National Mission Conference, Divine Word Seminary (Message)
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Vatican II’s Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, Ad Gentes, the Episcopal Commission on Mission (ECM) of the CBCP, together with the Philippine Catholic Mission Council (PCMC), organized a National Mission Conference on 18-21 May 2015 at the Divine Word Seminary/Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies in Tagaytay City.
The Conference was held in the context of the CBCP-initiated nine-year preparation for the celebration in 2021 of the 500th Anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines. Thus, the general theme of the Conference was “Gifted to Give,” expressing the conviction that, after having been gifted with the Christian Faith for the last 500 years, the Philippine Church is now called to give, that is, to share the Faith with other peoples in Asia and in the world.
The 361 participants of the Conference included the ECM/PCMC, nine Archbishops and Bishops, the Mission Directors of the ecclesiastical jurisdictions of the Philippines together with their delegates, and representatives of religious congregations and of lay movements. The Conference consisted of presentations and workshops dealing with the history and the theology of Ad Gentes and its contemporary challenges for the Philippine Church. This brought about a common realization among the participants regarding two fundamental points:
First, Mission is Missio Trinitatis, the mission of the Triune God (AG 1-2, 9). This means that Mission originates from the sending by the Father of the Son and the Spirit in order bring about God’s salvific plan for the world. Mission is, therefore, primarily an encounter with Mystery – the mystery of the Triune God who calls all of humanity to share in his life and glory, the mystery of God’s universal plan of salvation, the mystery of the presence of Christ and action of the Spirit in the world. Thus, our call to mission is a call to encounter mystery. And such a call entails being gripped by mystery, arising from a profound personal encounter with the Divine Word made incarnate in Jesus Christ.
Secondly, the whole Church is missionary by its very nature (AG 2). This means that mission is constitutive of the Church’s very being. The Church exists for mission. Mission is the Church’s reason for being. Thus, every member of the Church, every Christian, every disciple of Jesus is a missionary – the Laity, the Religious and the Clergy. In particular, the Bishops are entrusted with the primary role in the promotion and direction of mission not only in their own dioceses but also in the universal Church (AG 38). Similarly diocesan priests are “consecrated to the service of the missions” (AG 39). And the lay faithful fully share, as much as the Clergy and the Religious, in the mission of the Church (AG 21-23).
We wish to underline the spirit of fraternity and communion which reigned among the participants during the Conference. From being merely a gathering of separate delegates coming from different parts of the country, we became, in the course of the four days of the Conference, a genuine community, as Pope Francis puts it, not only of “disciples” and “missionaries” but of “missionary disciples” of Jesus (EG 120). Throughout the Conference, we prayed and reflected together, we listened to the speakers and to each other, we shared our faith and our experiences with one another. Above all, we endeavored to listen to God’s Spirit speaking to us in the various activities of the Conference, precisely during the week preceding Pentecost Sunday.It was in a spirit of gratitude that we gathered in Tagaytay, humbly grateful for the great gift of the Christian faith which missionaries from foreign lands had brought to our country. We felt especially chosen by God among the peoples of Asia. But we also became profoundly aware that God’s choice of us is not a privilege but a responsibility – a responsibility to share the Faith with our brothers and sisters in Asia and in world. The report on the “State of Mission of the Philippine Church”, which resulted from the survey undertaken in the months prior to the Conference, showed that the awareness of this responsibility has not yet sufficiently taken root among the members of the Church in the Philippines. Neither have the values of the Gospel penetrated deeply enough into our public and political life, resulting in the continuing “split between the Gospel and culture” or between faith and life, which, in the words of Blessed Pope Paul VI, is “the drama of our time” (EN 20).
Thus, we ended the Conference with the resolve to develop a deeper commitment to mission and to promote “formation for mission” in the situations in which we find ourselves. Indeed, our concluding Eucharistic celebration included a “mission sending” ceremony during which all of us were sent out as “missionary disciples” of Jesus Christ. It was a joyous celebration, and fittingly so, for, in the words of Pope Francis, the basis of mission is Evangelii Gaudium, the “Joy of the Gospel” (EG 20-23).
Through this message, we wish to invite you to look ahead to our celebration as a nation of the 500th Anniversary of the coming of Christianity to the Philippines with the attitude of gratitude and commitment – gratitude for the gift received and commitment to share that gift with others. “What you have received as a gift, give as a gift” (Mt 10:8).
361 Participants
National Mission Conference
18-21 May 2015
Tagaytay City
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