THE WORD
Gal 4,22-24.26-27.31-5,1 / Lk 11,29-32
While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
IN OTHER WORDS
Historically, mission has been interpreted in various ways and taken many forms. Nonetheless at its core and at its simplest, mission is nothing more or less than the Christian’s participation in God’s quest to relate with people so they can rediscover God’s love again in the here and now. Three modern illustrations might make this more concrete.
The first pursues conversion as a goal, except that the “New Evangelization” of Pope John Paul II is directed not at traditional unbelievers but rather at the already baptized – Catholics who have not really risen beyond the level of cultural Christianity. Mission in this Petrine mode consists in “strengthening the faith of the brethren,” e.g., through catechism in the schools, fostering religious organizations, conducting renewal movements and so on.
The second form consists of priests, religious and even OFWs who share their faith with people other than their own, usually in some foreign land, witnessing to the transforming power of the Gospel in ordinary lives, communities and institutions, hoping that those who do not yet know
Christ might learn to believe as well. This Pauline mode of mission focuses, not unlike meeting “the queen of the south” in her search for truth, on dialogue – with non-believers, with men of science, with sectors of secular culture. Through “pockets of faith” Christians prompt observers to say, “See, these truly are the children of God.”
The third sense of mission is the challenge posed by Pope Francis in his visit to Tacloban and Manila: to venture to the peripheries where the marginalized weep – from poverty, exploitation, oppression and injustice. Mission means denouncing an “evil generation” to practice inclusiveness; it means reassuring the poor that God walks and agonizes silently with them. It challenges the complacent to go beyond episodic solidarity and seek eff ective ways to reform structures corrupted by the power of sin, enabling God’s glory to shine again in lives worthy of human dignity.
All are called to mission by our Missionary-in-Chief; to which form is Christ calling you today?
- Fr. Dionisio Miranda, SVD | President, USC, Cebu City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
