"As the Father Has Sent Me, So I Send You" (John 20:21). On the
occasion of the Jubilee of 2000, the Venerable John Paul II, at
the beginning of a new millennium of the Christian era,
reaffirmed forcefully the need to renew the commitment to take
to all the proclamation of the Gospel with "the same enthusiasm
of the Christians of the early times" ("Novo Millennio Ineunte,"
No. 58). It is the most precious service that the Church can
give to humanity and to each person who seeks the profound
reasons to live his existence fully. Because of this, this same
invitation resounds every year in the celebration of World
Mission Sunday. In fact, the incessant proclamation of the
Gospel also vivifies the Church, her fervor, her apostolic
spirit, it renews her pastoral methods so that they are
increasingly appropriate to the new situations -- also those
that require a new evangelization -- and animated by the
missionary drive: "the mission renews the Church, reinforces the
faith and Christian identity, gives new enthusiasm and new
motivations. The faith is strengthened by giving it! The new
evangelization of Christian peoples will find inspiration and
support in the commitment to the universal mission" (John Paul
II, "Redemptoris Missio," No. 2).
Go and Proclaim
This objective is continually revived by the celebration of the
liturgy, especially of the Eucharist, which always ends
recalling the mandate of the Risen Jesus to the Apostles: "Go
..." (Matthew 28:19). The liturgy is always a call 'from the
world' and a new sending 'to the world' to give witness of what
has been experienced: the salvific power of the Word of God, the
salvific power of the Paschal Mystery of Christ. All those who
have encountered the Risen Lord have felt the need to proclaim
him to others, as did the two disciples of Emmaus. They, after
recognizing the Lord in the breaking of the bread, "rose that
same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven
gathered there" and they told what had happened on the road
(Luke24:33-34). Pope John Paul II exhorted to be "vigilant and
prepared to recognize his face and run to our brothers, to take
the great announcement to them: We have seen the Lord!" ("Novo
Millennio Ineunte," No. 59).
To All
All peoples are recipients of the proclamation of the Gospel.
The Church "is missionary by nature, as she takes her origin
from the mission of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, according to
the plan of God the Father" ("Ad Gentes," No. 2). This is "the
happiness and vocation proper of the Church, her most profound
identity. She exists to evangelize" (Paul VI, "Evangelii
Nuntiandi," No. 14). Consequently, she can never be shut-in on
herself. She roots herself in certain places in order to go
beyond. Her action, in adherence to the word of Christ and under
the influence of his grace and of his charity, is made fully and
actually present to all men and to all peoples to lead them to
faith in Christ (cf. "Ad Gentes," No. 5).
This task has not lost its urgency. On the contrary, "the
mission of Christ Redeemer, entrusted to the Church, is still
far from being accomplished ... a global look on humanity shows
that this mission is still at the beginning and that we must
commit ourselves with all our energies in its service" (John
Paul II, "Redemptoris Missio," No. 1). We cannot remain tranquil
in face of the thought that, after two thousand years, there are
still peoples who do not know Christ and have not yet heard his
message of salvation.
Not only this; the multitude grows of those that, even having
received the proclamation of the Gospel, have forgotten and
abandoned it, not recognizing themselves now in the Church; and
many environments, also in traditionally Christian societies,
today are refractory in opening themselves to the word of faith.
Underway is a cultural change, fueled also by globalization, by
movements of thought and by the prevailing relativism, a change
that leads to a mentality and a lifestyle that does without the
evangelical message, as if God did not exist, and which exalts
the search for well-being, easy earnings, careers and success as
the objective of life, even at the cost of moral values.
Co-responsibility of All
The universal mission involves all, everything and always. The
Gospel is not an exclusive good of the one who has received it,
but is a gift to be shared, good news to communicate. And this
gift-commitment is entrusted not only to a few, but to all the
baptized, who are "a chosen race ... a holy nation, God's own
people" (1 Peter 2:9), to proclaim his wonderful works.
All activities are also implied in it. Attention and cooperation
in the evangelizing work of the Church in the world cannot be
limited to some particular moments and occasions, nor can they
be considered as one of the many pastoral activities: the
missionary dimension of the Church is essential and, therefore,
must always be kept present. Hence it is important that every
baptized person as well as the ecclesial communities be
interested not only in a sporadic and irregular way in the
mission, but in a constant way, as the way of Christian life.
The Missionary Day itself is not an isolated moment in the
course of the year, but a precious occasion to pause to reflect
on how we respond to the missionary vocation; an essential
response for the life of the Church.
Global Evangelization
Evangelization is a complex process and includes several
elements. Among these, a peculiar attention on the part of
missionary animation, has always been given to solidarity. This
is also one of the objectives of World Mission Sunday, which
through the Papal Missionary Associations requests help in
carrying out tasks of evangelization in mission territories. An
attempt is made to support institutions necessary to establish
and consolidate the Church through catechists, seminaries,
priests and also to make a contribution to the improvement of
the conditions of life of persons in countries in which the
phenomenons of poverty, malnutrition especially of children,
illnesses, lack of health services and education are more acute.
This also falls within the mission of the Church. Proclaiming
the Gospel, she takes seriously human life in the full sense. It
is unacceptable, reaffirmed the Servant of God Paul VI, that in
evangelization subjects are neglected that refer to human
promotion, justice, liberation from every form of oppression,
obviously in respect of the autonomy of the political sphere. To
be indifferent to the temporal problems of humanity would mean
"to forget the lesson which comes to us from the Gospel
concerning love of our neighbor who is suffering and in need" ("Evangelii
Nuntiandi," No. 31); it would not be attuned to Jesus' conduct,
who "went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing
every disease and every infirmity" (Matthew 9:35).
Thus, through co-responsible participation in the mission of the
Church, the Christian becomes a builder of communion, of peace,
of the solidarity that Christ has given us, and collaborates in
the realization of the salvific plan of God for the whole of
humanity. The challenges that it meets, calls Christians to walk
together with others, and the mission is an integral part of
this path with all. In it we bear, though in vessels of clay,
our Christian vocation, the inestimable treasure of the Gospel,
the living testimony of Jesus dead and resurrected, encountered
and believed in the Church.
May this World Mission Sunday revive in each one the desire and
the joy of "going" to meet humanity taking Christ to all. In his
name I impart to you from my heart the Apostolic Blessing, in
particular to all those who most toil and suffer for the Gospel.
In the Vatican, Jan. 6, 2011, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the
Lord
© Copyright 2010 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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