Fr. Carlo Di Sopra, SX
Twenty Nine Sunday in Ordinary Time (World Mission Sunday)
World Mission Sunday!
Every year, since it was instituted by pope Pius XI in 1926, the third Sunday in October is set aside for the whole Church to recall and celebrate its missionary vocation. Yes, because although there are ‘missionaries’ in the Church, men and women who devote all their lives to announce the Gospel and inaugurate the Kingdom of God in every corner of the world, it is true that the whole Church, every one of its members, is (i.e. must be ) a missionary disciple (Lumen Gentium 17).
‘World’ Mission Sunday, because it is celebrated all over the world where the Church is present as a seed of the Kingdom of God. But also because the announcement of this Kingdom is meant for everyone, for all in fact: ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation’ (Mk.16:15). It is a powerful reminder that the message we announce is ‘universal’, indeed Good News for all times, all cultures, all ages and ways of life, like the light and the warmth offered by the sun that touches good and bad alike.
Today there is a new awareness in the Church that we are invited to open the doors, and go out without fear to the ‘peripheries’, which means where ordinary and poor people live, especially those places tormented by wars, divisions, poverty of all kind, and from there, embark on a journey towards a vision and a realization of a world that might look more like a family.
‘To make the World one Family’ was the motto that St. Conforti, our founder, left to the Xaverian Missionaries, who want to look at this difficult and complex and rapidly changing world with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment to the first proclamation. We do not do it only with our words, as though the Good News were a lesson to teach and learn, but especially with the witness of our lives, because what we announce is an encounter with God which brings about a change of direction, a conversion. Jesus actually says it clearly even in today’s gospel: ‘...no, this is not to happen among you...’ ‘the Son of man himself came to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk.10:45).
A few days ago we celebrated at Mabesseneh the first anniversary of the death of Bro.Manuel Viejo, the doctor of the St. John of God Hospital, who died of Ebola infection, contracted while attending a sick person. Almost at the same time, three Xaverian Sisters were slaughtered, without any reason, in Burundi while serving the people. They truly are the clear proclamation of the love that comes from God, which enables the missionaries to keep alive that - as Jesus says in the Gospel -‘I came to give my life’. They too remain a challenge for us all.
World Mission Sunday is also associated with the collection of money for ‘the missions’. It is always moving to see how, also in the missions, in our villages, even the smallest ones where there is a Christian community, this collection is done with great generosity, for the sake of spreading the faith. This simple action is meant to put our goods in common, as a powerful sign of the presence of the Kingdom of God, just like the first Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-47). And a powerful prophecy, too, of a world freed both of poverty and of greed.
Twenty Nine Sunday in Ordinary Time (World Mission Sunday)
World Mission Sunday!
Every year, since it was instituted by pope Pius XI in 1926, the third Sunday in October is set aside for the whole Church to recall and celebrate its missionary vocation. Yes, because although there are ‘missionaries’ in the Church, men and women who devote all their lives to announce the Gospel and inaugurate the Kingdom of God in every corner of the world, it is true that the whole Church, every one of its members, is (i.e. must be ) a missionary disciple (Lumen Gentium 17).
‘World’ Mission Sunday, because it is celebrated all over the world where the Church is present as a seed of the Kingdom of God. But also because the announcement of this Kingdom is meant for everyone, for all in fact: ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation’ (Mk.16:15). It is a powerful reminder that the message we announce is ‘universal’, indeed Good News for all times, all cultures, all ages and ways of life, like the light and the warmth offered by the sun that touches good and bad alike.
Today there is a new awareness in the Church that we are invited to open the doors, and go out without fear to the ‘peripheries’, which means where ordinary and poor people live, especially those places tormented by wars, divisions, poverty of all kind, and from there, embark on a journey towards a vision and a realization of a world that might look more like a family.
‘To make the World one Family’ was the motto that St. Conforti, our founder, left to the Xaverian Missionaries, who want to look at this difficult and complex and rapidly changing world with a renewed enthusiasm and commitment to the first proclamation. We do not do it only with our words, as though the Good News were a lesson to teach and learn, but especially with the witness of our lives, because what we announce is an encounter with God which brings about a change of direction, a conversion. Jesus actually says it clearly even in today’s gospel: ‘...no, this is not to happen among you...’ ‘the Son of man himself came to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk.10:45).
A few days ago we celebrated at Mabesseneh the first anniversary of the death of Bro.Manuel Viejo, the doctor of the St. John of God Hospital, who died of Ebola infection, contracted while attending a sick person. Almost at the same time, three Xaverian Sisters were slaughtered, without any reason, in Burundi while serving the people. They truly are the clear proclamation of the love that comes from God, which enables the missionaries to keep alive that - as Jesus says in the Gospel -‘I came to give my life’. They too remain a challenge for us all.
World Mission Sunday is also associated with the collection of money for ‘the missions’. It is always moving to see how, also in the missions, in our villages, even the smallest ones where there is a Christian community, this collection is done with great generosity, for the sake of spreading the faith. This simple action is meant to put our goods in common, as a powerful sign of the presence of the Kingdom of God, just like the first Christian community in Jerusalem (Acts 2:42-47). And a powerful prophecy, too, of a world freed both of poverty and of greed.