WORD FOR MISSION
Reflection on mission and
on Sunday Liturgy
MISSION IS:
to preach the Gospel and give life to Churches
with the power of the Spirit
VI Sunday of Easter
Year “A” - Sunday 01-05-2005
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Acts
8:5-8,14-17
Psalm 65 1Peter 3:15-18 John 14:15-21
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Reflection
In the discourse-conversation-prayer of Jesus with the disciples after the Last Supper (Gospel) there is a strong atmosphere of leave-taking: emotions abound, as do memories, questions, fears... But what stands out above all is the reassuring promise of the Master: "I will not leave you orphans; I shall come to you... (v.18); the Father will give you another Paraclete... for ever” (v.16). Jesus promises the Spirit as a gift to those who pray (Lk 11:13), as a defender and Consoler (Jn.16:7-11), the Spirit of the whole truth (Jn.14:17; 16:13), forgiveness of sins (Jn.20:22-23), the Spirit that calls out in us “Abbà, Father!” (Rm 8:15)… All in all, a kind presence, an intimate and affectionate companionship. He is the Spirit of Love in the heart of the Trinity and in each of us; the new principle of moral life in the observance of the Commandments. Out of love! As a sign of love! Freely given and freely returned (Jn.14:21).
The same Spirit animates the mission of believers on earth, to all nations, as is seen at Pentecost, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 11:19-26). It is perceived in the founding of the Church in Samaria (First Reading), the second community after Jerusalem. It will be followed by Antioch (Acts 11:19-26) and others. The beginning of the community in Samaria is marked by the presence of a Deacon, Philip: he arrives there while fleeing from the persecution following the death of Stephen, as Christ had foretold. He is listened to with interest, he works miracles, he baptises, everyone is full of joy (cf. Acts 8:8). These are the initial signs of a community of faith, which will then receive the seal of the Apostles Peter and John with the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 8:17). The history of the missionary Church is full of similar happenings: almost all the Christian communities start with the work of a lay catechist or a group of lay people (Legion of Mary or something similar), or of a Nun... Later, the priests and the Bishop arrive, with the sacraments of Christian Initiation and ecclesiastical structures.
The Church is a community of believers in Christ. Its members -- like those to whom the first Letter of Peter is addressed (2nd. Reading) -- are "always ready with your answer for people who ask the reason for the hope that you have” (1Pt.3:15). From the pages of Acts breathes the missionary freshness of the early Christian communities: a freshness and an ardour that become contagious, and cannot be hidden. With good reason it is said that "Christians are ridiculous when they hide what makes them interesting” (Card. J. Daniélou). *
The Church of the Risen Lord is a community of missionaries. It carries with it a message of life and hope to proclaim to all peoples, as the Council states: "Their community (of the disciples of Christ) is made up of people who, united as one in Christ, are guided by the Holy Spirit in their pilgrimage towards the Kingdom of the Father, and have received a message of salvation to offer to everyone” (Gaudium et Spes 1).
The words of the Pope
* “The Church is missionary by its very nature, and its first task is evangelisation. The Second Vatican Council dedicated to missionary activity the Decree entitled, specifically, Ad Gentes. It recalls how «the Apostles... following the example of Christ, proclaimed the word of truth and gave life to the Churches»; and that «it is the task of their successors to give continuity to this action, so that the Word of God may 'spread quickly and be received with honour' (2Ts.3:1) and the Kingdom of God be proclaimed and established over all the earth» (Ad Gentes 1). A the beginning of the Third Millennium, the Church feels, with renewed vivacity, that the missionary mandate of Christ is as real as ever. The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 led her to 'start again from Christ', contemplated in prayer, so that the light of His truth may shine on all men and women, above all through the witness of holiness.”.
Benedict XVI
Homily in the Basilica of St Paul, Rome, 25 April
2005.
In the footseps of Missionaries
- 1/5: St Joseph, the worker of Nazareth, who taught Jesus to work.
- 2/5: St. Athanasius (295-373), Bishop ofAlexandira (Egypt) and Doctor of the Church. He was persecuted and exiled several times by the Arian heretics.
- 3/5: The Apostles Philip, >From Bethsaida, and James the Less, first Bishop of Jerusalem.
- 3/5: Bl. Maria Leonia (Alodia) Paradis (1840-1912), a Canadian nun, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family at Sherbrooke, in Quebec.
- 4/5: Bl. Jean Martin Moyë (+1793), a priest of the Paris Society of Foreign Missions. He was a missionary in China and died in Trier, Germany.
- 6/5: St Peter Nolasco (+1245 in Barcelona). together with St. Raymond de Peñafort and King James I of Aragon, he founded the Mercedarian Order for the physical and moral redemption of slaves.
- 6/5: Bl. Francis of Montmorency-Laval (1623-1708), a French missionary, Bishop of Quebec (Canada).
- 6/5: Bl. Rosa Gattorno (1831-1900), a wife, mother and widow. She founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Anne in Piacenza, and quite early (1878)they went abroad as missionaries.
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A cura di: P. Romeo Ballan, mcci – Direttore del CIAM, Roma – Sito Web: www.ciam.org “Parola per la Missione”