(October 17, 2009) As the Church celebrates 83rd Mission Sunday on October
18, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI invites all the faithful to reflect on the theme: “The
nations will come to its light.” The Holy Father through his message wants to encourage
in each one the deeper awareness of Christ’s missionary mandate to “make disciples
of all peoples” in the footsteps of Saint Paul, the Apostle of the nations. World
Mission Sunday, organized by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, is a day
set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary
activity through prayer and sacrifice. Annually, World Mission Sunday is celebrated
on the next-to-last Sunday in October. This Sunday is an important day in the life
of the Church because it teaches how to give: as an offering made to God, in the Eucharistic
celebration and for all the missions of the world. Every year we have a special Sunday
set aside to think about our Mission to the world. It is an annual reminder of who
we are and what we have to do. The mission comes directly from Jesus to his disciples
to go out to the whole world and proclaim the gospel to all creation. Pope Benedict
in his message reminds us that missionary endeavour is the first service which the
Church owes humanity. This is who we are. This is what we do. Everything the Church
does is part of, or leads up to bringing the gospel to creation. Pope Benedict also
reminds us that the courage to evangelise is the measure of our love for God. To say
that we are all missionaries is a truism which has no meaning until each person decides
what their part is. The church reminds us that our prayers and donations on World
Mission Sunday help to support churches, hospitals, schools and vocations in countries
where the Church is new, young or poor. It is our chance to show our love and solidarity
with our brothers and sisters who share our faith; to support them in our shared mission
of showing the love of God for all. Thanks to Mission Sunday we can join with the
whole Church in bringing spiritual and material help to those who need it most. The
offerings that will be collected on World Mission Sunday are destined for a common
fund of solidarity distributed, in the Pope's name, by the Society for the Propagation
of the Faith among the missions and missionaries of the entire world. The Holy Father
through his message for the day encourages the faithful to respond to the message
of Jesus to proclaim to the world his good news. In his message for the Mission
Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI says that the goal of the Church’s mission is to illuminate
with the light of the Gospel all peoples journeying through history towards God, so
that in Him they may reach their full potential and fulfilment. That impulse to evangelization,
and not any desire for earthly power, drives all the work of the Church, he says.
The Pope asks all Christians to redouble their commitment to participate in the missionary
activity that is an essential component of the life of the Church. Through his message
the Holy Father wants to encourage all the faithful to experience deeper awareness
of Christ’s missionary mandate to make disciples of all peoples. “We must live the
longing and the passion to illuminate all peoples with the light of Christ that shines
on the face of the Church, so that all may be gathered into the one human family,
under the loving Fatherhood of God,” says the Pontiff. He invites all believers to
proclaim strongly that Christ is the salvation of the world. Further he says, “We
ask nothing except to put ourselves at the service of all humanity, especially the
suffering and the excluded, because we believe that the effort to proclaim the Gospel
to the people of today is a service rendered to the Christian community and also to
the whole of humanity.” In the Message which bears the title "The nations will
come to its light” (Rev 21, 24) the Holy Father underlines once again “the Church
works not to extend power or affirm dominion, but to carry, to all, Jesus Christ,
the salvation of the world.” In fact the dispersion, multiplicity, conflict, enmity
which afflicts humanity “will be calmed and reconciled through the blood of the Cross
and led back to unity. This new beginning has already started with the Resurrection
and the exaltation of Christ, who draws all things to himself, renewing them and enabling
them to share in the eternal joy of God”. Already today, in the contradictions and
sufferings of this world, there shines the light of hope for a new life, and the Pontiff
underlines that “The Church's mission is to infect all peoples with hope” and “Christ
calls, sanctifies and sends his disciples to announce the Kingdom of God, so that
all nations may become the people of God. The universal mission should become a fundamental
constant in the life of the Church. To announce the Gospel must be for us, as it was
for the Apostle Paul, a primary and impelling duty”. The Holy Father recalls that
the universal Church feels responsible for announcing the Gospel to whole peoples
and is aware of her duty to continue Christ's service in the world, since the measure
of her mission and her service is not material or even spiritual needs restricted
to temporal existence, instead, it is transcendent salvation, fulfilled in the Kingdom
of God. Through the mission given by Jesus Christ, the Church wishes to transform
the world with the proclamation of the Gospel of love, calling all the members and
institutions of the Church to take part in this mission. Hence the Pontiff says, “The
goal of the Church’s mission is to illuminate with the light of the Gospel all peoples
journeying through history towards God, so that in Him they may be fully realised
and accomplished. We must live the longing and the passion to illuminate all peoples
with the light of Christ that shines on the face of the Church, so that all may be
gathered into the one human family, under Fatherhood of God. It is in this perspective
