Reflection: ‘Come and follow me’

Jesus went up into the hills and called those he loved, and they came to him (Mk 3:13). It is God who has called me to be with Him; being part of the MSC family expresses the desire to respond to His love, because He loved me first. In discussing my vocation as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, I want to approach this topic with an attitude of grace. I’ve always reflected on my decision to follow Christ, yet along the way I discover that the project belongs to God; Jesus himself calls, saying, ‘come and follow me’.

I am Winsly Audate, MSC, of Haitian nationality. I come from a large family; there are eight of us children, and I am the third, but the eldest of the boys. My family practices Catholic Christianity. I can say that it is within my family that God began to show me His benevolence, for He sowed in me this seed of faith and has always demonstrated His support. I have a sister who is a nun in the Apostolic Congregation of Mary Immaculate (AMI); she has always been a role model for me. Additionally, I had the chance to participate in various groups, both as an acolyte and in the Liturgy Committee, all of which helped me strengthen my faith and discover what God had in store for me.

I felt God’s call; however, after finishing secondary school, I sensed something else and prayed to God. I was considering studying for a degree, but a friend invited me to learn about the life of the Missionaries of Charity (MC). After some time of experience, they invited me to join them. I was deeply moved by the work they do for the poor, which led me to decide to join their ranks. I was with them from 8 December 2011 to 8 December 2017. I have no doubt about the great work they carry out, yet I felt that God’s call remained, not as a brother, but to prepare me to be a priest. However, during my time with the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, they helped me to see this matter in a new light. They guided me towards placing greater importance on the consecrated life. All the trainers helped me understand that, as religious, our goal is to consecrate ourselves to God through the evangelical counsels, which is the most significant aspect, as Brother Bernard and Father Bram also expressed during their conversations with me while visiting the Andean Union – Peru.

I joined the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on 9 December 2017, a process that began in April of the same year when I first had the opportunity to speak to Father Timoteo. This was made possible by the invitation of Sister Eliana from the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to whom I shared my thoughts and feelings. In April 2017, I told Father Timoteo I needed some time to consider it, but we agreed to keep in touch. Throughout that year, we spoke regularly, and at times, I visited him at the seminary, where we would chat, and he offered me guidance. At that time, Father Darío Ircash was the Regional Superior. He asked me to speak with him and requested my contact details for the Congregation to which he belonged. I consulted my family and my spiritual guide, and in the end, they all told me: ‘If it’s your decision, go ahead; the Lord will always be with you and guide you’. In December, I decided to join the MSC for good.

I was warmly welcomed as an aspirant on 9 December 2017, accompanied by Father Timoteo. In March 2018, Father Timoteo was transferred to the parish of Santiago Apóstol de Acarí, and it was decided that I should join that parish, where I continued as an aspirant under his guidance. I became more acquainted with the MSC and their remarkable missionary work in the Acarí Valley. In August, I was sent to Trujillo, accompanied by Father Diómer López, MSC, who also significantly helped me understand the spirituality and charisma of the MSC. I remained there until December 2021, completed my postulancy, and began my pre-novitiate while studying philosophy at the Faculty of Theology of the Major Seminary of Trujillo, La Libertad.

In February 2022, I was sent to Lima, specifically to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Lince. Father Mesías, MSC, accompanied me. During that time, I completed the Pre-Novitiate stage and applied for admission to the Novitiate. Father Mesías was the Superior of the Andean Union at that moment. I was accepted and travelled to the Dominican Republic at the end of July that same year, where I began this new stage on 1 August 2022, accompanied by Father Dabaris Martínez, MSC. The Novitiate allowed me to understand myself better, deepen my relationship with God, and familiarise myself with the Congregation, its charism, spirituality, and mission. It strengthened my connection to the Heart of Christ, improved my relationship with the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and, above all, helped me to learn more about our Constitutions and Statutes, revealing the necessity of spreading the love of Christ everywhere in response to the needs of our time. This made me more aware of the Lord’s call to follow him within this Congregation and encouraged me to say yes to him. I was professed as an MSC for the first time on 15 August 2023. I am in Lima at our Formation House, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, alongside Father Miguel Díaz, who emphasises the MSC identity with a formation centred on the Emmaus document. This marks my third year of theology.

If you ask me why I chose to join the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart instead of another Congregation, I will say God has placed me here. Although at first, despite visiting those in charge and researching online, I needed to experience it personally to understand the Congregation better. Every day, I thank God for the experience of being an MSC. From the very first day until now, I have been embraced by all the MSC as a brother and a son; their warmth and care have greatly supported me. Sometimes, I search for the right words to convey the assistance I receive from them, but I struggle to find the correct expressions. They have helped me to adapt well. Their complete dedication to the mission, their sense of humour, their tireless work on behalf of the neediest, their faith in the Sacred Heart as a remedy for the ills of our time, and the spirit of openness in their charism are just some of the experiences that have kept me steadfast in my vocation as an MSC. To this day, I have never regretted choosing this path within this Congregation.

If you were to ask me what the most challenging aspect of this journey has been, I thought my studies would be difficult, as I hadn’t studied for six years after finishing school. Additionally, the departure of some classmates and the political situation in my country made my return to Peru from the Novitiate quite difficult; however, I have not been defeated in any of these cases. Whenever challenging moments arose, I remember a saying from our Founder: ‘When one truly desires something, obstacles become stepping stones’, for he believed that the situation was never straightforward.

I want to take this opportunity to thank God because he has noticed me and put me here, our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, who has been with Father Julio Chevalier since the beginning of this work, as the history of the foundation of our Congregation tells us, the Congregation, for giving me this opportunity to be a part of it. I also thank my family and all of you who have taken the time to share this experience with me by reading what I have written. I leave you hoping that you will pray for me; you can count on mine. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere! Forever.

Winsly Audate, MSC

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