Articles / Special

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

22 October 2023, marks the World Mission Sunday. This annual observance was instituted 97 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 and pray for the missions.

On World Mission Sunday, Catholics during the celebration of the Eucharist contribute to a collection for the work of evangelization around the world to support the missions of the churches. The Mission Sunday gives us a chance to reflect on the importance of mission work 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.

As children we would put coins in our small piggy banks as sacrifice and offer it on Mission Sunday and also with lots of smiles and enthusiasm hold the envelope in our hand which our parents would give to put in the collection tray. In those days we also went around houses to distribute the Mission Sunday calendars to families though our little minds didn’t understand what ‘mission’ meant.

The Church, according to Vatican Council II, is “missionary” in her very nature because her founder, Jesus Christ, was the first missionary.

Jesus, as a missionary, made a permanent arrangement for inviting all men throughout the ages to share God’s love and salvation: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Mt 28:19). This is why the Council Fathers of the Second Vatican Council declared that the Church of Christ “is missionary in its origin and nature.” Hence, it follows that the mission of the Church is the mission of every member of the Church, and is not reserved for the priests, the religious, and the active missionaries alone. Thus, every Christian is a missionary with a message to share, the message of God’s love, liberation, and eternal salvation.

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. The Gospels show us how Jesus demonstrated this all-embracing and unconditional love of God by his life, suffering, death, and Resurrection.

Mahatma 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.

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.”

To set our feet on the move is to revive missionary awareness and commitment, like the disciples of the Emmaus, to continue the mission entrusted to the Church by the risen Lord to evangelize all individuals and peoples, even to the ends of the earth. Yes, today more than ever, our human family, wounded by so many situations of injustice, so many divisions and wars, is in need of the Good News of peace and salvation in Christ.

On World Mission Sunday, could we join our Holy Father in supporting the mission through our prayers and financial support. Just as the two disciples of Emmaus told the others what had taken place along the way (cf. Lk 24:35), so too let us proclaim the wonders that his love has accomplished in our lives and of those whom we know.

Lastly, let us set out, once again, illumined by our encounter with the risen Lord and prompted by his Spirit 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.

Article by Sr. Molly Fernandes sfn