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WORD FOR MISSION Every week CIAM offers
to lay, religious people and priests an itinerary of reflections on the
Sunday Liturgy in a missionary prespective. These are elements for a
missionary meditation, individual or in community, on the Word of God ,
which constantly and surprisingly continues to enlighten, strengthen
and sustain the missionary journey of the Church, for the life of the
World
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From the encounter with the Risen Lord to Mission
III Sunday of Easter Year C – 22.04.2007
Acts 5:27-32,40-41 Psalm 29 Apocalypse 5:11-14 John 21:1-19
ReflectionS We take in a breath of fresh air, a sense of universality, of mission to the world. The third encounter of the Risen Lord with a group of his disciples (Gospel) does not take place in the Cenacle of Jerusalem, with closed doors, but in the open, on the shore of the lake of Galilee, on a springtime morning. The event of that after-Easter miraculous catch and the mission which Christ entrusts to Peter are told in a language that resembles a mystical experience, rich in symbolism and expressing deep affection. In this way it is possible to pick out the message as a whole: the weekday going back to fishing, the number of seven fishermen, the sea, the action of fishing, the fruitless night, the dawn, the Lord on the shore, the abundant catch, the fire for breakfast, the meal; and then the mission entrusted to Peter with its surprising test on love, the threefold handing over of the flock, the commitment to follow him till death...
The mystical symbolism enriches the event and confers on it a fuller and universal understanding. For instance, if the sea symbolises unfavourable enemy forces to man, to fish and to be made fisher of men (Mc 1:17) means to become free from situations of death, and fishing becomes a symbol of apostolic mission. The success of such a mission, though perilous, can be seen in the “153 large fish” (v. 11). We may underline two of the many interpretations of this number: first of all the mathematical preciseness of a eyewitness; secondly the symbolism of “50x3+3”, where the number 50 is the symbol of the entirety of the people and 3 designates perfection. No fish escapes. The meal, to which the disciples are invited by Jesus, reminds us of the conclusion of salvation history, while in the threefold missionary handing over, Peter becomes the shepherd of the entire flock.
The various apparitions of the Risen Lord may be divided into two groups: apparitions of recognition, in which Jesus wishes above all to be acknowledged as ‘living’, and the apparitions of mission, in which Jesus gives clear orders of either immediate implementation (go to tell...) or of a far-ranging period (go to the peoples of all nations and make them my disciples...). In this way, the universal importance of the event of the ‘resurrection’ becomes gradually clear to the disciples: The Risen Lord (I reading) is the “leader and saviour” of all peoples (Ac 5:31) and that this Good News has to be announced to all and everywhere! Obeying God rather than people! (v. 29). The disciples begin straight away to bear witness to all the events (v. 32), with courage and gladness, in spite of having to “suffer humiliation for the sake of Jesus” (v. 41). To Him, the Lamb that was sacrificed (II reading), all creatures of heaven and earth are called to give honour, glory and blessing (v. 12-13).
The Risen Lord’s experience goes beyond the initial apparitions (Gospel): it extends to the ability of recognising the true and effective presence of the Lord in the ordinariness of day-to-day life. “Jesus is recognised through his gestures: one extraordinary (the miraculous catch) and the others very simple and familiar. He has prepared some bread and fish and lovingly invites them to eat. He takes the bread and gives it to them and does the same with the fish, as he had done so many times before. It seems that Jesus, instead of revealing all his glory, has desired to prepare the disciples to his mysterious presence, which after the resurrection is a universal presence: now Jesus is everywhere, in a divine manner, but also with his identical humanity... The Christians are invited to look for a divine glory that is not simply exterior; they are invited to recognise Jesus in their brothers and sisters... to recognise Jesus who is present in the poorest, in the most humble and needy: that’s where the Christians must recognise his glory, the hidden glory of their Lord and the power of his divine action that performs miracles through the humble and the simple” (Albert Vanhoye).
The everyday life of “risen” people, lived in faith and love, has a twofold kind of attitudes: gratefulness towards God and also a missionary commitment towards others. This is the teaching of Pope Pius XII who, precisely 50 years ago, published the missionary encyclical ‘Fidei Donum’, to attract the attention of the Church and the world towards Africa, at a crucial time in its millenary history. The encyclical opens with a reflection on the ‘gift of faith’ (*) as the starting point for a missionary commitment in various circumstances, areas and way of expressing it.
The Pope’s words (*) “The gift of faith, which, through the goodness of God, is accompanied by an incomparable abundance of blessings in the soul of the Christian believer, clearly requires the unceasing homage of a grateful heart... By our missionary zeal, fed by the fire of Christian charity, we may in some way make a return to Almighty God, ever mindful of the gift of faith”. Pius XII Encyclical Fidei Donum, 21-04-1957
In the footsteps of the Missionaries - 21/4: In 1957 Pius XII published the missionary encyclical “Fidei Donum”, on the situation of the Catholic missions, especially in Africa. - 23/4: St. George (IV C, in Palestine), popular saint for his battle against the dragon; martyr venerated from ancient times in the Oriental and Western Churches. - 23/4: St. Adalbert (Vojtech), bishop of Prague and martyr (956-997), a courageous missionary of Poland and of Slav people. - 24/4: St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622), Swiss Capuchin priest, proto-martyr of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide (founded in 1622) and of the newly founded Capuchin Order. - 25/4: St. Marc, evangelist, disciple of Paul and of Peter, believed to be the founder of the Church in Alexandria of Egypt. - 25/4: St. Peter of Betancur (1626-1667), Franciscan tertiary brother, a Spanish missionary in Guatemala, called the “man who was charity” for his love for the orphans, beggars and the sick. 27/4: St. Peter Ermengol (+1304), a Spaniard, converted from a highway robber to a religious of the Order of the Mercedes, who spent his life to the ransom of slaves in Africa. - 28/4: St. Luis Maria Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), zealous apostle in the popular missions in France, founder of the Daughters of Wisdom of the Company of Mary (Monfortani). - 28/4: St. Peter Chanel (1803-1841), a Frenchman, priest of the Marist society, missionary in the isle of Futuna, proto-martyr and patron of Oceania.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Compiled by Fr. Romeo Ballan, mcci - former Director of CIAM, Rome Translated by Fr. J.M. Troy, mccj Website: www.ciam.org “The Word for Mission” ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
