Jerome Pistoni
My dear brothers and sisters, I have two points to share with you in my reflection of this Sunday. The first point highlights the World Mission Sunday that we are celebrating today and our calling to be missionary in virtue of our baptism. The second point gives some practical advices in the light of today readings for us to be able to fulfill our missionary calling.
We are on the 29th Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle C. In this 20th of October 2019, the third Sunday of this month, the Church celebrates the Mission Sunday worldwide. By way of reminder, in the beginning of this month, the Holy Father opened solemnly the missionary month with a message entitled: Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World, inviting each of us to commemorate the 100 years of Maximum Illud, an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XV. Those of us who can read are highly encouraged to read Pope Francis’ message. We can gratefully say that through Maximum Illud, missionaries predominantly from Europe were encouraged to bring the gospel to various areas of theworld, including to our own chiefdom of Mongo and to our beloved town of Mongo Bendugu, to be specific.
Pope Francis admonishes us: “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission. […] Each of us is a mission to the world, for each is the fruit of God’s love.” From the day you received the sacrament of Holy Baptism, you received the Holy Spirit in you, and you became a brother or sister to Jesus Christ and a member of the Church. From that day on, each baptized person is sent to share this gift and invite others to the Church. Do not leave that mission solely to the priests’ responsibility. One may become a catechist! Perhaps some of you know the local language better than foreign missionaries who work here; do not hesitate to avail yourselves and go to nearby outstations on Sundays and lead the celebration of the Word. Because, you too are missionaries.
Let us not take as an excuse the fact that we are just a tiny minority among our Muslim brothers and sisters. I sometimes hear complaints that some Muslims are fishing out some of our members. However being in a small town, we should avoid polemic. Regarding our position towards our Muslim friends and relatives who are very committed to their faith let Pope Saint Paul VI’s encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam N. 75 echoes the way in which the church must carry out its mission in the contemporary world. Saying that the message of salvation leaves those to whom it is directed free to accept or reject it, he added: “So, too, although our own mission is the announcement of the truth which is both indisputable and necessary for salvation, that mission will not be introduced in the armor of external force, but simply through the legitimate means of human education, of interior persuasion, or ordinary conversation, and it will offer its gift of salvation with full respect for personal and civic freedom.”
Instead, let us go to our Christians brothers and sisters, those who were enthusiastic when Mongo was made a parish. They were baptized and confirmed, yet they are not joining anymore any church activity. Let us insistently invite them this week. They may be our neighbors; they may be the relatives in our homes, your family, or schoolmates. Catholic Men Association (CMA), Catholic Women Association (CWA), Catholic Teachers Association (CTA), Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), and Altar Servers, look for that man, that woman, that young boy or girl who is no longer attending to church. Invite him/her to join us this coming Sunday, in that way we can have our church filled with its members again as we celebrate this World Mission Sunday.
This Sunday’s first reading (Ex 17:8-13) and the gospel (Lk18:1-8) tell us to pray always to God. Prayer requires faith and faith implies patience. Let us not be discouraged when we feel as if God does not answer our prayers. God’s time is the best, we usually say. Besides, in our missionary enterprises, prayer reminds us that we are doing God’s own work because he is the one who sent us. Therefore, when we are discouraged we have always to turn to God in prayer and ask for more strength. When we experience satisfaction in what we are doing, we should also thank him because he is the one working through us.Let us practice justice in our various sector of life: those of us working in the police, public offices, in our schools and health facilities or those handling their small/little businesses at home. Doing our different works in justice and uprightness of heart will earn us good reputation and attract people to our faith.
If the mission is the work of God, then we have good reason to become more familiar with the Word of God. Procure yourself with a copy of the Bible and those of us who have Smartphone, make sure that you have an app of the Bible. Try to open and read it from time to time. Saint Paul advises Timothy in the second reading (2Tim 3:14-4:2) to know the “Holy Scriptures – from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” In our daily interactions and conversations with Muslim friends and relatives, we hear them quoting from the Quran and other channels of their faith. One can ask, as a Christian, where do your quotations come from? If you are familiar with the Bible and the teachings of the Church, you will be able to proclaim and insist on it, as Saint Paul has just said.
If you are really conscious of your calling as missionary in virtue of our baptism, you will be a person who hears the Word of God, prays continually to God and conducts your affairs in justice and uprightness of heart. In this way, God will keep on blessing you and then, you will eventually discover that your help is the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
My dear brothers and sisters, I have two points to share with you in my reflection of this Sunday. The first point highlights the World Mission Sunday that we are celebrating today and our calling to be missionary in virtue of our baptism. The second point gives some practical advices in the light of today readings for us to be able to fulfill our missionary calling.
