WORD ALIVE
FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD
It happened in China a few years before the Communists expelled the missionaries. A foreign missionary came upon an old woman by the wayside, deserted, cold and hungry.
“Why do you bother about me?” The old lady whispered feebly when the priest tried to help her as best as he could. “Nobody else cares. Why should you?”
“God said to go out over the world and help everyone who is in need,” the priest went on. Pondering over the words of the priest, she said, “What a beautiful religion. Where did it come from?”
Whereupon the priest started to teach her about God who loves us and sent his own Son Jesus Christ to save us.
“Your Christ,” the old woman went on, “Where is He?” When the priest said He died 2,000 years ago, she was amazed. “Do you mean to say that it has been 2,000 years since Christ commanded his followers to spread his teachings? Why, where have you Christians been all this time?”
This might be the pointed question addressed to us as we celebrate World Mission Sunday. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus commanded his apostles: “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to every nation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mk 16,15).
How can we be missionaries? Obviously, not all can go out of the country to reach out to people who have not known Christ. If some heroic people can do it as missionaries, great. But for most of us, all that we can do is be missionaries at home.
Remember St. Therese of the Child Jesus? She is the universal patroness of Catholic missions yet, ironically, she never stepped out of the four walls of her Carmelite cloister!
She merited the title because of her burning obsession to save souls by offering every little act of sacrifice, every bodily pain, every fervent prayers for the conversion of immortal souls.
When I was ordained priest in the missionary Society of the Divine Word (SVD), I applied to work in Mexico, Central America. Unfortunately, I never got my wish. The farthest I’ve gone to is Mexico...Pampanga!
That doesn’t mean, however, that I am not a genuine missionary. By my work in the media and supporting seminarians under the “Adopt A Seminarian” scholarship program, I am a missionary. What counts is not geography, but the spirit or attitude.
Further, we can be missionaries by contributing financial support for the mission apostolate. Money is necessary in building churches, convents, clinics, schools, social centers needed especially in “bush missions.”
Ask yourself: Am I contributing for the mission through the three Ts – time, treasure, talent? Am I aware of my mission obligation only on Mission Sunday or throughout the year round?
When I meet the Lord in the next life, can I say: “Lord, I did my share in spreading your teachings and following your mandate?”
Isn’t it strange… how a 20-peso bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but it’s such a small amount when you go buying the latest fashion dress?
Pope Francis message
Msgr. Esteban U. Lo, LRMS national director, shares an excerpt of the message of the Holy Father Pope Francis on World Mission Sunday (WMS 2022), thus:
Pope Francis expresses his “hope that the local Churches will find in these Societies a sure means for fostering the missionary spirit among the People of God.” On May 22, 2022, His Eminence Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle, in behalf of Pope Francis, beatified Blessed Pauline Marie Jaricot, foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, in Lyon, France.
In the same WMS 2022 message, Pope Francis underlines that Blessed Pauline “in poor health … accepted God’s inspiration to establish a network of prayer and collection for missionaries, so that the faithful could actively participate in the mission ‘to the ends of the earth.’ This brilliant idea gave rise to the annual celebration of World Mission Day, in which the funds collected in local communities are applied to the universal fund with which the Pope supports missionary activity.”
May more and more prayers, sacrifices and donations be offered generously for the mission.
For further information, e-mail Msgr. Bong Lo at: [email protected].
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For inquiries, e-mail me at: [email protected].