Br Peter Carroll FMS
Dear Friends
A hundred years ago next month Pope Benedict XV issued his apostolic letter, Maximum Illud, which began with the words:
“Before He returned to His Father, Our Lord Jesus Christ addressed to His disciples the words: “Go into the whole world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mk 16:15). With these words He committed to them a duty, a momentous and a holy charge, that was not to lapse with the death of the Apostles but would bind their successors, one after another, until the end of the world…”
That “momentous and holy charge" refers to the mission of the Church, and in commemoration of this seminal letter Pope Francis has named this October as an “Extraordinary Month of Mission” (EMM). Much of what Francis has written and said during his Pontificate is related to the Church’s mission. It’s captured in his image of the Church as a “field hospital” and his insistence that we should be on the peripheries and of genuine service to those in need – physical, emotional and spiritual. It’s no surprise that he’s chosen to focus attention on this significant letter and theme.
The EMM has been given the same name as the letter with which Francis announced the month: Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World. His letter sets out the aim of the month: to “help us rediscover the missionary dimension of our faith in Jesus Christ, a faith graciously bestowed on us in baptism”.
He also clarifies what is, and what’s not, meant by ‘mission’:
“Our filial relationship with God is not something simply private, but always in relation to the Church. Through our communion with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we, together with so many of our other brothers and sisters, are born to new life. This divine life is not a product for sale – we do not practise proselytism – but a treasure to be given, communicated and proclaimed: that is the meaning of mission. We received this gift freely and we share it freely, without excluding anyone”.
The official logo for Pope Francis’ Extraordinary Mission Month.
Outward focus and open outreach is are imperative for the Christian.
“The Church is on mission in the world. Faith in Jesus Christ enables us to see all things in their proper perspective, as we view the world with God’s own eyes and heart. Hope opens us up to the eternal horizons of the divine life that we share”.
The Pope maintains that our current world is in desperate need of such missionary activity:
“Today’s rampant secularism, when it becomes an aggressive cultural rejection of God’s active fatherhood in our history, is an obstacle to authentic human fraternity, which finds expression in reciprocal respect for the life of each person. Without the God of Jesus Christ, every difference is reduced to a baneful threat, making impossible any real fraternal acceptance and fruitful unity within the human race”.
Therefore, at the heart of mission lies genuine concern for the other: “Charity, of which we have a foretaste in the sacraments and in fraternal love, impels us to go forth to the ends of the earth”. And the soul of mission is prayer!
However, mission is not just for the elect, for those who go as “missionaries” to foreign lands. Mission is part of our identity as Christians:
“This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission. People in love never stand still: they are drawn out of themselves; they are attracted and attract others in turn; they give themselves to others and build relationships that are life-giving. As far as God’s love is concerned, no one is useless or insignificant. Each of us is a mission to the world, for each of us is the fruit of God’s love. Even if parents can betray their love by lies, hatred and infidelity, God never takes back his gift of life. From eternity he has destined each of his children to share in his divine and eternal life”.
Recently Sister Eveline Crotty represented CRA at the Assembly of the Major Superiors of the Pacific Islands, held in Fiji. This year’s theme was the EMM and Eveline offered a concise summary of what she heard:
· An acute, current challenge for the Church is to reawaken her missionary commitment, recover a life-giving relationship with the world, and in so doing make religious communities active and relevant.
· This requires radical formation on every level, and renewal of the way we understand what it means to live out our baptism and faith.
· For Religious Congregations it requires a re-evaluation of Charisms – “Is the charism still relevant to the call of mission today or have religious communities become social clubs and living museums with very little outward focus”?
I encourage you to take up Pope Francis’s invitation to reflect and pray on what it means to be an active, engaged Christian in today’s world. There are some helpful resources available:
https://www.catholicmission.org.au/emm
https://walls.io/g4rgi
The love of Christ cannot but urge us on, and out to others.
Peter Carroll FMS
President, Catholic Religious Australia