OCTOBER 21, third Sunday of the month is dedicated as World Mission Sunday in the Catholic Church calendar. The entire month of October is known as Mission Month. The Church comes together to support the transformative work of missionaries in many parts of the world to bring the joy of the gospel to the people of the world. It is that day of the year that the Pope asks everyone to help support missionaries and help build churches, hospitals, and even schools in places where the church is too.
Saint Pope John Paul II once made a call to every Catholic Filipino during one of his visits in the Philippines, “Dear People of God in the Philippines, go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth – your own world first, your families, your communities and the nation to which you belong and which you love; and the wider world of Asia, towards which the Church in the Philippines has a special responsibility before the Lord; you Filipino young people have a special responsibility before the Lord for Asia.” (10th World Youth Day in Manila, Sunday 15 January 1995). Filipino missionaries including migrant workers and families continue to respond to this call.
But Pope Francis makes a special invitation to young people, millennials like you and me to respond to our baptismal call. He said, “You too, young friends, by your baptism have become living members of the Church; together we have received the mission to bring the Gospel to everyone.”
But how do you bring the Gospel to every person you meet? When I was on my first mission assignment in the islands of Fiji, I visited a Hindu Indian teacher. He welcomed me into his home. We sat down and drank “yangona,” the tradition Fijian drink made from powdered roots. The first thing he asked me was “What ‘Good News’ do you bring?”
We do not just bring any good news to the people we meet, it is Jesus Christ we proclaim and not ourselves to others. Pope Francis asserted that “from the cross of Jesus we learn the divine logic of self-sacrifice (cf. 1 Cor 1:17-25) as a proclamation of the Gospel for the life of the world (cf. Jn 3:16). To be set afire by the love of Christ is to be consumed by that fire, to grow in understanding by its light and to be warmed by its love (cf. 2 Cor 5:14).” Let us ask ourselves every time we need to make life decisions and wonder, “What would Christ do if he were in my place?
But what can I do? The world is so big and I am so little. What can I give to the world? Again Pope Francis encourages each of us, “Never think that you have nothing to offer, or that nobody needs you. Many people need you. Think about it! Each of you, think in your heart: many people need me”
Go out to the World, be brave, be generous but most of all be joyful! I am not a fan of statement shirt but I have a favorite one because it is the only one I have. On the shirt is written, “Do something nice.” And it never fails to put a smile to the person who really reads it. Do something nice. Just do it!
I am a Columban missionary priest now living and working in the Golden land of Myanmar.
If you are interested to become a Columban Missionary, to join in the adventure of “Sharing Gospel Joy” to the ends of the world and write to me (kurtzionssc@gmail.com). Please do not forget to pray for and support us!