SMA – How We Live

  • Internationality
    The SMA is and international group organized into Provinces, Districts and Delegations throughout the world and maintains its unity by means of a central authority – the Superior General and his Council. While we generally work with members of our own respective units, Irish SMA members work in international communities – in seminaries and in parishes and for specific projects (e.g. Fund-raising in Nigeria). 
  • Witnessing
    The SMA gives witness to the Good News by seeking to model our communities on the first Christian communities (Acts 2:42-47). We adopt a missionary and evangelical way of life, stamped by that apostolic mobility recommended by our Founder, the Venerable Bishop de Brésillac.
  • Community life
    SMA communities are marked by a common commitment to the service of the kingdom, by a love for the Word of God, by a eucharist-centred spirituality & common prayer, and by a spirit of fraternity & hospitality which moulds all members into one family. Our communities offer to all members support and encouragement in their vocation, with special attention to those experiencing difficulties, and those taking prophetic stands.
  • Close to the poor
    In order to better announce the kingdom, SMA members strive to lead simple lives, close to the people – especially to the poorest – sharing their goods and their whole selves according to the example of Christ and the first Christian communities.
  • Rooted in prayer
    “Our lives should show that spirituality and apostolic activity are inter-related and are mutually enriching. It is the same spirit who urges us to pray and to serve the poor.” – SMA General Assembly 1973.
    “We are convinced that every effort of renewal within the SMA will fail unless each member takes seriously the importance of a renewal of prayer and contemplation of the invisible God, the beginning and end our mission”. – SMA General Assembly 1983
  • through the power of the Holy Spirit,
  • through lasting fidelity to our missionary commitment,
  • through the witness of celibacy for the sake of the kingdom,
  • through observance of the constitutions as our rule of life,
  • we seek to be joyful witnesses among the nations
    • to the good news of Jesus Christ,
    • to the faith that is in us,
    • to the hope that animates us and
    • to the fraternal and liberating power of the gospel. – SMA Constitutions & Laws.
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