Mission at the heart of the
Christian faith
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
ONCE again this year, World Mission Day gathers us
around the person of Jesus, ‘the very first and greatest evangeliser’ (Paul
VI, Evangelii
Nuntiandi, 7), who continually sends us forth to proclaim the
Gospel of the love of God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. This Day
invites us to reflect anew on the mission at the heart of the Christian faith.
The Church is missionary by nature; otherwise, She would no longer be the Church
of Christ, but one group among many others that soon end up serving their
purpose and passing away. So it is important to ask ourselves certain questions
about our Christian identity and our responsibility as believers in a world
marked by confusion, disappointment and frustration, and torn by numerous
fratricidal wars that unjustly target the innocent. What is the basis of our
mission? What is the heart of our mission? What are the essential approaches we
need to take in carrying out our mission?
Mission and the transformative power of the Gospel of Christ, the Way,
the Truth and the Life
1) The Church’s mission, directed to all men and women of
good will, is based on the transformative power of the Gospel. The Gospel is
Good News filled with contagious joy, for it contains and offers new life: the
life of the Risen Christ who, by bestowing His life-giving Spirit, becomes for
us the Way, the Truth and the Life (cf. Jn 14:6). He is the Way who invites us
to follow Him with confidence and courage. In following Jesus as our Way, we
experience Truth and receive his Life, which is fullness of communion with God
the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. That life sets us free from every
kind of selfishness, and is a source of creativity in love.
2) God the Father desires this existential transformation of
His sons and daughters, a transformation that finds expression in worship in
spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:23-24), through a life guided by the Holy Spirit in
imitation of Jesus the Son to the glory of God the Father. ‘The glory of God is
the living man’ (Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses IV, 20, 7). The preaching of
the Gospel thus becomes a vital and effective word that accomplishes what it
proclaims (cf. Is 55:10-11): Jesus Christ, who constantly takes flesh in every
human situation (cf. Jn 1:14).
Mission and the kairos of Christ
3) The Church’s mission, then, is not to spread a religious
ideology, much less to propose a lofty ethical teaching. Many movements
throughout the world inspire high ideals or ways to live a meaningful life.
Through the mission of the Church, Jesus Christ Himself continues to evangelise
and act; Her mission thus makes present in history the kairos, the
favourable time of salvation. Through the proclamation of the Gospel, the risen
Jesus becomes our contemporary, so that those who welcome Him with faith and
love can experience the transforming power of His Spirit, who makes humanity
and creation fruitful, even as the rain does with the earth. “His resurrection
is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this
world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring
up. It is an irresistible force.” (Evangelii Gaudium, 276)
4) Let us never forget that ‘being Christian is not the
result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a
Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (Pope Benedict
XVI, Deus
Caritas Est, 1). The Gospel is a Person who continually offers
himself and constantly invites those who receive Him with humble and religious
faith to share His life by an effective participation in the paschal mystery of
His death and resurrection. Through Baptism, the Gospel becomes a source of new
life, freed of the dominion of sin, enlightened and transformed by the Holy
Spirit. Through Confirmation, it becomes a fortifying anointing that, through
the same Spirit, points out new ways and strategies for witness and
accompaniment. Through the Eucharist, it becomes food for new life, a ‘medicine
of immortality.’ (Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Ephesios, 20, 2)
5) The world vitally needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Through the Church, Christ continues His mission as the Good Samaritan, caring
for the bleeding wounds of humanity, and as Good Shepherd, constantly seeking
out those who wander along winding paths that lead nowhere. Thank God, many
significant experiences continue to testify to the transformative power of the
Gospel. I think of the gesture of the Dinka student who, at the cost of his own
life, protected a student from the enemy Nuer tribe who was about to be killed.
I think of that Eucharistic celebration in Kitgum, in northern Uganda, where,
after brutal massacres by a rebel group, a missionary made the people repeat
the words of Jesus on the cross: “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”
as an expression of the desperate cry of the brothers and sisters of the
crucified Lord. For the people, that celebration was an immense source of
consolation and courage. We can think too of countless testimonies to how the
Gospel helps to overcome narrowness, conflict, racism, tribalism, and to
promote everywhere, and among all, reconciliation, fraternity, and sharing.
Mission inspires a spirituality of constant exodus, pilgrimage, and exile
6) The Church’s mission is enlivened by a spirituality of
constant exodus. We are challenged ‘to go forth from our own comfort zone in
order to reach all the peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel.’ (Evangelii Gaudium,
20) The Church’s mission impels us to undertake a constant pilgrimage across
the various deserts of life, through the different experiences of hunger and
thirst for truth and justice. The Church’s mission inspires a sense of constant
exile, to make us aware, in our thirst for the infinite, that we are exiles
journeying towards our final home, poised between the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’
of the Kingdom of Heaven.
7) Mission reminds the Church that is not an end unto herself, but a humble
instrument and mediation of the Kingdom. A self-referential Church, one content
with earthly success, is not the Church of Christ, his crucified and glorious
Body. That is why we should prefer ‘a Church which is bruised, hurting and
dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is
unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.’
Young people, the hope of mission
8) Young people are the hope of mission. The person of Jesus
Christ and the Good News he proclaimed continue to attract many young people.
They seek ways to put themselves with courage and enthusiasm at the service of
humanity. “There are many young people who offer their solidarity in the face
of the evils of the world and engage in various forms of militancy and
volunteering… How beautiful it is to see that young people are ‘street
preachers,’ joyfully bringing Jesus to every street, every town square and
every corner of the earth!” (ibid., 106). The next Ordinary General Assembly of
the Synod of Bishops, to be held in 2018 on the theme Young People, the Faith
and Vocational Discernment, represents a providential opportunity to involve
young people in the shared missionary responsibility that needs their rich
imagination and creativity.
Carrying out our
mission with Mary, Mother of Evangelisation 10)
Dear brothers and sisters, in carrying out our mission, let us draw inspiration
from Mary, Mother of Evangelisation. Moved by the Spirit, she welcomed the Word
of life in the depths of her humble faith. May the Virgin Mother help us to say
our own ‘yes,’ conscious of the urgent need to make the Good News of Jesus
resound in our time. May she obtain for us renewed zeal in bringing to everyone
the Good News of the life that is victorious over death. May she intercede for
us so that we can acquire the holy audacity needed to discover new ways to
bring the gift of salvation to every man and woman.
June 4 2017, Solemnity of
Pentecost
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