Inspiring others through our lived faith

Oct 22, 2021

In 2019, Pope Francis declared an extraordinary missionary month in October. With the words Baptised and Sent echoing in our ears, the clergy, religious and laity were invited to reflect on a deeper understanding of the Church’s call to mission and to share in the missionary nature of the Church through Encounter, Testimony, Formation and Charity.

Missionary stars were distributed, formation sessions and talks organised, and various initiatives undertaken at parish and diocesan level amidst much hype and enthusiasm. Now, two years later, as with many new projects or campaigns which start with gusto, the euphoria of being Baptised and Sent has faded and the missionary stars are probably lying in some cabinet drawer gathering dust. Each year in October, we are reminded once again that it is Mission Sunday. We read the Pope’s message, we listen to homilies on being missionaries, we set aside some money for the special collection, and then we settle back into our normal routines until Mission Sunday the following year. How can we make a lasting commitment towards mission and being missionaries? How do we inspire others through our lived faith?

Pope St Paul VI said, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” In the words of St Francis of Assisi, “It is no use walking somewhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.” In other words, if we begin to live our lives according to Gospel values, that in itself is being missionary because we now bring the words of the Gospel to life. Jesus integrated ministry and mission into daily life. Similarly, in the early Christian community, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. Acts 2), what attracted people to the Apostles was not just their eloquent preaching and the miracles they performed but also, their lifestyle which made people curious to find out more and finally decide to be like them. In a nutshell, the early Church was an inspiration to the community because of the exemplary lifestyles of the Apostles and so, they were inevitably ‘transforming humanity.’

If each of us can just do our ordinary everyday tasks with charity, then we can begin to do the impossible … for ‘where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found.’ To do the impossible, one does not need to be a theologian or a trained missionary. All it takes is to allow others to see and experience Christ in us. When people look at our daily lives and see things like generosity in relative poverty, joy in the midst of pain, the way we forgive and show grace – to even the most difficult people in our lives – we are fulfilling our mission as followers of Jesus through our thoughts, words and deeds, and we are transforming humanity too. In fact, the simplest of deeds are often opportunities for mission – feeding street people, supporting migrants, working with children, caring for the elderly or the marginalised of society.

Whether we think that one aspect of following Jesus is more important than the other is very subjective, but perhaps the most important thing for us to remember as a Christian community is that we do not forget anyone – the widow, the orphan, the prisoner, the poor, the homeless, the hungry, the migrants.

George Bernard Shaw once said, “Life is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations.” And so too, with our sense of mission. World Mission Sunday challenges us to reflect on how we are living out our baptismal calling to witness to Christ in all situations, and inspires us to not give up. It invites us to deepen our love of Christ, to welcome the power of the Holy Spirit afresh into our lives, and to be living examples – wherever we are and whoever we are – of the Father’s care for all of creation. Together, we are mission!