“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptising them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And I am with you always, until the end of time."
(Matthew 28; 19-20).
Inspired by theses words of Scripture our Founder, Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan, wrote in December 1894 in his Exhortations and Admonitions, “As long as there is one person on earth who does not know God and does not love Him above all things, you dare not allow yourself a moment’s rest. As long as God is not everywhere glorified, you dare not allow yourself a moment’s rest.”
Later in February 1904 he writes, “All peoples, all nations, all races, all families of peoples, all men — you are a debtor to all! Do not rest until all know Jesus the Saviour, love Him and serve Him. O Mother of the Saviour, pray for us!.”
The heart of Father Francis was aglow with apostolic zeal. He urged his followers to carry out his apostolic work by all means the love of God dictates.
Today the Salvatorian fathers, brothers, sisters and lay people proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people and on all continents of the world. As Salvatorians we work in parishes, schools and universities. We give retreats and run formation programmes of spiritual renewal. For those who would like to join us as priests or religious brothers we have our own seminary with its own formation programme. Many of Salvatorians work as missionaries in countries like Tanzania, India, Taiwan and formal communist countries in Eastern and central Europe.
As Salvatorians in Australia we are involved in many different apostolates. We work in parishes in New South Wales and in Western Australia. We work with indigenous people and with ethnic groups such as Polish and Italian. Numbers of our priests are working with youth as school chaplains.
From the very beginning of the Society our Founder, Father Francis was concerned with the apostolate of the press. He stressed the importance of the written word in the proclamation of the Gospel.
Among all the means of labouring successfully in the apostolate the most important and essential is having a good example according to the saying: Words move, examples carry away. All can and should be a good example and thus help others to know and love God, because "this is the eternal life that all people should know the only true God, and the One whom He has sent, Jesus Christ”.