We are on the 29th Sunday of the Ordinary Time, cycle C. In this 20th of October 2019, the third Sunday of this month, the Church celebrates the Mission Sunday worldwide. By way of reminder, in the beginning of this month, the Holy Father opened solemnly the missionary month with a message entitled: Baptized and Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World, inviting each of us to commemorate the 100 years of Maximum Illud, an apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XV. Those of us who can read are highly encouraged to read Pope Francis’ message. We can gratefully say that through Maximum Illud, missionaries predominantly from Europe were encouraged to bring the gospel to various areas of theworld, including to our own chiefdom of Mongo and to our beloved town of Mongo Bendugu, to be specific.
Pope Francis admonishes us: “This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptized man and woman is a mission. […] Each of us is a mission to the world, for each is the fruit of God’s love.” From the day you received the sacrament of Holy Baptism, you received the Holy Spirit in you, and you became a brother or sister to Jesus Christ and a member of the Church. From that day on, each baptized person is sent to share this gift and invite others to the Church. Do not leave that mission solely to the priests’ responsibility. One may become a catechist! Perhaps some of you know the local language better than foreign missionaries who work here; do not hesitate to avail yourselves and go to nearby outstations on Sundays and lead the celebration of the Word. Because, you too are missionaries.
Let us not take as an excuse the fact that we are just a tiny minority among our Muslim brothers and sisters. I sometimes hear complaints that some Muslims are fishing out some of our members. However being in a small town, we should avoid polemic. Regarding our position towards our Muslim friends and relatives who are very committed to their faith let Pope Saint Paul VI’s encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam N. 75 echoes the way in which the church must carry out its mission in the contemporary world. Saying that the message of salvation leaves those to whom it is directed free to accept or reject it, he added: “So, too, although our own mission is the announcement of the truth which is both indisputable and necessary for salvation, that mission will not be introduced in the armor of external force, but simply through the legitimate means of human education, of interior persuasion, or ordinary conversation, and it will offer its gift of salvation with full respect for personal and civic freedom.”
Instead, let us go to our Christians brothers and sisters, those who were enthusiastic when Mongo was made a parish. They were baptized and confirmed, yet they are not joining anymore any church activity. Let us insistently invite them this week. They may be our neighbors; they may be the relatives in our homes, your family, or schoolmates. Catholic Men Association (CMA), Catholic Women Association (CWA), Catholic Teachers Association (CTA), Catholic Youth Organization (CYO), and Altar Servers, look for that man, that woman, that young boy or girl who is no longer attending to church. Invite him/her to join us this coming Sunday, in that way we can have our church filled with its members again as we celebrate this World Mission Sunday.
This Sunday’s first reading (Ex 17:8-13) and the gospel (Lk18:1-8) tell us to pray always to God. Prayer requires faith and faith implies patience. Let us not be discouraged when we feel as if God does not answer our prayers. God’s time is the best, we usually say. Besides, in our missionary enterprises, prayer reminds us that we are doing God’s own work because he is the one who sent us. Therefore, when we are discouraged we have always to turn to God in prayer and ask for more strength. When we experience satisfaction in what we are doing, we should also thank him because he is the one working through us.Let us practice justice in our various sector of life: those of us working in the police, public offices, in our schools and health facilities or those handling their small/little businesses at home. Doing our different works in justice and uprightness of heart will earn us good reputation and attract people to our faith.
If the mission is the work of God, then we have good reason to become more familiar with the Word of God. Procure yourself with a copy of the Bible and those of us who have Smartphone, make sure that you have an app of the Bible. Try to open and read it from time to time. Saint Paul advises Timothy in the second reading (2Tim 3:14-4:2) to know the “Holy Scriptures – from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” In our daily interactions and conversations with Muslim friends and relatives, we hear them quoting from the Quran and other channels of their faith. One can ask, as a Christian, where do your quotations come from? If you are familiar with the Bible and the teachings of the Church, you will be able to proclaim and insist on it, as Saint Paul has just said.
If you are really conscious of your calling as missionary in virtue of our baptism, you will be a person who hears the Word of God, prays continually to God and conducts your affairs in justice and uprightness of heart. In this way, God will keep on blessing you and then, you will eventually discover that your help is the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.