Spiritual Corner - The Evangelization Mission of the Church
Jesus, before His Ascension, ordered the disciples, saying, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
These words of Jesus are for the whole Church and also for everyone who is sent. Thus, evangelization is the basic, and not additional, mission of the Church, Just as the Decree on Missionary Activity of the Church of the Second Vatican Council declares, “The Church on earth is by its very nature missionary since, according to the plan of God the Father, it has its origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Missionary Activity 2)
In order to raise the consciousness of evangelization of the Church, the Church designates October as the Mission Month every year. Though the Church has been established all over the world, yet there are still many places where people have never heard of the Gospels. Thus, the Church has to follow Jesus’ order, send missionaries to sow the seeds; there are places where the Church is not deeply rooted and need missionaries to continue to cultivate. Therefore, Mission Month is here to awaken Church members to respond to Jesus’ order, to be concerned about and to commit to the evangelization work, it is also meant to awaken young men and women to answer to the call of Jesus.
After the whole Church is fully aware of the pressing mission of evangelization, there is still need of financial resources to promote and develop. This would be like the Mission Coop conducted by Fr. Raju from India one weekend in mid-September in our Parish. Giving support to financial resources is one way of participating in the evangelization mission of the Church.
Furthermore, we need to build up a close relationship with Christ in order to accomplish the mission given to us by Jesus. As Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) In this aspect, Saint Therese of Lisieux had set us a good example: despite living in the monastery, she was able to support the church’s missionary work through prayers, sacrifices and offerings of charity.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this special month of October, let us pray together for the Church’s missionary work and respond with actual deeds. As God wants all people to be redeemed and get to know the truth, let us pray that the merciful God would bless every Christian who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, will live a Christian life, engage fervently in evangelization work, and lead more people to salvation.
Your Pastor,
Fr. Francis Chong
