World Mission Sunday - Additional Thoughts

Since World Mission Sunday is such a significant moment in the Church's year for those of us who serve in mission settings, I wanted to offer a few additional thoughts on this occasion. The first is a quote from Pope Paul VI's homily on the occasion of the canonization of the Ugandan martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and companions, who are celebrated each year on June 3. I am finishing a book which recounts the heroic witness they gave to Christ as some of the very first Catholics in that country. They were canonized on World Mission Sunday in 1964:

“Christianity brings personal growth, freedom, dignity, a fuller humanity in the highest sense of the term; it opens the way to a richer personality for the individual and a better framework for the community. Christianity is the true vocation of all men, and these martyrs are proof of this fact.”

Pope Benedict XVI, in his Message for World Mission Sunday this year (click HERE to read the full text) reminds us that, "The missionary mandate continues to be an absolute priority for all baptized persons who are called to be 'servants and apostles of Christ Jesus' at the beginning of this millennium." He makes reference to Pope Paul VI's inspiring and challenging Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi, and - in this special Pauline Jubilee Year - offers St. Paul as an exemplary model of a missionary and evangelist.

Sometimes we can be daunted by the prospect of fulfilling the missionary mandate implied by our own Baptism, and feel at a loss as to how to fulfill this task and where to begin. The Second Reading from last Sunday's (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, A) Mass offers us a simple formula. In 1Thes 1:2, St. Paul commends the Thessalonians for their "work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope." The way in which these three fundamental Christian virtues were lived and expressed among the Thessalonians made them an intrinsically missionary and evangelizing community. The same can be true for us. How does this happen?

The "work of faith" implies that our faith in Christ makes a difference in our lives and affects the way we see, understand and respond to the world around us, and above all in the way we make personal decisions. If our faith is active in this way, and we are open about sharing this influence with others, we will draw attention to Christ. To "labor in love" means that we're willing to go out of our way and make a real effort and sacrifice to serve and meet the needs of others, especially those who have no natural "claim" on our help but are specially loved by Christ: the poor, the rejected, the abandoned and the marginalized. And finally, "endurance in hope," means not giving up in the face of difficulties, obstacles and discourgement, whether they be personal or social, but rather pushing ahead sustained by our trust in God. Striving to put these three fundamental virtues into practice automatically transforms us into witnesses of Christ in whatever situation we may be; it enables us, like St. Paul, to be missionaries and evangelists.

Finally, I would like to share with you three photos from Mission Sunday in Torit. Mass was celebrated by our Bishop, Akio Johnson Mutek, who spoke emphatically about the need to fulfill the mission of Christ in the diocese. At the end of Mass he was joined by Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban, who courageously led the Church in Torit through the first twenty years of its existance during the civil war. Concelebrating the Mass was the diocese's newest priest, James Taban, ordained just two months ago in August.