Mission Sunday

I don't think there is any more eloquent or succinct statement of what the word "Mission" really means, than is the last line of the short taped address by Pope John Paul the Second we heard delivered last Sunday. You may remember from the introduction that was given that the Pope had traveled a long way deliver that message. It was taped Chicago during the Holy Father's visit there couple of years ago (Grant Park, Chicago, Friday, 5 October 1979).

And I think that fact, the fact that he himself had come such a long way to say those words gave to his closing line a real ring of authenticity, when he passed on to his listeners, and all of us the same charge that Christ had originally passed him. Go out, and teach everyone My Gospel.

Everyone. Not only those that are easily found, or comfortably reached, but everyone. And the word in the Gospel that usually translated as “teach” in this passage is really a richer word than that. It means something much closer to show, demonstrate. It's not a word that has much to do with speeches and textbooks and studies... rather it is a word that has everything to do with living the Gospel, plainly, openly, clearly, in the presence of the whole world, so that those who do not believe may be called to faith by what they see believers do.

So Christ's final charge to His Apostles, and the Holy Father's charge to the church is really go out now and find everyone who has need of Me, and show him what I am like.

And simply enough, that is Mission. That is what the word means... to reach out, to call the people Christ, to make the whole world aware of a new way of thinking, and acting, a new way of treating one another. And it is not enough to say that that is the mission of the church.... if we understand that word church correctly then we must realize that it is our mission, yours and mine, all of ours. As long as anyone anywhere is more aware of a lack of goodness, of the absence of Christ in their lives than they are its fullness, as long as anyone is hungry, deprived, oppressed, whether that be a hunger of the body, the mind or of the soul, then we, right here in Saint Thomas, we have not finished our work.

It may be difficult for us to understand just exactly in what sense each of us here is personally responsible for the welfare of people in India, or South America, or Asia. But difficult to understand or not, it's a fact. We are so responsible. We have been created so, and named so by Christ, who tells us you are your brother's keeper.... keep him well. Whatever you do for anyone of them, you do for Me.

It is only an accident of grace that we here in Saint Thomas, in America have been born into a way of life that produces so much food it can't even all be harvested, rather than into a way of life in which literal starvation, not hunger but starvation is a constant daily threat. We have no right to such riches... they are ours by grace, and it is by grace that we must share them.

I said that this sense of mission is simply put. However, it is not so simply lived out. The value may be spiritual, but the immediate challenge is physical indeed, and solving it takes effort, and organization, and money. For the past 150 years, in the Catholic Church all around the world, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith has been supplying the effort and organization, and hundreds of millions of believers have been supplying the money. It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the contribution that the Society for the Propagation of the Faith has made over the years to the spread of the Gospel, the cause of human dignity, and the alleviation of human suffering. It would be difficult too to overstate the importance of our support of this organization. The Society began more than a century and a half ago with a small group of French factory workers who each pledged a penny a week in support of the missions, and from that grew an organization that is the principal source of support for more than 900 mission diocese around the world, including ordinary operating expenses, education of priests, sisters, brothers, teachers, doctors, nurses, support of old age homes, hospitals, and schools. It's an immense undertaking, and the Society accomplishes an immense amount of good.

And it has done so with a truly remarkable efficiency. Because of the dedication of its members very little of the funds donated are drained off into administration. This is a point that I guess I try to emphasize every year on Mission Sunday, but it is one that is well worth emphasizing. Money that is given to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in this yearly drive actually goes to help hungry people. And that is something of a rarity in organized charity these days.

There are long lists of figures that could be read, that lay out exactly how the funds donated are used. And those figures are important, they tell an impressive story. But they don't tell the real story. Figures can't give a very accurate picture of the sense of personal responsibility for our brother's welfare, the generosity, the real sacrifice that has for two thousand years slowly but certainly forced back the boundaries of ignorance, and suffering, and despair. When it is at its best, our faith is a restless thing. It disturbs our complacency. It constantly challenges us with the work of salvation that is yet to be done in the world. Again this year, this Mission Sunday, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith invites us to share in at least one way to push that work forward. Let us take up that challenge as generously as we can. Because it is literally true. Millions of people depend on us for survival. In the church's mission, there is so much to do. And if we don't do it, it won't be done.

Readings: Isaiah 45;1,4-6; I Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21. The homily was preached on the Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary time, Cycle A, October 18, 1981.