Mission is Where We Are

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Where do we hear this imperative statement in our liturgy? Each one of us, if we stay until the conclusion of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has received our mandate to go forth and proclaim the gospel of the Lord.

The faithful are sent forth (missio) into the world so that they may fulfill God’s will in their daily lives (CCC1332). This means that our worship of God is never complete without our response to His call of sharing the Gospel. It enlightens our Christian vocation to share in the mission of Christ by bringing forth his message to the world. This does not need to be in extraordinary ways.

Our mission starts where we are, what we are, what we can at any given moment or status in life: in the family, in workplaces, in the church, in the government. In short, wherever we are, whoever we are with, the message of the Gospel must be proclaimed. How? By our words and actions we give witness to the Gospel of Christ in our lives.

After the Holy Communion, the priest prays that we become transformed into what we have consumed. And so through our reception of Jesus we can become like Jesus and it is He that we bring to our mission.

In Pope Francis World Mission Sunday 2015 message, he emphasizes that “Mission is a passion for Jesus and at the same time a passion for his people. When we pray before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which gives us dignity and sustains us. At the same time, we realize that the love flowing from Jesus’ pierced heart expands to embrace the People of God and all humanity. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people” (cf.ibid.,268) and all those who seek him with a sincere heart.

Furthermore, Pope Francis says that “Being a missionary is not about proselytizing or mere strategy; mission is part of the “grammar” of faith, something essential for those who listen to the voice of the Spirit who whispers “Come” and “Go forth”. Those who follow Christ cannot fail to be missionaries, for they know that Jesus “walks with them, speaks to them, breathes with them. They sense Jesus alive with them in the midst of the missionary enterprise” (Evangelii Gaudium, 266).

To be a missionary does not require one to go some distant places for where one is, is where the mission is. Just look anywhere and you will see that so many people are hungering for the Good News of Jesus. St. Therese of the Child Jesus is declared the Patroness of the Missions even she had not even went out of the cloister since she first entered it. We can be missionaries even in our homes.

Like his disciples, Jesus prepared them before sending them on their missions. We must take the time to know our faith and the teachings of the Church. As Pope Paul VI in his Apostolic Exhortation says that the Church in its “striving to proclaim the Gospel to all people,”[3] has had the single aim of fulfilling her duty of being the messenger of the Good News of Jesus Christ — the Good News proclaimed through two fundamental commands: “Put on the new self”[4] and “Be reconciled to God.” [Evangelii Nuntiande,5].

God has given each of us the gift of time, talent and treasure. Not one among us is without such gifts. So why don’t we start making an inventory of our resources and share these with our fellow travelers in this world especially the poor.

Visit your Parish and inquire what areas are in need of missionaries like you. Do not wait for people to approach you. A missionary goes where Jesus sends them.

Pope Francis says that “a true missionary is passionate for the Gospel. Saint Paul said: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16)

At the end of the Mass, our Lord, through the priest, exhorts us “Go now in peace and serve the Lord.“