Fr. Louis Brioni sx
(Missionary Reflection by Fr. Louis Brioni, Xaverian Missionary in Sierra Leone)
World Mission Sunday 2020. What a grace-full annual event for all the Catholics around the world! On this Sunday we all come together to recognize and value the gift of our faith as well as the need not only to be grateful to the Lord for it, but also to do our best to share it with all humanity, at all times and all places!
In his First letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul passionately wrote to those Christians, “… woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (9:16) And he lived his life to be just mission and nothing else. After his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was so taken by Him that he lived, travelled, and worked only to share Him to everyone.
For the Church Saint Paul remains the clearest example of mission. But every one of us is also gifted to mediate the faith in the Crucified and Risen Lord to “every creature” (Mk 16:15), as Jesus told the Apostles before ascending to the Father. That’s why no true Christian should insist to call Jesus Christ “my personal Saviour”, and make Him a kind of privileged property. No, the more we welcome Jesus into our life, the more we desire others to enjoy His way, truth, and life. If we want to keep Jesus for ourselves, it means we have understood nothing of His Kingdom and we hardly say the Our Father as our true, fundamental, and universal prayer.
Some years ago (1975), our Pope Paul VI, in his exhortation on the Evangelization of the world, wrote unforgettable words: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection.” (No. 14)
We, baptized by water or by desire, are really this Church, who constantly needs to bring forth children for God’s family in holiness and love. Each one of us. Our faith in Jesus Christ remains our greatest gift, and passing it on is our greatest joy!
Our Pope Francis in his message for this year Mission Sunday wrote: “In the sacrifice of the cross, where the mission of Jesus is fully accomplished, God shows us that his love is for each and every one of us. He asks us to be personally willing to be sent, because he himself is Love, love that is always “on mission”, always reaching out in order to give life.
Beautiful and challenging words, precious to the heart of every true Christian. Our faith in Jesus Christ no doubt is our absolute treasure, for which we should sell everything and in which we find the fullness of life (Mt 13:44-46).
We can ask ourselves, “how can we practice mission in everyday living?” Ho can we live as truly missionary people, sent always by the Lord to the whole world?
After more than 60 years of being a Xaverian Missionary, I can try to give you a short (and experienced) list of practical suggestions, though hardly exhaustive:
- Keep praying for the conversion of all sinners, beginning from ourselves.
- Pray for all Christians to be very grateful for their faith and be always ready to share it, in deeds and words.
- Do not be afraid to profess your faith in public, even with a short prayer over meal, a Christian medal on your neck, …
- Do not miss Sunday, both as a need for yourself and a witness of faith to the non-Christians.
- Never say lies, never! Jesus, who is the truth, will certainly help you to be truthful always, no matter what!
- Stand firm always against corruption at all levels, at any time, with everyone.
- Be very attentive to the poor, all of them, and assist them with works of mercy and charity.
- Do well what you are doing, giving an evident example of good and holy life. Laziness is not a Christian virtue.
- Bring peace, forgiveness, gentleness among all those you live in. Stop being a “Kongosa” person, violent, jealous, selfish …
- Support wholeheartedly any initiative protecting human life, human rights, human equality and dignity.
- Never be ashamed of your faith. Never and with anyone. In public people should recognize you as a follower of Christ by your values and behaviour.
- Propose your faith to your neighbours gently and convincingly, without imposing it to them.
- Be very generous in supporting the work of spreading the Gospel the world over.
And the list, my dear friends, can go on for pages. But this would be enough for this year!
With you all the I am happy to celebrate again World Mission Sunday, a day to renew the joy of our faith, to make it alive in whatever we are and do, and to sow it on every land of this earth. How blessed we all are.
(Missionary Reflection by Fr. Louis Brioni, Xaverian Missionary in Sierra Leone)
World Mission Sunday 2020. What a grace-full annual event for all the Catholics around the world! On this Sunday we all come together to recognize and value the gift of our faith as well as the need not only to be grateful to the Lord for it, but also to do our best to share it with all humanity, at all times and all places!
In his First letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul passionately wrote to those Christians, “… woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” (9:16) And he lived his life to be just mission and nothing else. After his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was so taken by Him that he lived, travelled, and worked only to share Him to everyone.
For the Church Saint Paul remains the clearest example of mission. But every one of us is also gifted to mediate the faith in the Crucified and Risen Lord to “every creature” (Mk 16:15), as Jesus told the Apostles before ascending to the Father. That’s why no true Christian should insist to call Jesus Christ “my personal Saviour”, and make Him a kind of privileged property. No, the more we welcome Jesus into our life, the more we desire others to enjoy His way, truth, and life. If we want to keep Jesus for ourselves, it means we have understood nothing of His Kingdom and we hardly say the Our Father as our true, fundamental, and universal prayer.
Some years ago (1975), our Pope Paul VI, in his exhortation on the Evangelization of the world, wrote unforgettable words: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of His death and glorious resurrection.” (No. 14)
We, baptized by water or by desire, are really this Church, who constantly needs to bring forth children for God’s family in holiness and love. Each one of us. Our faith in Jesus Christ remains our greatest gift, and passing it on is our greatest joy!
Our Pope Francis in his message for this year Mission Sunday wrote: “In the sacrifice of the cross, where the mission of Jesus is fully accomplished, God shows us that his love is for each and every one of us. He asks us to be personally willing to be sent, because he himself is Love, love that is always “on mission”, always reaching out in order to give life.
Beautiful and challenging words, precious to the heart of every true Christian. Our faith in Jesus Christ no doubt is our absolute treasure, for which we should sell everything and in which we find the fullness of life (Mt 13:44-46).
We can ask ourselves, “how can we practice mission in everyday living?” Ho can we live as truly missionary people, sent always by the Lord to the whole world?
After more than 60 years of being a Xaverian Missionary, I can try to give you a short (and experienced) list of practical suggestions, though hardly exhaustive:
- Keep praying for the conversion of all sinners, beginning from ourselves.
- Pray for all Christians to be very grateful for their faith and be always ready to share it, in deeds and words.
- Do not be afraid to profess your faith in public, even with a short prayer over meal, a Christian medal on your neck, …
- Do not miss Sunday, both as a need for yourself and a witness of faith to the non-Christians.
- Never say lies, never! Jesus, who is the truth, will certainly help you to be truthful always, no matter what!
- Stand firm always against corruption at all levels, at any time, with everyone.
- Be very attentive to the poor, all of them, and assist them with works of mercy and charity.
- Do well what you are doing, giving an evident example of good and holy life. Laziness is not a Christian virtue.
- Bring peace, forgiveness, gentleness among all those you live in. Stop being a “Kongosa” person, violent, jealous, selfish …
- Support wholeheartedly any initiative protecting human life, human rights, human equality and dignity.
- Never be ashamed of your faith. Never and with anyone. In public people should recognize you as a follower of Christ by your values and behaviour.
- Propose your faith to your neighbours gently and convincingly, without imposing it to them.
- Be very generous in supporting the work of spreading the Gospel the world over.
And the list, my dear friends, can go on for pages. But this would be enough for this year!
With you all the I am happy to celebrate again World Mission Sunday, a day to renew the joy of our faith, to make it alive in whatever we are and do, and to sow it on every land of this earth. How blessed we all are.