Florida Catholic | Bishop Wenski's Column

A true missionary spirit urges us to reach out to others

OCTOBER 26, 2007

May “participation in the Mass … lead us to participate in the mission.”

Ita, Missa est! So concludes the Mass when celebrated in Latin. Usually translated as, “Go, the Mass is ended,” the phrase could be better rendered as, “Go, it is the sending.” Eucharist and Mission are inextricably joined as Pope Benedict has pointed out in his own writings on the Liturgy. Having encountered Our Lord in the Sacred Liturgy, we should be motivated to bring him to others. Jesus’ words of the Great Commission are addressed to all of us: Go to all nations and teach them the good news. …

World Mission Sunday was observed through the Catholic world this year on Oct. 21. In 1926, Pope Pius XI established an annual collection for the missionary work of the Church worldwide. The funds collected in this collection through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith help support the Church’s missionary activity in far-flung quarters of the world. As described by Pope John Paul II, World Mission Sunday is “an important day in the life of the Church because it teaches how to give: as an offering made to God, in the Eucharistic celebration and for all the missions of the world” (“Redemptoris Missio,” 81).

Some 1.3 billion people in the world today are “living” on less than $2 a day. They, too, are called to salvation by Jesus Christ. Missionaries — priests, religious and laity — enduring many hardships work tirelessly to bring these people “good news.” However, they could not do what they do without the financial and material assistance made possible through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

For more than 100 years, the United States itself was considered “mission territory” — and many of the early foundations of the Catholic Church in our country were supported by generous benefactors from overseas — not to mention the thousands of priests and religious who left their native lands to be missionaries in America. To cite just two examples, St. John Neumann, first Bishop of Philadelphia, came from Bohemia; St. Frances Cabrini came from Italy. And today — thankfully — we still count on the dedicated service of countless foreign-born missionaries — both men and women — who minister in our parishes with admirable zeal.

While many areas of our nation are in fact still “mission lands,” a true missionary spirit urges us not to be concerned only with our own, but to reach out to others as well. One could say that the salvation that Jesus offers is a “catholic,” i.e., a universal salvation. Every human heart, every culture can be fertile soil for the Gospel to take root. The invitation Jesus made at the beginning of his public ministry, “Repent and believe the good news,” is addressed to all, at all times and in all places. If salvation is “catholic,” then the Church founded by Christ to be his herald in the world must also be “catholic” — bringing together in unity all people and all races. To fail to announce the good news and to invite to faith those who do not yet know Christ would be to fail in the charity we owe every human being.

We have received much from the missionary zeal of others. “World Mission Sunday” gave us the opportunity not only to acknowledge the gift of faith that we have received, but also to help share this faith with others by generously supporting the missionary work of the Church throughout the world. May our participation in the Mass also lead us to participate in the Mission.

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