Bag-ohon ang panglantaw sa misyon (Part 3)

(Excerpt of the talk during the on line and on air recollection of Most Rev. Julius S. Tonel, D.D., bishop of Ipil through DXGN 89.9 Spirit FM-Davao, March 8, 2021.)

II. Fundamental Conversions Required in Mission Today

Sa nasabtan nga kasusaban sa theologiya o panglantaw, unsa man ang direksyon nga himoon alang sa new Evangelization? Missio Dei is the new model of mission. We need these 5 conversions:

1. From Activism to Contemplation (kalihukan ngadto sa pamalandong)

The first conversion is from activism to contemplation. We act as if mission depends more on our efforts than on God’s grace. We think that the best way to do mission is to become effective in what we do. Wala pagtagad sa atong mga batasan ug unsa ang atong personal witness.

Atong ilhon nga ang Mission Dei usa ka pag-apil / pakig-ambit / pakighimamat (encounter with mystery sa Santissima Trinidad kinsa nagatawag sa tibook katawhan aron maka-ambit sa iyang kinabuhi ug himaya, sa plano sa misteryo sa Diosnong kaluwasan alang sa kalibutan, the mystery of the presence and action of Christ and the Spirit in the world. Importante ang atong pagpangita, pagdiscern ug pagpalig-on sa “presence of Christ and the action of the Spirit in the world.”

Ampoan nato ang mission. Dili lang ta dasdas dayon daw naa natay plano unsay buhaton. Contemplation – to look (main-id), to listen, to learn, to discern, to respond, to collaborate – is a constitutive dimensions of mission. Makat-on kita sa paglantaw nga iya sa Dios. We gaze at the world with the eyes of God. For it is only from the perspective of God’s larger world that we see how much the world is in need of redemption, liberation and salvation. Only from the perspective of God’s larger world do we see how much the world suffers, how many are the people who hunger, how often children die an untimely death. Only from this perspective do we see how much the world needs mission. Under the gaze of God’s eyes, enemies become friends, separating walls become open doors, strangers become brothers or sisters, borders become bridges, diversity leads not to differences and conflict but to harmony and unity. Indeed, only if people learn to see the world with God’s eyes would our mission truly bear fruit.

2. From Individualism to Collaboration. (tinagsa – pagtambayayongay)

A second conversion is from individualism to collaboration and teamwork. Usahay maghunahuna ta nga kita ra ang gitawag sa mission. (Akoy parish priest; maayo wala assistant; maayo pa walay PPC, way samok). We do not need other missionaries. Let them find some other work. We have our own work and we have no need of collaborators.

Seeing mission as Missio Dei makes us realize that our call to mission is really a call to share in God’s mission, which implies a call to collaborate with God, first of all, and with all others who are similarly called by God. Mas lapad ang mission kay sa dangan nato mahimo. Collaboration is not just a strategy for mission or we want to be more effective in mission. Collaboration, in fact, is an essential characteristic of mission. By collaborating we are saying that mission is God’s in the first place and that the primary agent of mission is God’s Spirit. We need to promote this collaborative attitude in mission.

3. From Superiority to Humility. (ang pagkalabaw – pagpaubos)

A third conversion is from superiority to humility. Kining mga langyaw nga mga missionaries nagtuo nga mas labaw ilang cultura and from economically developed and technologically advanced countries. So, they often evangelized from a position of power and superiority. Ang parokya pobre, bugo, walay kwarta, backward. Kinahanglan kanunay subsidy. Wala poy lay leaders kay mahadlok man masayop. (Matakdan pod ang ubang pari nga diocesan ug mga layko kung matagaan ug gahum.) When I replaced a foreign missionary who administered one parish in the diocese, the parishioners became very active in their participation and their stewardship program increased 3 fold.

Seeing mission as Missio Dei makes us realize that the Christian gospel is not the possession of any one people of a particular culture, but that it is meant for all peoples and cultures, and for all times and generations. The missionary is never the “owner” or “master” of the gospel, but only its “steward” and “servant”. Today, the missionary is called to preach the gospel not as if he or she owned it putting the rest as always poor. The approach of the missionary today must be to share the faith as a gift received from God through others, conscious of himself or herself as merely its steward or servant and never its owner or master.

We are called to evangelize from a position of powerlessness and humility. The only power we need is the power of the Word and of the Spirit. And that power is the power of love, which is manifested in self-giving. Thus, another expectation of missionaries today is the development of the spirit of humility and powerlessness in mission.