Here we can take Jesus to all nations, since Rome is visited by the whole world. I am also responsible for a prayer group and spiritual accompanier at the moment of 8 young people.
What does it mean to have a "vocation"?
- For me, vocation is "mission": it was with my parents that I began to understand what it meant to love and to belong to Jesus, because they always said that everyone has a mission in this world. For me, the word vocation is just that, mission: the personal and authentic call that each one of us has to be fully happy and to lead others to be happy, whether professionally, in the Church or in society. Finding your vocation is... Finding your place!
How does this call materialize in everyday life?
- Persons called to this vocation are called to proclaim peace by their life and witness. "To be Shalom" means, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be a disciple and minister of Peace and to bring Christ himself to those who hope in him. To those who were called to correspond to the vocation, God grants the path of contemplation, unity and evangelization".
Your charism can be summarized in these three words: contemplation, unity and evangelization. How do you make them a reality in your day-to-day work?
- First of all, contemplation is made real by praying. We pray for 2 hours. One of Bible study where we meditate on the Word of God through the method of "lectio divina" and there, in that intimate experience with the Word and the Holy Spirit, we ask for the grace to live what we read and meditate, opening ourselves to new purposes to grow in all areas of our life, humanly and spiritually. The other hour is for personal prayer, a dialogue, a talk with Jesus.
"Being Shalom" means going to Mass every day to unite ourselves heart to heart with the Beloved of our souls. It means to meditate with Mary the mysteries of the Rosary daily and with her to intercede for all the intentions entrusted to us in our daily life.
The fruits of the contemplative life lead us to fraternal life, to cultivate relationships where mercy, patience, forgiveness and active listening reign, to give everything in the kitchen and cook for the brothers in my community house, to go for a walk and be happy in simplicity, in the joy of being together and not in what we could pay for with money.
The life of unity refers to this intimate union with God through those who are closest to us. It is to take advantage of every moment to grow in fraternity, to let people know that they are not alone, at school, at work, in the life of faith. Fraternal life allows us to celebrate with immense joy the gift of each one's life, with its virtues and defects, remembering that we are called to go to Heaven together.
Finally, the experience of contemplation and unity bears concrete fruit in evangelization. If people who are far from God see that peace is found in prayer and the sacraments, and that the joy of one who says he is "all of God" is coherent and authentic, then they will be open to receive the proclamation of the Gospel in their lives. Whoever is "Shalom" is born to evangelize, that is, to bring Jesus in time and out of time, in conversations, entertainment, in the way of dressing, speaking, relating, embracing poverty, chastity and obedience.
What can people who follow this charism contribute to the world?
- As "Shalom" we can bring hope! I believe that to live a life with God at the center is to give hope, especially living as lay people. "Being Shalom" is to tell the world that one can desire to be holy not by presumption, but by vocation and grace of God.
I believe that we can say with our missionary life that religious life and the priesthood are not the only ways of holiness that exist in the Church, but also in families, in life given totally to God at work, in the university, in friendships, in the secular media, in the arts, in the media. I believe that as "Shalom" we can say that it is possible to live a contemplative and active life if we allow ourselves to be loved by God and let Him show us where we should go.
This way of living is clearly not fashionable; it is often misunderstood or even rejected without even knowing it. To these people who reject this way of living, how would you explain their choice?
- I would say it is like someone who received the best news in the world and decided to leave everything to share it with the whole world. It is like discovering the medicine that cures all diseases and deciding to be the bearer of this great good to everyone. My choice for this vocation and the renunciations and graces I have experienced are undoubtedly the best thing that has happened to me in my life. It is like shouting from the rooftops '"I have found my place in this world and my place is beyond this world, so I decided to detach myself from everything that clings me to this passing earth to anchor my life in what will never happen: Eternal life".
Shalom Catholic Community
The Shalom Catholic Community is a Private Association of the Faithful, with juridical personality, recognized by the Holy See (Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life) by Decree of February 22, 2007. On the same date, in 2012, its statutes were definitively approved.
Present in dozens of countries around the world, the Shalom Catholic Community is made up of men and women who, in the diversity of forms of life present in the Church, participate in a communitarian and missionary life with the aim of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all men and women, especially those distant from Christ and the Church.
Born in the midst of young people, Obra Shalom began with a daring inspiration: to create a link that spoke the language of young people, to establish a bridge between them and a personal experience with Jesus Christ and his Church. This is how the "Cafeteria of the Lord" was born, on July 9, 1982, in Fortaleza (Brazil). An attractive place where young people had the opportunity to experience moments of prayer, fraternity and mission, thus growing in their faith journey.
In order to bring the experience of Jesus Christ to many others, in the midst of the diversity of peoples, cultures and diverse contexts of society, Shalom carries out diverse and multiform evangelizing actions among young people, families, children, the poorest and neediest, professionals in different areas, in the media, in the world of the arts, science, culture and human promotion, through works of mercy that touch the sufferings that people go through.
The founder
Moysés Louro de Azevedo Filho is founder and general moderator of the Shalom Catholic Community, consultant to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, since 2007, and to the Dicastery for Evangelization, since 2011. Born on November 4, 1959, in Fortaleza (Brazil), he was educated in a Catholic environment and, from a very young age, began to lead prayer groups for young people. In 1976, he had a strong experience with the love of God through contact with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.
In 1980, he was chosen by the Archbishop of Fortaleza at the time, Monsignor Aloísio Lorscheider, to offer a gift to Pope John Paul II, on behalf of the youth of the Archdiocese. He prayed asking God for a gift worthy of the Holy Father and decided to write a letter offering his life for the evangelization of the youth.
On July 9, 1982, exactly two years after the meeting with the pontiff, the Shalom Catholic Community was born.
It is characteristic in his preaching to overflow the inflamed love for God and tireless for the evangelization of the men, especially of the young people. He resides in Aquiraz, in the Diaconia, where he exercises the general government of the Shalom Community, in the service to the Church and humanity.
Maria Emmir Oquendo Nogueira is co-founder and general formator of the Shalom Catholic Community. Married and mother of four children, she was born in Fortaleza (Brazil). Belonging to a Catholic family, she never strayed from the faith. However, after her marriage, in 1973, her religious practice was restricted to Sunday Mass until, in 1976, she participated in the Cursillo de Cristiandad, invited by her husband, Sérgio Nogueira, who had already taken part in the encounter months before. In 1977, they both participated in the Seminar of Life in the Holy Spirit and began to support the youth of the Archdiocese of Fortaleza.
In 1978, he met Moysés Azevedo in the youth apostolate. They became great friends, united by the love for the Lord that would later inspire them to found the Shalom Catholic Community, fruit of shared dreams that aimed at the evangelization of young people and the glory of God. In 1986, he joined the Shalom Life Community.
She is the author of articles and books on spirituality, biblical studies and human formation. She dedicates much of her time to teaching through the media and preaching and lectures in Brazil and other countries. She lives in Aquiraz, in the Diaconia, where she works with the general formation of Shalom.
