Mission is a matter of love

By Jason A. Baguia

Printed on Sunday, 19 October 2008 in Cebu Daily News

Today the Catholic world celebrates World Mission Sunday, the theme of which, formulated by Pope Benedict XVI is "Servants and apostles of Christ Jesus." This theme is drawn from Saint Paul's description of himself in his mission to the world outside Jerusalem during the seminal days of the Christian faith.

Benedict's letter to all men and women for today is divided into four sub-topics: (a) the world is in need of liberation (b) the mission is a matter of love (c) evangelize always (d) woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. This corresponds to the commandment revealed to the people of Israel and affirmed by Christ himself as the greatest of all: Love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your strength and with all your soul.

With all your mind. The mission – of telling the world of the grace and mercy of Christ crucified, risen and coming again – will not proceed in the absence of the intellectual conviction that it is a necessity. One does not go about campaigning for the liberation of a people whom one believes is already free. Loving God with the whole mind entails embracing the truth of Christ and in light of that truth acknowledging the multi-layered falsity of worldly values such as materialism, consumerism, hedonism, nihilism or moral relativism.

With all your heart. Knowledge of the need for the conversion of reality alone is not enough to fulfil Christ's commission to go out into the world and baptize people in the Name of the Holy Trinity, and to teach them all that Christ commanded. The mission also needs to be affective. It is not simply a matter of counselling or healing, exorcising and uttering inspirational words. It is a matter of the heart. A mission run on mind, a mission without heart is destined to burn out. Christ assures all commissioned that He will be with them always until the end of the age precisely because the mission has to flow from a vibrant relationship with him. If it does not start with him, it will not end through, with, and in him.

With all your strength. Evangelization should be done always. Mother Angelica of EWTN repute says "The essence of evangelization is to tell a person: 'God loves you.'" Saint Francis of Assisi is said to have spoken: "Preach at all times, using words if necessary." Whether in words or in deeds, the Christian is to proclaim the love of the Lord. In the penitential rite of the Holy Mass, Catholics ask forgiveness for sins committed in thoughts, words and deeds, and even for deeds not done. This is because the Christian ought to think, speak, do, and not do on account of the Lord and his message. Mission is a way of life. It is the core of the Christian identity.

With all your soul. Saint Paul said "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel," because to tell the world of God's love is itself being on the everlasting way. It is the fullness of life, such that any other path, every non-loving path is most certainly a depravation of the soul from the abundant life.