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WORD FOR MISSION Every week EUNTES.NET
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 Fear to courageous Proclamation of Christ  V Sunday of Easter
Acts
6:1-7
It means brother helping brother, washing each other’s feet (Jn.13:14), without titles of class, honour or prestige... That was the ideal and the powerful witness of the first Christian community, in which the only difference, recognised by all, right from the beginning, is the difference of service (ministry) required and offered in the community. It is an exciting missionary theme. The message of the Gospel this Sunday and the experiences of the first Christian community (Readings I and II) shed a precious light on the mission of the Church. The book of Acts (1st Reading) presents a picture of missionary difficulties that are concrete and frequent: they regard the growth in numbers, the cultural differences within the community (v.1 brings up the conflict between Hebrews and Hellenists, with social and economical undercurrents), the organisation of assistance to those in need... The solution comes from criteria that are fundamental for the carrying out of mission: wide consultation within the group (v.2), looking for people full of the Spirit and of wisdom (vv.3,5), the definition of the ministries (vv. 3-4,6) of deacons (service at the tables) and of the Twelve Apostles (preaching and service of the Word).
Nowadays we would say that the solution has been found thanks to a joint and plural exercise of authority: in a way that is both collegial and ministerial, thus allowing action that is culturally pluralistic and also devolved. The Church of Jerusalem came out of that episode more mature, enriched with new energy for apostolate, more open to the cultural needs of the various groups. It was an exemplary solution, that had an immediate effect in the spreading of missionary activity; “the word of the Lord continued to spread, the number of disciples was greatly increased.” (v.7)
Solutions of that type are truly fitting for a people that St. Peter (Reading II) calls royal, holy, chosen by God (v. 9), called to set themselves close to “the Lord, the living stone”, thus becoming a people made up of “living stones” (vv.4-5). Here we return to the topic of the roles and services in the house of God: it is not important whether they are stones on the façade or stones hidden in the foundations. St. Daniel Comboni urged this on his missionaries: “a missionary works in an undertaking that is of the highest worth, but extremely arduous and laborious, to be a stone hidden underground, that will perhaps never come to light, but which forms part of the foundations of a new and colossal edifice, that only future generations will see peeping out of the ground (Rules, 1871: cf. Writings 2701). What is important is to be part of the community of faith and be active in the service of the Mission of Christ the Saviour. (*)
Jesus did not come to take suffering away from us, but to give us the strength to face the deep fear of sickness, of the future, of solitude, of death.. . “God did not come to explain suffering; he came to fill it with his presence” (Paul Claudel). In his words to his disciples (Gospel) Jesus tells them not to be troubled by fears (v.1). He urges them to belive in Him, who is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (v.6). He speaks about his unity with the Father, to the point that the one who has seen Him has seen the Father (v.9). Jesus is the first missionary of the Father: he has proclaimed Him and revealed Him by word and deed (v.11). Here arises the fundamental question for the mission of every age: whose task is it to reveal the Father and reveal Jesus, whom the Father sent to be the Saviour of the world? The permanent challenge for a Christian is to be able to say: whoever sees my life and listens to my words sees the Father, sees Christ! The roots and the scope of the missionary character of every baptised person lies here.
The Pope’s words(*) “The Church of today must revive her awareness of the duty to re-propose to the world the voice of the One who said: "I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life” (Jn.8:12)”. Benedict XVI In his First Address as Pope: Sistine Chapel, 20 April 2005
In the steps of Missionaries- 20/4: St. Marcellinus (+374), Bishop: born in Africa, he was an ardent evangeliser in southern France along with his companions Vincent and Donninus. - 21/4: St. Anselm of Aosta (1033-1109), Doctor of the Church. A Benedictine monk and Abbot of Bec (Normandy); appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. He worked tirelessly, against great odds, for the freedom of the Church in England. - 21/4: In 1957 Pius XII published the missionary Encyclical “Fidei Donum”, on the situation of the Catholic missions, especially in Africa and Latin America. - 23/4: St. George (4th Century, Palestine) a saint who became popular as a dragon-killer. He was a martyr venerated from very early times in both Eastern and Western Churches. - 23/4: St. Adalbert (Vojtech), Bishop of Prague and Martyr (956-997), a tireless missionary in Poland and among Slavonic peoples. - 23/4: Bl. Maria Gabriela Sagheddu (1914-1939), born in Sardinia. She died as a Trappist nun at Grottaferrata (Rome), offering her life for the unity of Christians. - 24/4: St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen (1577-1622), a Swiss Capuchin, the first martyr of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide (founded in 1622) and of the nascent Order of Friars Capuchins. - 25/4: St. Mark, Evangelist; a disciple of both Paul and Peter, and held to be the founder of the Church of Alexandria in Egypt. - 25/4: St. Peter of Betancur (1626-1667), a Spaniard who was a Franciscan Tertiary and missionary in Guatemala. He was called “charity personified” because of his dedication to orphans, beggars and the sick.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Translated by Fr. J.M. Troy, mccj Website:
www.euntes.net “The Word
for Mission”
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