“You shall be my witnesses” [Acts 1:8] is the theme that Pope Francis has chosen for this year’s World Mission Sunday, celebrated on Sunday, October 23.
“I am the mission,” rather than “I have a mission,” is a gradual shift that the Church is making. “I dream of a completely missionary Church and of a new era of missionary activity among Christian communities,” the pope wrote in his message for Mission Sunday.
The mission mandate that the Lord gives to his present-day Church is to identify the new geographical, social, and existential peripheries—the places and peoples of the margin—where witness can be made to the love of Christ towards all. This, the pope says, is how we are to understand in today’s terms the phrase “the ends of the Earth,” to where the disciples were called to be witnesses of Christ.
Mission Sunday is an invitation to look beyond one’s own life in the Church, see beyond the life of one’s parish or diocese, and understand, appreciate and participate in the mission of the Church. The Church in Hong Kong will always remain indebted to the selfless missionary endeavours of numerous pioneers for planting the seeds of faith and nurturing them with their hard work and faith. Now is the time for Hong Kong to reciprocate the favour, offering resources and time for the Church’s mission worldwide.
Offering financial support for missionary activities or praying for the missions alone does not fulfil our responsibility towards the mission of Christ. Shortage of missionary vocations is an issue that confronts the Church today. The simple reason could be that we are having trouble passing the faith on to our children. Many of our children are no longer walking the path of faith.
At the same time, there are so many beautiful things happening in our Church today. We see committed and active lay movements, lively liturgies, numerous platforms for sharing the Word of God, uplifting music, sensitivity to social justice, care for the poor and those on the margins of society, prayer groups, openness to other denominations and faiths, and above all an increasing number of adult baptisms. The Church has indeed a lot to cheer about.
Mission Sunday is an occasion for each Catholic to reflect on and renew one’s commitment to the mission of the Church. A closer look at our parish communities would reveal other, less positive things: Only one-half of all baptised Christians return to the Church, and many baptisms happen without proper discernment. The worst is our failure to pass on our faith to our children.
Jesus entrusts all of us with a mission: “You shall be my witnesses.” Pope Francis beautifully describes the weight of this mission entrusted to us, his disciples: “I am a mission on this Earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing” [Evangelii Gaudium, 273]. jose, CMF
