WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection on Sunday Liturgy
MISSION:
a journey of discovery of the face of God in Christ
XIX Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year “A” - Sunday 07.08.2005
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1K.
19:9.11-13
Psalm 84 Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:22-33
The thread that runs through today's readings is the theme of the free and surprising self-revelation of God and, as a consequence, man's search for God. All the religions and philosophies of peoples are both a sign and a result of this deep desire that God has engraved in the hearts of persons and of cultures: Who is God? What is He like? Where is He? What is He doing? etc. The results of this searching can be seen in the diverse expressions of religion that have accompanied humanity throughout history. Natural religions are all different, but have a common origin: the human aspiration to a relationship with the divinity. This is the natural religious terrain in which missionaries find peoples when they first make contact with them.
Christian Theology, right from the start (with Saints Justin and Irenaeus in the second century), teaches Gospel workers that they must discover the "seeds of the Word" that are present in cultures; that is, the human and spiritual values which -- thanks to the action of the Word through whom everything was created (cf. Col.1:15-17), and thanks to the presence of the Holy Spirit, the protagonist of Mission (cf. RM. 21f) -- are already present in the cultures of peoples even before the Good News of Christ is proclaimed. It is precisely because these values have a divine origin that they provide a good preparation to welcoming the newness of the Gospel; the presence of the Word and of the Spirit, which precedes the arrival of the missionary, creates a special kind of being in tune which, generally, makes the acceptance of the Christian message much easier.
Besides this first revelation 'in the nature of created things', God reserved for Himself the exact moment to manifest Himself in time, to the world, in the people He chose. In the case of Elijah (1st Reading) God's manifestation comes through signs that are different from those used for Moses, even though it took place on the same mountain (Sinai-Horeb). Elijah is coming from the massacre of the prophets of Baal on the slopes of Mount Carmel (cf. 1K.18), and needs to recognise God not though powerful signs (the mighty wind, the earthquake, the fire), but in the "gentle breeze" (v.12). In the midst of the heavy sea, and amid the cries of fear of ghosts (Gospel), Jesus, after first showing Himself as the one who prays alone on the mountain (v.23), now comes as the bearer of peace and security: "Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid" (v.27). As in other revelations or self-revelations of Jesus, the conclusion is the faith of the disciples (v.33). In a wider context, it is Matthew's community that, having suffered from early persecution and "little faith" (v.31), renews its adhesion to the Risen Lord, invoking him with the Easter title of Kyrios (vv.28-30).
Throughout the history of individuals and of nations, periods of being open or closed to the mystery of God alternate with some frequency. It is the case with the majority of the Jewish people (2nd. Reading) that, even while enjoying eight priceless privileges (vv.4-5), closed itself to Christ who "came from their flesh and blood" (v.5), and fail to recognise Him as the Risen one. The mystery of the Chosen People is linked to the missionary reality of many peoples who have not yet opened up to the Gospel, except for some small minorities. Think of China, India, Japan and the whole Islamic world. Certainly, they are not outsides Christ's saving action: He is the Saviour of all. But their call to Faith still remains a mystery.
The Pope's words * “What moves me even more strongly to proclaim the urgency of missionary evangelisation is the fact that it is the primary service which the Church can render to every individual and to all humanity in the modern world, a world which has experienced marvellous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself”. John Paul II Redemptoris Missio (1990), n. 2
In the steps of Missionaries - 7/8: The Blessed Agatangelo Nourry and Cassiano Vaz López-Netto, Capuchin missionaries in Syria, Egypt and Ethiopia, martyred at Gondar (+1638). - 8/8: St. Dominic (from Guzmán: 1170-1221), an itinerant missionary and evangeliser of heretics. He founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans: O.P.). - 8/8: Bl. Mary E. MacKillop (Sidney +1909), a nun and a foundress. She is the first Australian woman to be Beatified. - 9/8: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). She was a German Jewess who became a Carmelite nun, and was killed at Auschwitz (+1942). She is one of the Patron Saints of Europe. - 11/8: S. Clare of Assisi (+1253). She was a follower of St. Francis, and a model of Christian life in her poverty, austerity, love of others and contemplation. - 11/8: Venerable John Henry Newman (1801-1890), an early convert Anglican clergyman, who later was made a Cardinal. His motto was "Holiness, above all".
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Edited by : Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - former Director of CIAM, Rome Website: www.ciam.org <http://www.ciam.org/> “The Word for Mission” |