Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
You’ve probably heard the fable of the cow and the pig. The pig was unpopular whereas the cow was beloved. This puzzled the pig. One day the pig went to the cow and said, “People speak warmly of your gentle nature and your sorrowful eyes. They think you are generous because each day you give them milk and cream. But what about me? I give them everything I have. I give them ham and bacon. I provide bristles for bushes. They even pickle my feet. Yet no one likes me. Why is that?” The cow replied, “Think about it! Is it possible that people love me because I give while I am still living, while you give after you are dead?” The pig thought for a moment and said, “Your kind of giving is called sacrifice. My kind of giving is called total commitment.”
Today we celebrate World Mission Sunday. The Church sets aside one Sunday in its liturgical year the world over to publicly renew its commitment to the missionary movement. Mission Sunday is about sacrifice and commitment. On this Sunday Catholics worldwide reflect on their own baptism, when they received the gift of faith, and recommit themselves through prayer, sacrifice, and total commitment to the gospel and to the Church’s missionary activity.
Missionaries: Our Primary Calling
At baptism we all receive the great gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At that very moment we also become missionaries. At Pope Francis says, “By virtue of Baptism we become ‘missionary disciples,’ called to bring the Gospel to the world" (Evangelii Gaudium,120). Often, we think of missionaries as people who venture out to foreign people in remote territories of the world for the sake of the gospel. This is not altogether untrue. But the missionary is closer to you than you think. Pope Francis said in one of his exhortations on Mission Sunday, “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.”
The call to be missionaries is not a matter of choice. In today’s first reading, God called the Persian king, Cyrus and said to him, “I have called you by your name, giving you a title, though you knew me not” (Is 45:4). If Cyrus who did not know the God of Israel was called by God, how much more God’s call is for us who are baptized. On this Mission Sunday, Christ is inviting to fulfil our most basic baptismal promise – to be missionaries of the good news of Jesus Christ. On our part, whether we respond to this call in the form of commitment like the cow or sacrifice like the pig is our choice.
A Missionary Church
World Mission Sunday was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 - between the two World Wars. Moreover, many nations still were under colonial powers. These were not the easiest of times. But in these difficult times, the Church felt compelled to pay attention to its missionary identity. Whereas each one of us is a missionary by virtue of baptism, World Mission Sunday draws our attention also to our common calling as the body of Christ. Just as each one is a missionary by virtue of our baptism, the Church by its very nature is a missionary church. Jesus’ mandate to the disciples as he ascended to heaven was clear. He said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20).
Because the church by its nature is missionary, to lose sight of this call is to lose the very reason for its existence. In recent times there have been conversations about the difference between an inward-looking church and a missionary church. An inward-looking church focuses on self-preservation. A missionary Church, on the contrary, as Pope Francis says, lives by “a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church's customs ... and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today's world.”
This is significant for us as we navigate the Beacons of Light initiative in our archdiocese. The real focus of Beacons of Light is to move from maintenance to mission. On the contrary, if we focus on self-preservation, not only will we not survive but we also act against the very nature of our identity as a missionary church. As we move forward, I pray that our missionary calling will prevail.
A Prayer for Missionaries
I want to return to the fable of the cow and the pig. Each gives in its own way. In other words, both commitment and sacrifice are important. Having focused on the missionary calling of each one of us, I want us to take the time to pray for missionaries, who, inspired by the gospel leave their homes, sacrifice their families, embrace the wider world, and give their entire lives for the spread of the gospel. I invite you today to join me in praying this prayer for such missionaries across the world. We pray:
"We bless you, O God, and we praise your name.
In your merciful providence
you sent your Son into the world
to free us from the bondage of sin by his own blood
and to enrich us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Before he returned, triumphant over death, to you, Father,
he sent his apostles, the bearers of his love and power,
to proclaim the Gospel of life to all peoples
and in the waters of baptism to cleanse those who believe.
Lord, look kindly on your missionaries,
who you send forth as messengers of salvation and peace,
marked with the sign of the cross.
Guide their steps with your mighty arm
and with the power of your grace strengthen them in spirit,
so that they will not falter through weariness.
Make their words the echo of Christ's voice,
so that those who hear them may be drawn to obey the Gospel.
Fill the hearts of your missionaries with the Holy Spirit,
so that, becoming all things to all people,
they may lead many to you, the Father of all,
to sing your praises in your holy Church.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
At the end of this Eucharist, once again, we will be sent forth. Let us go forth as missionaries, and in commitment and sacrifice, take the gospel to the world.
- Fr. Satish Joseph