The second to the last Sunday of the month of October is always dedicated to World Mission Sunday. The celebration of our Church’s missionary spirit at Mass today is an opportunity to show our love and solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world who share our faith. In offering our prayers for the missions today, we join with missionaries everywhere in communion and compassion to support them in spreading the Good News.
In addition to our readings at Mass today, Pope Francis has chosen a theme for today’s celebration from the story of the Road to Emmaus from the Gospel of Luke: “Hearts on fire, feet on the move.” In the Gospel story of the Road to Emmaus, the two disciples on the road that day were dismayed and confused, but their confusion and frustration were transformed in an encounter with Jesus as they met him in this midst of their journey and in the breaking of the bread. This encounter with Jesus enflamed in these two disciples a desire to return to Jerusalem in order to proclaim to the people there that the Lord had risen. There is a wonderful transformation and conversion in those disciples as their hearts burn within them as Jesus proclaims God’s holy word to them, as their eyes are opened as they recognize Jesus right before them, and then as their feet carry them back on the road to Jerusalem.
The risen Jesus remains with all of us who are missionary in spirit and who want to evangelize the world with his Gospel message. Jesus remains particularly close to us in our evangelization efforts when we feel discouraged, disoriented, and overwhelmed. The mission to evangelize the world is ultimately Christ’s mission, in which we are his humble co-workers. In his message for World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis expresses how we are united with Christ, the Pope, and the entire universal Church in our missionary and evangelization efforts, especially in any hardships or challenges we face. Pope Francis states that the risen Lord sees the sacrifices and generosity the faithful make in their missionary and evangelization efforts, especially made by missionaries in distant lands. The pope reminds us of what Jesus said to his disciples in John’s Gospel just before his passion: “In the world you will have tribulations, but be courageous: I have conquered the world!” (John 16:33).
St Paul is a model and inspiration to all of us in our missionary efforts. In our 2nd reading from the letter to the Thessalonians, St Paul and his missionary companions Silvanus and Timothy greet the community with peace and grace in God the Father and his son Jesus Christ. St Paul and his companions give thanks to God for their works of faith and their labor of love in spreading the Good News of Christ’s Gospel. We should feel this same encouragement in the way we spread the Gospel message in our community, just as missionaries around the world should feel this encouragement and support as well.
Pope Francis states that today more than ever, our human family, which is wounded by so many situations of injustice and so many divisions and wars, is in need of Christ’s Good News. Missionaries do this in so many different ways. When I served in an inner-city soup kitchen in Canada for two years, we provided not only meals for street people and the poor, but we also provided worship services, Bible studies, and friendship to those whose lives were immeshed in a very harsh reality. When I served in Ecuador, not only did our mission site provide the services that a normal Catholic parish would provide, but we I also was an administer and teacher at two schools and I worked with community and church groups in helping them better their way of life. Christ’s Good News not only reaches out to people with the Eucharist and with the word of God, but we meet them in their reality and treat them with dignity and respect.
The second collection taken on World Mission Sunday is devoted to the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The urgency of the Church’s missionary activity naturally calls for an ever closer missionary cooperation on the part of all her members and at every level. This is an essential goal of the journey of the Synod that the Church has undertaken, guided by the key words: communion, participation, and mission. This journey is not the Church turning in upon herself, nor is it a referendum about what we should believe and practice. Rather, it is a missionary process of setting out on the way and, like the disciples of Emmaus, listening to the risen Lord. The Lord always comes amongst us to explain the meaning of Scripture and to break bread for us, so that we can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, carry out his mission in the world.
Let us hear the missionary call on World Mission Sunday. Let us live out our Church’s missionary spirit in our own corner of the world as we support the world-wide missionary effort as well.
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