Sent on a Mission of Love

After Vatican II, it is almost a cliché to say that the Church of Jesus Christ is essentially on mission – a mission of love. St. Matthew ends his Gospel with a very solemn injunction from the Risen Lord that the disciples go to the very ends of the earth, teaching everyone all that he taught and admonishing them to observe all that he commanded. They were to baptize all who were favourably disposed - in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, thus making them disciples. Whereas Israel was the chosen people meant to be ‘a light unto the nations’ yet as a nation they failed in this mission. In fact, the very term ‘Jew’ is linked in the minds of most people today with the image of a ‘ghetto’ - the closed enclave of Jewish settlers. Rather than take the message to others, they kept it to themselves, isolating themselves from others. But the Church would need to be different – She is essentially turned towards others, sharing with all the joyful news of Christ’s conquest over everything that is evil.

Another point worth noting is that the Gospels show us that every encounter with the risen Lord invariably ends with a mission – now that the Lord has risen and shown his final and definitive victory over evil, Christians would need to go out and share their message with everyone who is prepared to listen. Paul is shown as availing himself of every possible opportunity to speak about Jesus and especially about the resurrection. Even when visiting the Areopagus basically as a tourist, his main concern was not forgotten. Noticing an altar dedicated to ‘the Unknown God’ he lost no time in collecting a group of philosophers and as he spoke to them, he skillfully brought in the point of Christ’s resurrection. Although most of them rejected him and laughed at his proposition of a dead man coming back to life, there were a few who did pay attention and promised to listen to him later, at a more favourable time.

The sense of urgency in mission is brought out clearly by St. Mark in his Gospel. Having begun with the great sweeping statement: ‘the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the Good News’ (1:14-15) he goes on to show that since God has been so gracious and has come down to us in the person of Jesus his Son, there is no time to be wasted. Everything in Mark’s narrative, therefore, happens ‘immediately…’ Luke has his two disciples (24:13-35) running all the way back in the middle of the night because they had encountered the risen Lord in the breaking of the bread; once they had discovered the Risen Lord there was no time to be lost – this stupendous news had to be given to the rest of the community and that too as soon as possible.

This sense of mission is reflected also in the structure of the Eucharist. Once the community has listened to the Word of God and picked up the unmistakable signs of God’s love for his beloved children, they then respond to the question: ‘Now, therefore, if you will obey my ordinances …’ Their response is given first in words through the deepened faith expressed in the Creed and the Prayer of the Faithful, and then in action as they bring their gifts (symbolizing themselves) to be trustfully entrusted to the Lord. These gifts are ‘inspirited’ (filled with God’s Spirit) during the Eucharistic Prayer and given back to each one in the form of Holy Communion – ‘take and eat, this is my body (my-self) which is given for you.’ The communion (Covenant) between God and his people is renewed and the union deepened and strengthened.

However, the purpose of this communing is never forgotten. This personal communion with the Father, Son and Spirit is not granted for personal consumption only, as a kind of prize or reward for personal uprightness and holiness - in the sense that each individual can rejoice and thank God for this gift (‘thank you Jesus for coming into my heart!’ kind of understanding). This communion is for a much higher purpose, so that the community be empowered to go out and preach the Good News, both in word and action. That is the message of the ‘Dismissal rite’ in each Eucharist. What the community has done in the Church during Eucharist should not end there itself – that was only a beginning. The rest should follow during the day and the ensuing week.

This aspect of mission linked with the Eucharist stands out forcefully in Luke’s Institution Narrative (Lk 22:14-38). For Lukan Christians, the Eucharist itself was the ‘place’ or context in which they committed themselves to further God’s kingdom in obedience to the last will and testament of their Lord and Master. That they might do this effectively, Luke warns them against two debilitating attitudes: self-centredness and fear, encouraging them to launch into this work of the kingdom selflessly and fearlessly. When we today celebrate the Eucharist with this idea of commitment to Christ’s Last Will, we cannot but be enthused about doing our little bit to further his kingdom.

In actual practice, nothing that happens in our lives is such that it cannot be and is not grist to the mill, as it were. Every event in our lives is an opportunity for us to proclaim Gospel values and show how a true Christian faces up to the challenge of building the kingdom. The Lord’s prayer which is said at the opening of the Communion section keeps before the celebrating community the vision and mission of every Christian. The Vision of Christian living is that we are sent by the Father into the world to glorify his name and build his kingdom (holy be your name, your kingdom come). In other words, our life’s task is to usher in as many as possible into Covenant with the Father. What we have received and been blessed with, we share with others, with all who are keen on accepting this gift.

In the second part of the prayer, the means of extending God’s kingdom are outlined:

1. that we break our bread (life itself in every form) and share with the needy. This includes all our gifts and talents which we realize are given to us not just for our own personal benefit, but to be broken and shared. Having received the ‘epiousios’ bread, the most marvelous gift the Father would have ever given us, we pray for tough and demanding opportunities to share this ‘bread’ with those in need. An example of this kind of demanding opportunity is given in the parable following – of the man who goes to his neighbour, in the middle of the night to ask for a loan of three loaves of bread. Couldn’t this man have asked earlier when all were awake? Of course, not – because his own friend arrived only at midnight seeking shelter for the night.

