WORD FOR MISSION
Missionary reflection on Sunday Liturgy
acknowedge You as the one and only God
XXIX Sunday in Ordinary Time
Year “A” – Sunday 16.10.2005
Isaiah 45,1,4-6
From Psalm 95
1Thessalonians 1,1-5
Matthew 22,15-21
Reflections
Jesus’ answer (Gospel) disables the trap set for him by the Pharisees and the Herodians on the sticky topic of taxes to be paid to the Roman emperor: Jesus makes a distinction between human-political authority and the supreme authority of God, who created us, men and women, in his own image. Jesus’ pronouncement affirms the autonomy of the two spheres of action, human and divine, while asserting, here and in other Gospel passages, the priority of God, from whom all and everything receive life, purpose and meaning. A healthy autonomy requires mutual respect and cooperation in a spirit of complementarity, avoiding both the confusion of a theocratic system, and the evasions of an inward looking spiritualism, while supporting any initiative aimed at safeguarding the integral promotion of the person and the communal development of humanity. In this light, even the political activity of Cyrus, the Persian king (1st reading), called the elect of God (v.1) and prompted to act (v.5), is interpreted from the point of view of the salvation of the Hebrews, enslaved in Babylon. In the same way, the spiritual growth of the Christian community in Thessalonica (2nd reading) – with its values of committed faith, concrete charity and constant hope (v.3) – can only have healthy consequences for the sharing of family and social life.
The opening prayer highlights God’s priority, to whom “all creatures obey in the mysterious intertwining of people’s free will,” and invites us to pray so that finally, “all of humanity recognize you as the one and only God.” It is true that even pagans believe in God, and that all peoples have at least an idea of God. But Jesus came to reveal to us the true face of God – the intimate dimension – of this God, who is his Father and our Father; who is a communion of three Persons. The missionaries of the Gospel spread this good news all over the world.
The priority of God and his rule over people and events of history, redeemed by Christ the Savior, are the basic themes underlying the mission of the Church across the centuries. During this missionary month of October, we welcome with grateful hearts the message of John Paul II (which he signed a few weeks before his death) for World Mission Sunday that has as a theme “Mission: Bread broken for the Life of the World.”
The Pope Says: “World Mission Sunday, in this year dedicated to the Eucharist, helps us to better understand the Eucharistic sense of our life as we relive the emotion of the Upper Room when, on the eve of his passion, Jesus offered himself to the world… Jesus in the breaking of the bread offered for the whole of humanity. Following his example we too are called to offer our life for our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need. The Eucharist bears the mark of universality and prefigures in a sacramental way the time when «all who share one human nature, regenerated in Christ through the Holy Spirit and beholding the glory of God, will be able to say with one accord: Our Father» (Ad Gentes 7). In this way, while the Eucharist helps us to understand more fully the significance of mission, it leads every individual believer, the missionary in particular, to be ‘bread, broken for the life of the world’… Present in the Eucharist, the same Redeemer who saw the needy crowds and was filled with compassion “because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9,36), continues through the centuries to show compassion for humanity poor and suffering. * And it is in his name that pastoral workers and missionaries travel unexplored paths to carry the bread of salvation to all. They are spurred on by the knowledge that… Jesus alone can satisfy humanity’s hunger for love and thirst for justice.” And we may add: only Jesus supports the labors and the risk taking of those missionaries who choose, in the words of St. Daniel Comboni, to “make common cause” with and on behalf of the poor. All this, in order to be faithful to the Gospel!
The Pope's words
* “To make a concrete response to the appeal of our brothers and sisters in humanity, we must come to grips with the first of these challenges: solidarity among generations, solidarity between countries and entire continents, so that all human beings may share more equitably in the riches of our planet... The earth, in fact, can produce enough to nourish all its inhabitants, on the condition that the rich countries do not keep for themselves what belongs to all”.
Benedict XVI
Address to 7 new Ambassadors to the Holy See, Rome, 16.6.2005
In the footsteps of Missionaries
- 16/10: World Day of Alimentation, organized by the FAO-UNO.
- 17/10: St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr condemned ‘ad bestias’ by Trajan (+107).
- 18/10: St. Luke, the evangelist, author also of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s companion in his mission.
- 19/10: Ss. John Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and other six Jesuit companions martyrs, missionaries among the Hurons (North America, Canada, +1642-1649).
- 20/10: Blessed David Okelo and Jildo Irwa, young catechists and martyrs (16 and 12 years old) killed in Paimol (Kalongo-North Uganda, +1918).
- 21/10: Blessed Laura Montoya y Upeguí (1874-1949), Colombian missionary among the indigenous people and founder, who died in Medellín.
- 23/10: World Mission Sunday, with the theme: “Mission: Bread Broken for the Life of the World.”
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Editor: Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome
Website: www.ciam.org http://www.ciam.org/ “Word for Mission”
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