“We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” Acts 4.20

On World Mission Day, which we celebrate annually on the penultimate Sunday of October, we recall with gratitude all the faithful, who by their testimony of life help renew our baptismal commitment to be generous and joyful apostles of the Gospel. We remember and pray especially for all those who diligently set out, leaving home and family behind, to bring the Good News to all those places and people athirst for its saving message. (Archdiocese of Bombay)

Sunday, October 22, 2023

Pope Francis, in his message for World Mission Sunday 2023, reflects on the theme

“Hearts on fire, feet on the move,”

based on the story of the disciples who encounter Jesus on their way to Emmaus (cf. Lk 24:13-35). He invites all of us to “set out once more, illumined by our encounter with the risen Lord and prompted by his Spirit. Let us set out again with burning hearts, with our eyes open and our feet in motion. Let us set out to make other hearts burn with the word of God, to open the eyes of others to Jesus in the Eucharist, and to invite everyone to walk together on the path of peace and salvation that God, in Christ, has bestowed upon all humanity.”

On World Mission Sunday, we join our Holy Father in supporting his missions. As we pray and respond here at home, we share in those celebrations taking place in every parish and school throughout the world. Together, through our prayers and financial support, we bring the Lord’s mercy and concrete help to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope’s missions.

In a world where so much divides us, World Mission Sunday rejoices in our unity as missionaries by our Baptism, as it offers each one of us an opportunity to support the life-giving presence of the Church among the poor and marginalized in more than 1,111 mission dioceses.

You can find the resources as part of this newly-launched microsite for World Mission Month: https://onefamilyinmission.org/

Resources for World Mission Month: https://www.missio.org/resources

“How Mission Can Help Us Navigate Today’s Challenges”

The Pontifical Mission Societies (MISSIO), in collaboration with the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA) and acclaimed documentary filmmaker and producer Andrew Muscato, launch a new streaming series, “How Mission Can Help Us Navigate Today’s Challenges.”

The free streaming series, presented via YouTube, will cover themes such as how to remain resilient, deal with trauma and keep hope alive focusing on our relationships, the importance of prayer, and the practice of solidarity.

Jesus the Missionary

Except from To the Ends of the Earth:A Pastoral Statement on World Mission.

Jesus was a missionary. As the Word of God, he is the light of all nations. As the Word made flesh, he brought God’s own life into our midst. Before returning to the Father, he sent the Church to continue the mission given him by the Father and empowered her with his Spirit: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21).

The Missionary Church

Except from To the Ends of the Earth:A Pastoral Statement on World Mission.

The Church, therefore, is missionary by her very nature. She continues the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit by proclaiming to the ends of the earth the salvation Christ offers those who believe in him. We are faithful to the nature of the Church to the degree that we love and sincerely promote her missionary activity. As teachers and pastors we are responsible for keeping alive a vibrant Catholic missionary spirit in the United States.

Committee Mandate

The Church’s mission is to proclaim the salvation of Christ to the ends of the earth. As teachers and pastors, bishops are responsible for promoting Catholic world missions in the United States.The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis supports initiatives which focus on the Church’s world mission by promoting mission education and working collaboratively with the Pontifical Mission Societies and other mission organizations.

Vatican Documents on Mission

Ad Gentes
Evangelii Gaudium
Evangelii Nuntiandi
Redemptoris Missio

Source: USSCB

1926 Papal decree

Over one billion Catholics all over the world observe today as World Mission Sunday. This annual observance was instituted 95 years ago in 1926 by Pope Pius XI’s Papal decree. Every year since then, the universal Church has dedicated the month of October to reflection on and prayer for the missions. On World Mission Sunday, Catholics gather to celebrate the Eucharist, and to contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world. This annual celebration gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work for the life of the Church. It reminds us that we are one with the Church around the world and that we are all committed to carrying on the mission of Christ, however different our situations may be.

Pope Benedict XVI

In his World Mission Sunday messages, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of Christian charity in action as the keynote of evangelization. He encouraged Churches with a shortage of priests to get them from countries with many priests. In the Pauline Year, he encouraged everyone to “take renewed awareness of the urgent need to proclaim the Gospel.” He reminded us that the “the goal of the Church’s mission is to illumine all peoples with the light of the Gospel,” and he exhorted all Christians “to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church.”

Pope Francis

Pope Francis, in his first World Mission Sunday message, 2013, challenged us to proclaim courageously and in every situation the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, and communion. In his 2014 Mission Sunday message, the Pope challenged the Church to become a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples, and the source of rebirth for our world through the intercession of Mary, the model of humble and joyful evangelization. “The Church is on a mission in the world,” Pope Francis wrote in his 2019 World Mission Day message, BAPTIZED & SENT. “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission.” Hence the Holy Father calls on all Catholics and the Church to revive missionary awareness and commitment. In his 2020 message our Holy Father asked us to discharge our mission duty by volunteering with prophet Isaiah “Here am I, send me” (6:8) to alleviate the suffering of our Covid-19-stricken brothers and sisters. The theme of 2021 World Mission Day – “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” Acts 4:20, is a summons to each of us to “own” and to bring to others what we bear in our hearts. In these days of pandemic, when there is a temptation to disguise and justify indifference and apathy in the name of healthy social distancing, there is urgent need for the mission of compassion, which can make that necessary distancing an opportunity for encounter, care and promotion.

The missionary Church

The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary. God the Father sent God the Son, Incarnate in Jesus, His Christ, into the world with a message of God’s love and salvation. Thus, the evangelizing mission of the Church is essentially the announcement of God’s love, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation, as these are revealed to mankind through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

How are we to accomplish this goal

The most powerful means of fulfilling this goal is by living a truly Christian life — a life filled with love, mercy, kindness, compassion, prayer, and a forgiving spirit.

Mr. Gandhi used to say: “My life is my message.” He often challenged the Christian missionaries to observe the “apostolate of the rose.”

A rose doesn’t preach. It simply radiates its fragrance and attracts everyone to it by its irresistible beauty.

Hence, the most important thing is not the Gospel we preach, but the life we live. This is how the early Christians evangelized. Their Gentile neighbors used to say: “See how these Christians love one another!” The Christ they recognized and accepted was the Christ who lived in each Christian.

Prayer

Prayer is the second requirement for missionary work. Jesus said: “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Therefore, prayer is necessary for anyone who wishes to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and for everyone who preaches the Good News in his life. In his message for World Mission Sunday, 2004, Pope St. John Paul II stressed the fact that the Holy Spirit would help us to become witnesses of Christ only in an atmosphere of prayer. Since missionaries are weak human beings, and since witnessing to Christ through life is not easy, we need to support them by our prayers always. In his message for 2007, Pope Benedict reminds us, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few”, the Lord said; “pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Lk 10:2).

All missionary efforts also require financial support because the love of God can often be explained to the poor only by providing them with food and means of livelihood. The sick can experience the healing power of Jesus only through the dedicated service of doctors, nurses, and health care workers. Hospitals and nursing homes require funding. The use of expensive modern media of communication is often necessary to bring Christ’s message of love and liberation more effectively to non-Christians in the modern world.

Hence, on this Mission Sunday, let us learn to appreciate our missionary obligation and support the Church’s missionary activities by leading transparent Christian lives, by fervent prayers, and by generous donations.

Pope Benedict XVI concluded his 2006 Mission Sunday message thus:

“May the Virgin Mary, who collaborated actively in the beginning of the Church’s mission with her presence beneath the Cross and her prayers in the Upper Room, sustain their action and help believers in Christ to be ever more capable of true love, so that they become sources of living water in a spiritually thirsting world.”

Source: Fr AK