that the disciples of Christ spread throughout the world work, struggle and groan
under the burden of suffering, offering their very lives. Let us once again proclaim
strongly what was so frequently affirmed by my venerated Predecessors: the Church
works not to extend power or affirm dominion, but to carry, to all, Christ, the salvation
of the world.” Christ’s mission on earth is made visible through his service and
hence the Pope says that we ask nothing except to put ourselves at the service of
all humanity, especially the suffering and the excluded, because we believe that “the
effort to proclaim the Gospel to the people of today is a service rendered to the
Christian community and also to the whole of humanity which has experienced marvellous
achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence
itself.” The Holy Father then offers the church a full invitation to serve others
and says: “With this message I renew my invitation to all the members and institutions
of the Church to participate in this mission and this service.” Dwelling on the
subject of mission ad gentes, Pope Benedict XVI underlines the necessity to renew
our commitment to proclaiming the Gospel which is leaven of freedom and progress,
brotherhood, unity and peace, a particularly urgent task considering widespread and
profound changes in present day society: “Animated and inspired by the Apostle of
the nations, we must realise that God has a numerous people in all the cities visited
by the apostles of today. The whole Church must be committed to mission ad gentes,
until the salvific sovereignty of Christ is fully accomplished”. The mission of the
Church, therefore, is to call all peoples to the salvation accomplished by God through
his incarnate Son, says the Holy Father. “I would confirm once more that the task
of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church a duty
and a mission which the widespread and profound changes in present day society render
ever more urgent. At stake is the eternal salvation of all people, the goal and the
accomplishment of human history and the universe.” This day dedicated to the missions
is also an opportunity to recall and remember local Churches and missionaries who
bear witness to and spread the Kingdom of God in situations of persecution, with various
forms of oppression ranging from social discrimination to prison, torture and death.
No small number of them is put to death for the sake of his "Name”, the name of Jesus.
In this way all are called to evangelise even through the martyrdom. Participation
in the mission of Christ, in fact, affects also the lives of those who announce the
Gospel, for whom is reserved the same destiny as their Master”. The Pope says: “Still
tremendously relevant today are the words of my venerated Predecessor, Pope John Paul
II: “The Jubilee remembrance has presented us with a surprising vista, showing us
that our own time is particularly prolific in witnesses, who in different ways were
able to live the Gospel in the midst of hostility and persecution, often to the point
of the supreme test of shedding their blood.” Participation in the mission of Christ,
in fact, affects also the life of those who announce the Gospel, for whom is reserved
the same destiny as their Master. “Remember the words I said to you: A servant is
not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too”.
The Church walks the same path and suffers the same destiny as Christ, since she
acts not on the basis of any human logic or relying on her own strength, but instead
she follows the way of the Cross, becoming, in filial obedience to the Father, a witness
and a travelling companion for all humanity. I remind old Churches and those more
recently founded that they have been placed by the Lord to be the salt of the earth
and the light of the world, and called to spread Christ, the Light of the nations,
to the far corners of the earth. Missio ad gentes must be a priority in pastoral programmes.
To the Pontifical Mission Society go my gratitude and my encouragement for their indispensable
service of promoting missionary animation and formation and material help for young
Churches. Through the Pontifical Institutions communion among the Churches is admirably
achieved with exchange of gifts, reciprocal concern and common missionary programming. In
the conclusion the Pope reaffirms the role of the missionary church, and says that
the Missionary impulse has always been a sign of the vitality of our Churches. Nevertheless
it is necessary to reaffirm that evangelisation is primarily the work of the Spirit
and that before being action it is witness and irradiation of the light of Christ
on the part of the local Church, which sends her own missionary men and women beyond
her frontiers. Thus he reaffirms “evangelisation is the work of the Spirit” and therefore
he calls on Catholics to “ to pray that the Holy Spirit will intensify the Church's
passion for the mission to spread the Kingdom of God and to support missionaries and
Christian communities involved in mission, in front line, often in situations of hostility
and persecution.” The pope says that the missionary zeal has always been a sign
of church vitality. He asks all Catholics to pray for an increase in missionary passion
and to support missionaries who work on the front lines of evangelization, often under
hostile conditions. At the same time he says, “I ask everyone to offer as a credible
sign of communion among the Churches, financial assistance, especially in these times
of crisis affecting all humanity, to help the young Churches be in the condition to
illuminate the nations with the Gospel of charity.” Placing the Church before Mary,
Pope Benedict says “May we be guided in our missionary activity by the Blessed Virgin
Mary, star of New Evangelisation, who brought Christ into the world to be the light
of the nations and to carry salvation “to the ends of the earth”. He then imparted
his Apostolic Blessing.