(ANS - Manaus) - "When there is difficulty in responding and many are afraid to do so, there should always be a Salesian with the courage to say: 'I'll go!'. This expression is very typical of our Salesian life. When I was in the novitiate I often heard that a Salesian never refuses the challenge of the mission". With World Mission Day being celebrated next Sunday 18 October, we publish some reflections suggested by Fr João Mendonça, a Brazilian Salesian.

Being a missionary, first of all, is not the privilege of a few brave people but belongs to all Christians (Redemptoris Missio, no. 1). Still, the willingness to go is increasingly rare, because of individualism. However, missionary urgency opens the doors to Christ the Redeemer, who wants to reach all men and women.  Our willingness and generosity are necessary.

Many still do not know Christ, others have fallen away and not a few have become indifferent to him. But the Church exists to evangelize. This is its fundamental meaning. Remember what Pope Francis has repeated on several occasions: "I prefer an outgoing Church even if it means taking risks, to one that is closed… ".

And what is the main message of this mission? It is the Kingdom of God. (...) In this sense, the Church serves the Kingdom, but it is not the Kingdom. And we serve the kingdom generously when we preach conversion, that is, the change of mentality in a confused and sometimes meaningless world; when we meet in the community of faith, in the daily witness that it is a joy to be a Christian; in the Mass to support each other, to put on Christ by loving and forgiving one another; when we pray for the needs of others, of society and of the world (Acts 4.32). Then we serve the kingdom and make it ever more present in our midst (1 Cor 15.24 to 28). Where can we find the strength to carry out the mission? In the Holy Spirit (Redemptoris Missio, 21). The Spirit is the principal agent of the whole of the Church’s mission wherever we are. (...)

The proclamation of the Gospel has become a challenge. There are also other areas of evangelization such as the proclamation of peace, the promotion of human rights, ecology, the promotion of women (Redemptoris Missio, n. 37). I believe that volunteering is also a new place of evangelization.

Among the missionary commitments, consecrated life is both urgent and necessary. Both lay people and consecrated persons are called today to be true instruments of the Spirit in evangelization. We must not be afraid of modern developments and should achieve a constructive dialogue with them to use them creatively for the benefit of the mission.

Therefore, no one can stand still. We must be bold and dynamic forces of the mission, always ready to say: I‘LL GO.

Published 16/10/2015