2. that we extend forgiveness to others as we ourselves receive it so generously from the Lord. Here again, there is nothing more effective than genuinely forgiving one another – if we want to attract people to God’s kingdom. We note that what is referred to here is not just the ‘forget it, don’t worry about that!’ kind of forgiveness we usually extend to one another. While saying these words which we think extend generous forgiveness, we still remember the fault and feel hurt and let down when the same fault is repeated – so much so that like Peter we ask: ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother…?’ The question of how many times, does not even arise when there is genuine forgiveness. For, the moment the fault is sincerely forgiven, the score goes down to zero, there is not even a scar of the hurt left in our minds and the relationship is restored to its fullest previous expression. It is something like the “Restore system” option available on a computer. It sets the mechanism back to where it was before the particular fault began causing a problem. However, in God-like forgiveness we go one step further in that the mechanism is not only set right and operative again, but it is advanced to where it would have been had the fault not occurred! God’s forgiveness is marvelous and unimaginable indeed!

3. That we show fortitude and loving resignation in times of severe trial, as the Lord Jesus himself did. The principle here, I guess, is what is enshrined in the saying: ‘the blood of martyrs is the seed of future Christians!’ Also, a Christian is truly at his best when he does God’s will even when it hurts, even to the point of death. That is the best and most effective way to establish God’s kingdom here on earth.

Both of these, the vision and the mission, in practice, simply mean that the follower of Christ radiates God’s love to everyone he comes in contact with. So, this is what our Christian commitment is all about, and if we look carefully at what the Lord’s Prayer enjoins, we notice that there is no situation in our daily lives that is not included in this mission agenda. At every moment and in every situation, the Christian is ‘on mission’ spreading God’s love and mercy wherever he may be placed.

Eucharistic Values

Another value worth fostering is a keen sense of the greatness of the gift of faith that we have received. Once we ourselves value this gift for what it is, we will find ourselves automatically wanting to pass it on to others. More often than not, our lethargy can be traced back to an almost total lack of appreciation of what has been gifted to us by the Father in sending us his Son Jesus. And doesn’t this kind of thing happen with every gift we have, be it a piano or a highly skilled education we received or whatever. Once a person passionately appropriates his gift, there is no stopping her/him from passing it on to others. But when s/he doesn’t much care for the gift, it can remain unused in a corner of the house, more a show-piece than a power to be used for blessing others.

Further, one would need to develop a proactive stance not only to life in general, but specifically to the faith and to its spreading. If success in life is largely a matter of meaning and purpose, as Viktor Frankl has so forcefully pointed out, then there is nothing more powerful than the faith vision that Jesus has given us to enable anyone to make her/his life successful and meaningful. Taking a proactive stance simply means that we don’t wait for things to happen or for people to come to us so that then we can reach out to them; rather we take the initiative and go out to meet people in their difficulties, especially when they seem to be at crossroads and are looking for guidance and help. This seems to be a technique that our Protestant brethren use to such great benefit in their apostolate. This is, no doubt, linked with having a natural liking for people, being people-friendly in the best sense of the term… which again is not everyone’s cup of tea. But even without that natural gift of being people-friendly, it is something that can be cultivated if we have sufficient motivation and incentives.

Yet in the matter of our apostolate or mission, we must never forget that all we are asked to do is to make a generous gift of ourselves, placing ourselves as willing, courageous and enterprising instruments in the hands of God’s Spirit. It is he who will do all the work, but not until we place ourselves as ready and pliable instruments at his disposal. As we sing in the hymn to the Holy Spirit: ‘… melt us, mould us, renew us, fill us…!’ Again, our personal conviction that we have a mission and that we have received all the gifts and talents necessary for the job will go a long way to making us more effective instruments. Even a handicapped person can show that he is a ‘man with a mission,’ as long as he has that burning desire and passion for the cause. Terry Fox, the one-legged man riddled with cancer who ran right across Canada with a passionate desire to collect enough funds to start a cancer research Centre is an inspiring example of a ‘man with a mission’ in spite of his severe limitation and physical challenges.

What is needed in the Church today is perhaps this burning sense of mission, more than anything else. That, of course, is linked with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the gift of God in Jesus his Son. Where there is a personal realization of this, the Eucharist will be celebrated in a more personal manner and will inevitably result in a more determined sense of mission. While all this may not result in a rise in the number of ‘converts’ to Christianity, it will certainly make of the Church what Jesus wanted it to be, the light of the world, the salt on the earth and the leaven in the dough. It is the kingdom and its values that matter – not so much the numerical increase of the Church through persons who are more interested in their own personal salvation or spiritual benefits. We will certainly have contributed to creating and sustaining a genuine “Eucharistic culture” among us – that will be the light, the salt and the leaven of the world of today.

We pray, therefore, for a fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit – one that fills each and every Christian and fires them with an enthusiasm which will stop short at nothing but a total transformation of the whole of society. Gathering all these Eucharistic values flowing from mission, we have the following:

1. A selfless approach to every aspect of Christian living
2. Appreciation of the gift of faith
3. A proactive stance to life and its challenges
4. A ready gift of self in every situation
5. A deep conviction that each person is sent on a definite mission in this world
6. A burning desire to do one’s little bit, and then pass on the baton to the next in line
7. Creating and sustaining a Eucharistic culture around us.

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