The Universal Call to Mission

The Universal Call to Mission

As the Church celebrates World Mission Sunday this weekend, we give thanks for the efforts of missionaries around the world who are fulfilling the command that Jesus left us before he ascended into heaven: to preach the Gospel to all nations and baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

But we should not limit our sense of mission only to those men and women actively serving in regions around the world where the Gospel has not yet been proclaimed, where it is sparsely known or more frequently today, in countries where the faith was once strong but has waned and the work of re-evangelization is essential.

The Latin root of the word mission means to be sent. Each Christian, who by virtue of their baptism are called to holiness, must also see themselves as sent forth to live the Gospel in word and deed. Each of us is to see ourselves as being part of the mission of the Church in bringing many to know salvation in Christ.

It may be we are sent forth as parents to teach our children the faith, or sent to our co-workers to show how our faith impacts our ability to work well, or sent to friends to speak of God in a world that wants to reduce religious observance and conversation to private spheres and no longer be part of public discourse.

Let us ask the Lord to show us more clearly what our mission is within the Church and where we are being sent forth daily to live our faith.