Pope says mission is not a Church tool, but its starting point and end goal
Vatican City (AsiaNews) “Mission is not just a Church tool, but its starting point and final goal." This principle applies everywhere, so "every parish should have its own style of mission ad gentes. Thus, the Holy Spirit will transform routine believers into disciples, the disaffected disciples into missionaries, pulling them from their fears and closures and projecting them in all directions, to the ends of the world ". A "secular world" that "even when it is warm to the gospel values of love, justice, peace and sobriety, does not show the same openness to the person of Jesus: It does not believe him to be the Messiah or Son of God".
Pope Francis once again returned to the theme of the need for the Church to be "outward bound" in his address today to the participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The meeting is indeed focusing on "the point on the mission ad gentes, as well as offering valuable guidance for the future. "
"I have just returned from my first apostolic trip to Africa, - said the Pope - where I had first hand experience of the spiritual and pastoral dynamism of many young Churches of that Continent, as well as the serious difficulties in which most of the population lives. I have seen that where there are needs, there is almost always the Church ready to heal the wounds of the most needy, in whom she recognizes the wounded and crucified body of the Lord Jesus. How many works of charity, human promotion! How many anonymous good Samaritans work every day in the missions".
"Evangelizing by nature - he continued - the Church always begins by evangelizing herself. Discipleship of the Lord Jesus, begins in listening to his Word, from which we draw the reasons for the hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on the grace of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5.5). Only then it is able to keep alive freshness and urgency. The conciliar Ad Gentes Decree and the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, that have inspired this plenary, state that "it is the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that the Church, according to the plan of God the Father, derives its origin" ( Ad Gentes, 2). Mission, therefore, is not principally a response to human initiative; the protagonist is the Holy Spirit, his is the project (cf. Redemptoris Missio, 21). And the Church is servant of mission. From the very beginning there has been a balancing act between the Church and the mission. The Church does not make mission, mission makes the Church. Therefore, mission is not a tool, but the starting point and ultimate goal".
Mission, a power capable of transforming the Church from within
"In recent months, your dicastery has carried out a survey on the vitality of young Churches, to figure out how to make the work of the mission ad gentes more effective, also considering the ambiguity the experience of faith sometimes faces today. The secularized world, in fact, even when it is warm to the Gospel values of love, justice, peace and sobriety, does not show the same openness to the person of Jesus: the Gospel values : It does not believe him to be the Messiah or Son of God. At most it considers him an enlightened man. It therefore separates the message from the messenger, the gift from the Giver. In this situation of detachment, the missio ad gentes serves as engine and horizon of faith. It is vital that in this moment, "the Church comes out to proclaim the Gospel to all, in all places, in all occasions, without delay, without repulsion and without fear" (ibid., N. Evangelii Gaudium, 23). In fact mission is a force capable of transforming the Church from within itself even before changing the life of peoples and cultures. Each parish should have its own the style of missio ad gentes. Thus, the Holy Spirit will transform routine believers into disciples, the disaffected disciples into missionaries, pulling them from their fears and closures and projecting them in all directions, to the ends of the world (cf. Acts 1,8). The kerygmatic approach to faith, so familiar among the young Churches, should find space among those of ancient tradition. "
"Paul and Barnabas - he continued – were not backed up by a Missionary Congregation. Yet, they announced the Word, created different communities and shed their blood for the Gospel. Over time the complexity, and the need for a special union between the Churches of recent foundation and the universal Church have grown. For this, four centuries ago, Pope Gregory XV instituted the Congregation Propaganda Fide, which from 1967 took on the name of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. It is clear that at this stage of history, "it does not need a simple administration [of the existing reality]. We should be spread out in all regions of the earth in a permanent state of mission "(ibid., N. Evangelii Gaudium, 25). St. John Paul II specified how, saying: "Every renewal of the Church must have mission as its goal not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion" (ibid., N. Post-Sinod. Ecclesia in Oceania, 19). 'Going forth' is inherent in baptism, and its boundaries are those of the world. Therefore continue to be committed to the spirit of the mission ad gentes, care for the journey of the Church, that She is always able to listen to the cry of the poor and distant, encounter everyone and proclaim the joy of the Gospel ".
"I thank you for your work of missionary animation and cooperation, with which to remember all the churches who, if forced into their horizons, are in danger of atrophy and becoming closed off. The Church lives and grows 'by being outward bound', taking the initiative and being close to others. So you encourage communities to be generous even in moments of vocational crisis". Mission, renews the Church, revitalizes faith and Christian identity, and offers fresh enthusiasm and motivation" (Redemptoris Missio, 2). In the many paths of mission ad gentes you have already seen the dawn of a new day, as evidenced by the fact that the young Churches can give, not just receive. The first fruits are their willingness to allow their priests to sister churches in the same nation, the same continent, or to serve churches in need in other parts of the world. The cooperation is no longer just along the north-south axis. There is also a reverse movement of returning the goods received by the first missionaries. This is also the signs of a coming of age. "
"Brothers and sisters - concluded the Pope - we pray and work so that the Church more closely resembles the Acts of the Apostles. Let us be inspired by the power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. May we emerge from our enclosures, emigrate from territories where sometimes we are tempted to close ourselves. So we will be able to walk and sow ever more, ever further. Holy Mary, Mother of God, St. Francis Xavier and St. Therese of the Child Jesus, patron of missions, illuminate our path in the service of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus".
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