Annually, World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the next – to – the last Sunday in October. Blessed John Paul II said; “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 church.”
There is a famous story which tells how our Lord Jesus returned to glory following His death and Resurrection, still bearing the marks of His suffering. One of the angels looked at the Lord and said, “You must have suffered terribly down there. Does the world know what you did it for it? Do they all understand how great your love is for them?”
“No,” Jesus responded, “Not yet. Only a handful of people, my followers in Palestine, know about my divine love and works of salvation.” The Angel seemed perplexed, “Well, what have you done to ensure that all people throughout the world will hear about You?”
Christ confidently responded “I commanded my disciples, Peter, James, Thomas and John, and the others to make it their mission to share the Good News. They will tell others, who will still tell others, until the whole world will hear my story.”
The angel looked doubtful and said, “but what if Peter, James, Thomas and John, and the others forget? What if they grow weary of the telling? Or if they ignore their responsibility? What if, away down in the 21st century, your followers fail to share the story of your love for the world? Haven’t you made any back-up plans?” To which Jesus responded, “No. I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting on them!”
Our Lord is counting on us! To tell the story. To share His love. To offer a witness of the transforming power that comes through believing and following Jesus Christ. Our Lord is counting on us, the Church, to be His hands and feet, to be His instruments in passing on the Good News to the world!
This is the challenge we hear on Missions Sunday, which is celebrated today throughout all the Churches in the world. Our Lord has not only given us a command, but also a privilege. He has honored us with the responsibility of acting as His ambassadors throughout the world to tell His story and to share His love. Imagine, we each play an integral role in His plan of salvation for all people.
“If a Christian has no awareness and consciousness of being “sent” by God to speak His words, to do His work, and to accomplish His will in this world, then he or she is not a true Christian!” Then we are not living up to our Christian identity if we don’t fulfill this calling to “go forth” and become Christ’s witnesses in the world around us.
When Jesus gave His disciples the new commandment “to love one another as I have loved you,” His followers never limited this love to a closed circle. “The other is my salvation,” saints in future generations would say, and they understood “the other” as all people everywhere.
Unfortunately, many today try to limit this universal love of God in a local level. “Charity begins at home” some claim. “We have to take care of our own. There are plenty of needs here. We can’t solve the problems of the world.”
And yet, Jesus says, “I haven’t made other plans. I’m counting on you.”
We should never limit our Christian witness to an either-or decision. When people remain indifferent to the needs of the world and allow their local worldview to question the necessity of supporting the global work and mission of the Church, they reject Christ’s universal love and vision. Divine love knows no boundaries and can never set any limits. Christ calls us to “tell others, who will still tell others, until the farthest person throughout the world will hear His story.”
Since the divine love of God knows no boundaries, His people and the Church must make every effort to participate in witnessing God’s love at a local, national, and global level. It must never be an either-or proposition.
What happens in Syria, Iraq, Africa, Asia or South America concerns Christ, and thus, should concern us. An authentic Christian disposition asks, living our faith to its fullness. And an essential part of this faith is offering a witness of God’s love to the people we meet each day, to our local community wherever we live, to our country at large, as well as to the ends of the earth.
One way for us “to tell his story to others" is by supporting and participating with the World Mission Sunday. Organized by the Propagation of the Faith, it is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrificial offering. Our late Pope, Blessed John Paul II, in a message delivered on a World Mission Sunday, said: “ The offerings that will be collected today are destined for a common fund of solidarity distributed, in the Pope's name among the missions and missionaries of the entire world.”
On this World Mission Sunday, may God help each of us to remember that we are all called to be missionaries in one way or another. Let us join our prayers to those of St. Therese, patroness of the missions, interceding for our missionaries and for missions throughout the world, that God will give them courage, strength, and ever-greater love. Through our contribution through World Mission Sunday help us to reach out and become part of Catholic missions in the world.
The angel asked; "Haven’t you made any back-up plans?” To which the Lord responded, “No. I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting on them!” God is counting on us today.