WORLD DAY FOR CONSACRATED LIFE: A WITNESS FROM AUSTRALIA

I am Sister Rosalie Ilboudo, member of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. I’m burkinabe by birth, currently on mission in Australia (since February 2020).

My congregation trusted me by training me as a nurse and midwife. And also by giving me the chance to serve as a missionary in a few countries in Africa and Madagascar before being sent here to Australia in 2020. In my mission, several times my sisters trusted me: They entrusted me eight years of service as provincial of Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo, which at the time formed a province. 5 years as coordinator for Africa, the Islands and the Middle East, made up of 13 provinces at the time. I also had the opportunity to serve as President of the USMB/N (Union of Major Superiors of Burkina and Niger). All this was for me training for the mission for which I will never finish being trained. I owe a lot to my FMM sisters and to all the people that the mission has put on the path of my life as a missionary.

What does being a missionary mean to you and what does the word mission mean to you?

Being a missionary for me means being open and receptive to the presence of God in me and around me in daily life. Having said that, every Christian receives his mission from Christ, himself, sent by the Father. So as a missionary I try to follow in his footsteps with the grace of the Holy Spirit contributing to His Mission. 

The word mission for me, means: the manifestation of God's Love for humanity. It is therefore an attitude of welcoming and offering the presence of God precisely in my daily life. The mission is therefore not primarily DOING but BEING: It is recognizing the presence of God in others and being this divine presence for them.

What was the missionary experience that shaped you the most?

Many missionary experiences have marked me in my missionary life. But the most recent is the one with the Australian Aborigines in 2022-2023. It only lasted a very short time (May 2022-August 2023) but shaped my life and permanently changed my vision of the mission. Indeed, I would not have defined the Mission as I did above without this lived experience. Being with the indigenous people, a deeply believing and contemplative people, has purified my concept of mission and I hope so for the rest of my life.

Being consecrated: challenges and opportunities

Challenges: Being consecrated for an African girl is first of all the great challenge of renouncing the family, which is vital for the African. To accept not only to no longer be part of my biological family, the one who saw me born and grow up and who counts on my contribution to sustain it (physically and financially) but also to not continue the family (by starting a new family) . So these are the challenges of poverty and religious chastity. The other challenge is not having control of my life: By the vow of Obedience in fact, I can always argue, give my opinion, but the last word goes to my superiors. This is the biggest challenge in today’s world. There is also the challenge of

Interculturality: accepting and welcoming others as they are, with what makes them who they are.

Opportunities: Being consecrated also means opening myself to the surprise of God in my life. And its surprises exceed my renunciations: For example, the challenge of giving up my little biological family opens me up to a larger family, I can become all things to all people.

Being consecrated frees me to be available for the mission wherever it calls me and to experience this provident God on a daily basis.

The Pope invited us in the last Jubilee of Communicators to talk about hope: what hope can you witness in your daily commitment?

I can testify to the Hope of the universality of fraternity. Everywhere I have been on mission, I have always been adopted by the people and I have adopted them. Here in Australia, my mission with the indigenous people moved me deeply. They adopted me to the point of giving me a family name ‘’ napnaga” and a family affiliation that comes from the name. Such adoption among them not only takes time but is even rare.