WORD FOR MISSION

Missionary reflection  on Sunday Liturgy

THE FRUITS OF MISSION:

to produce, conserve and spread

XXVII Sunday in Ordinary Time

Year “A” - Sunday 2.10.2005

Isaiah  5:1-7

Psalm 79

Philippians  4:6-9

Matthew  21:33-43

Reflections

“The vineyard of the Lord is His people" (the House of Israel) is the response in the Responsorial Psalm. It is a vineyard planted with love, trended and cared for  with joy and hope, as the prophet Isaiah proclaims (1st Reading) in one of his poetic canticles that earned him the name of "the Daunt of the Bible". Sadly, the vineyard -- the people -- proved unfaithful when the time came to gather the fruits, and expectations are turned into delusion and bitterness. Instead of the fruits of justice and integrity, the people has produced blood and oppression (v.7). In fact, in the Gospel Parable told by Jesus, the tenants, besides taking the crop for themselves, become murderers: they beat, stone and kill not only the servants sent by the owner, but even his Son. The application to the events of the death of Jesus is direct (v.39). But God recuperates the stone - Jesus - rejected by the builders, and makes it the keystone of salvation, for all nations. Only those who accepts and remains in Him bears much fruit, because apart from Him we can do nothing (cf. Jn.15:5). And so God does not give up, does not give way to delusion, tries again after every rebuff, does not renounce the crop: He offers the same Saviour to other peoples so that, united with Him, they may bear fruits of salvation (vv. 31, 41, 43).

The history of the Missions records the succession of events and of the peoples who, in successive ages, welcome the proclamation of the Gospel and produce the fruits of life. Certainly, no people can define itself as better than the others; but the fact that many Christian communities were born, flourished and then disappeared in various parts of the world. This calls for serious missionary reflection. Of numerous thriving Christian communities in North Africa and in Asia Minor only the names remain. In the meantime, other continents have opened up to the Gospel and are still bearing fruit; yet other populations that grew in the Faith are now in decline, weary and with little to show. How can freshness and vigour of Faith be recuperated? This is the great challenge to an effective missionary pastoral approach.  *

In the letter to the Philippians (2nd Reading) Paul writes to a community that once produced good fruit. In today's reading he give a list of at least eight fruits to be cultivated and sought: whatever is true, noble, good and pure, loveable, honoured, virtuous, praiseworthy (v.8), as the guarantee of peace with God and with others (vv.7,9). They are values that encourage positive thought, that form the basis for the fundamental and urgent directions the Mission of the Church must take in the world: dialogue with other religions, inculturation, ecumenical dialogue, fostering of justice, etc.

Paul recommends these human and religious values to the Christians of Philippi, the first Christian community that he founded in Europe during his second Missionary Journey (AD 49-50); a community with which he had a particularly affectionate relationship. The origins of this community give us some interesting missionary considerations. Following the Council in Jerusalem, Paul had revisited the communities in Asia Minor, leaving people in charge and looking for more areas to evangelise (Acts 16:6-7). While he was in Troas, the vision of the Macedonian opened the way to a new world: "Come across to Macedonia and help us!" (Acts 16:9-10). The stretch of sea to be crossed was quite narrow, but that step was really significant: for Paul and his companions it was an entrance into the Roman Empire; Paul's gaze was already turning towards Rome, the capital. The first community in Philippi and the call of the Macedonian are like and emblem and a missionary reminder to all Church communities of every time and place. They must be attentive to the call, whether loud or silent, of the countless Macedonians of their "today" (persons, nations or situations). It is something to ponder on, especially with World Mission Sunday being so close.

The Pope's words

*  “For missionary activity renews the Church, revitalises faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and new incentive. Faith is strengthened when it is given to others! It is in commitment to the Church’s universal mission that the new evangelisation of Christian peoples will find inspiration and support”.

John Paul II

Redemptoris Missio (1990) 2

In the footsteps of Missionaries

- 2/10: Bl. John Beyzym (1850-1912), a Jesuit priest from Volinia (Ukraine), who was a missionary among leprosy sufferers at  Fianarantsoa (Madagascar).

- 3/10: Bl. Ambrose Francis Ferro, priest, and 27 Companions, martyred in 1645 on the banks of the river Uruaçu (Natal, Brazil).

- 4/10: St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), the Poverello who loved Christ in his poverty. He founded the Franciscan family. He went to evangelise the Moslems, and sent his friars to evangelise in various parts of the world.

- 4/10: Bl Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867), a German Redemptorist priest. He worked in various parts of the USA, and died of yellow fever in New Orleans, Louisiana.

- 5/10: Sts. Froilano and Attilano, Spanish bishops in the tenth century. They gave up their life as hermits to evangelise the regions that had been liberated from the Arab rule.

- 5/10: Annalena Tonelli (1943-2003), an Italian lay missionary, killed by an unknown assailant in Borama (Somalia). One of her favourite sayings was: "One day good will prevail!"

- 7/10: Our Lady of the Rosary. The simple devotion makes vivid the mysteries of the life of Christ and of Mary, and is in tune with the missionary joys and problems of the whole world.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Editor: Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - Former Director of CIAM, Rome

Website:    www.ciam.org <http://www.ciam.org/>    “Word for Mission”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++