World Mission Day is a call to all to evangelise, says the Pope
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
"Faith is a gift that was given to us to be shared. It is the most important gift of our lives and we cannot keep it to ourselves," states the Pope in his message for World Mission Day. It is due to be held on Sunday October 21, with the theme Called to radiate the word of truth.
The Pope states that this year’s mission day is significant because the fiftieth anniversary of the conciliar decree Ad gentes, the opening of the Year of Faith, and the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the new evangelisation all come together.
The Second Vatican Council, with the participation of Catholic bishops from every corner of the world, was a luminous sign of the Church's universality and made an important contribution to reaffirming the pressing need of 'ad gentes' evangelisation.
"Today this view … remerges with renewed urgency, because the number of those who do not yet know Christ has increased,” Benedict states.
“We need, then, to retrieve the apostolic zeal of the early Christian communities which, small and defenceless, were nonetheless capable, through announcement and witness, of spreading the Gospel throughout the then-known world.”
He explains that Vatican Council II and the subsequent Church, place particular emphases on the missionary mandate, which is the duty of all the people of God (bishops, priests, deacons, religious and lay people). Announcing the Gospel in every corner of the world is the primary responsibility of bishops, who are directly responsible for evangelising the world.
"The command to preach the Gospel … must involve all actions and sectors of a particular Church, its entire being and activity. Vatican Council II made this very clear and subsequent Magisterium has underlined it strongly. This means the constant adaptation of lifestyles, pastoral plans and diocesan organisation to this fundamental dimension of the Church's being, especially in our continually changing world,” he states.
Missionary cooperation must expand to include new forms, not only economic assistance but also direct participation in evangelisation, states the Pope. The complexity of today's situation calls for new ways of effectively communicating the word of God, and a renewed adherence of individual and community faith.
"One of the obstacles to evangelisation is, in fact, the crisis of faith, not only in the Western world but among a large part of humankind, which nonetheless hungers and thirsts for God, and which must be invited and led to the bread of life and the living water,” states the Pope.
He suggests that we must renew our enthusiasm to communicate the faith, to promote new evangelisation in communities and countries of ancient Christian tradition that are losing their reference to God, and help them rediscover the joy of believing. “The central point of our announcement always remains the same … the 'kerygma' of God's absolute and total love for each man and woman," states Benedict.
He then thanks those priests, religious, and missionaries from all over the world, who leave their countries to go to the missions saying, “Thanks to their activities the announcement of the Gospel is transformed into assistance to others, justice for the poorest, education in isolated villages, medical care in remote areas, liberation from want, rehabilitation of the marginalised, support for the development of peoples, the breaking down of ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages.”
by Ann Marie Foley