“Mother Church! Rediscover your fruitfulness in the joy of mission!” are the ending words in the homily of pope Francis … Extraordinary mission month is a challenge for all of us, not only for a commitment for mission, but also for restructuring some of our perspectives.
The Pope encourages us to go ahead with hope, and asks us to avoid crisis mentality and pessimistic outlook. A missionary church, he said, “does not waste time lamenting things that go wrong, the loss of faithful, the values of a time now in the past.”
Many of us go through life-questions, of our own, of our society, and of the Church. Pope says that God is not asking us just moving through life, but “to give life; not to complain about life, but to share in the tears of all who suffer.” Is it something missionary enough? The intention of the missionary month is to “motivate us to be active in doing good. He asks us to focus on the dimension of witnessing. Pope Francis emphasizes that "the martyrs are the primary witnesses of faith: not by their words but by their lives. We become missionaries by living as witnesses: bearing witness by our lives that we have come to know Jesus. It is our lives that speak." …. Faith truly lived as witness to the Gospel should not take the form of a propaganda or proselytism: it is a respectful gift of one’s life. It is to be lived "by spreading peace and joy, by loving everyone, even their enemies, out of love for Jesus." Missionary enthusiasm can sometime make us “notaries of faith and guardians of grace” as to think that we are the providers of salvation. “God will not ask us if we jealously preserved our life and faith, but instead whether we stepped forward and took risks, even losing face,” he says.
He says that it is a sin against mission whenever we think of ourselves as victims, or think that no one loves us or understands us. We are to be people spreading joy. Thinking of ourselves so poorly that we cannot enrich someone else is also a sin against mission he says. Because God has given us many talents. We also sin against mission when we give ourselves to the fears that immobilize us, when we let ourselves be paralyzed by thinking that “things will never change”. He encourages us not to give up on the way, for the Lord is our strength.
Mission does not depend on ‘our’ planning, competence, and strategies. It is wrong, he says, to do doing missionary work like business organizations, with a business plan. "The Holy Spirit is the protagonist of our mission," and the Holy Spirit has been already present there where we are expected to be a witness of the Gospel.
What we need to do is to live the Gospel, in love, peace and joy, and share this joy that is in our life with the neediest who needs our love. It is a great and courageous effort, not much in word but greatly in life.
_________________________
Pope Francis, Homily at vespers for the beginning of the missionary month (October 01, 2019) available at http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2019/documents/papa-francesco_20191001_omelia-vespri-mesemissionario.html
See also Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Pontifical Mission Societies, Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World; Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019 (Milan: San Paolo, 2019). available athttp://www.october2019.va/en.html
No comments:
Post a Comment