Charism

SRA charism is the direct proclamation of the compassionate love of God with burning zeal, to people and groups, where the message Christ is not yet known or not sufficiently known. The life and mission of Jesus with a special option for the poor and the marginalized is the source of our charism. In order to proclaim the Good News we will identify ourselves with the people among whom we work, especially those who suffer want and live in need.

The founders were convinced that the effective ways of proclamation was both by life and preaching. According to them the identification with the local culture was necessary for sharing the Good News. They were convinced of the need for inculturation and firmly believed that it is only when the message of Christ is incarnated into the Indian culture in ways of living, thinking and praying would it have a definite chance of being genuinely Indian. In the spirit of St. Paul who became 'all things to all' we too are called to identify ourselves with the people and learn the local language and culture. It is clear from the writings of Fr. Bodewig that we are called to incarnate the good news through inculturation and dialogue.

Fr. Bodewig was gripped with the compassion of Jesus who said, "I have compassion on the crowd..."(Mt. 8: 1- 10). Fr. Bodewig saw the people 'like sheep without a shepherd' and he felt the great necessity of founding a large religious society. Spirit of Christ-like compassion needs to be our motivating force when entering into relationship with people. In a rapidly changing world, we need constantly new ways to preach the good news of God's tender compassion and human friendliness.

Fr. Bodewig saw the discrimination against women as one of the greatest evils of his time; inhuman treatment of the girl child, child marriage, ruthless situation of widows submitted to holocaust of 'sati', illiteracy of women and exclusion of women from education etc. he was moved with compassion towards the situation of women and was convinced that the sisters work for the liberation of Indian women as Zanana missionaries to empower women.

The charism handed down to us by our founders and pioneers, is lived by the members through the manifold ministries. Animated and energized by the spirit of our founders, we live the name, the vision, and the spirituality for which we are founded.