Mission

Your Mission as a Member of Jesus’ Church Is …

In the American television series, “Mission Impossible,” each episode opened with the commander’s line to the spy, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, involves …” Then he explained the mission’s purpose. Jesus came from Heaven with a mission to save men and women from the slavery of sin and death. He said, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10) by reforming their lives and believing in the Gospel (Mk :15). He redeemed human nature from Satan’s deadly grip and reunited humanity with divinity in His Person. Through the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness He conquered sin. He conquered death, the result of sin, by His resurrection. Jesus entrusted this mission of salvation to His Church which He founded on Peter and continues through Peter’s duly elected successors, in union with the duly ordained successors of the other Apostles until the end of time. The mission would be characterized by a spirit of service to God and neighbour. Jesus visibly impressed the importance of this spirit of service upon His apostles as His Church’s leaders when, at the Last Supper, He washed His Apostles’ feet. Then He reminded them, “if I washed your feet – I who am Teacher and Lord – then you must wash each other’s feet. … as I have done, so you must do” (Jn 13:14-15). Washing His Apostles’ feet symbolized His humble service to them as their example in carrying out His mission to others. Jesus calls every follower to be a humble servant in the interests of His mission. A humble servant always acts according to the master’s wishes. It’s Jesus’ wish that through His mission “all may be one as You, Father, are in me, and I in you; I pray that they may be one in Us, that the whole world may believe that You sent me” (Jn 17:21).

Christians Are by Nature Missioners

Christians are those who have freely accepted Jesus as their Teacher, Lord, and Saviour and that His Church is His Bride with Himself as the Bridegroom. But unlike Mission Impossible, the person who wants to be Christian has no choice regarding the mission. To be Christian is to actively participate in Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ Church isn’t composed of passive followers but rather active missionaries using their gifts to enhance the lives of their fellow men and women and lead them to God who alone can fulfil their deepest yearnings. No one can embrace Jesus without also embracing His mission to bring all men and women into His Father’s loving embrace in this world which is completed in Heaven. How is that done? By being salt and light in a sinful world that’s tasteless, decaying, and dark!

Salt and Light

Jesus gave a new identity to the leaders of His Church and her members by designating them to be “salt” and “light” in the world. He told His Apostles: “You are the salt of the earth….You are the light of the world” (Mt 5:13-14). Salt both preserves and flavours what would otherwise rot or be tasteless. Light dispels darkness. It is essential for growth. Neither exists for itself but for the benefit of something else. To act like salt means to preserve people from the rottenness of sin and give flavour to a life that is bland. To act as a light is to lead others out of the darkness of their ignorance and sin and to replace them with truth, repentance, and forgiveness. To act as salt and light means we aren’t there for ourselves but for the benefit of others. We make the world tasteful and enlightened by introducing people to Jesus as the Preserver of Goodness, the Light of the World and the only One who can save them from rotting in the dark of pride, lust, greed, wrath, envy, gluttony, and sloth. These deadly sins make a person’s behaviour tasteless and causes spiritual and emotional decay.

Salty and Enlightening Attitudes

Jesus confirmed the apostles as salt and light immediately after teaching them the Beatitudes. When we choose the beatitudes as our lifestyle we become salt and light in the world of dis-ease and spiritual darkness. These holy attitudes begin with humbly recognizing that Jesus is our Salt and our Light who enables us to preserve our dignity and that of others, leading them to Him so that they might embrace Him as their Light and preserve their sanity. In calling people to be His people God called them to make the Beatitudes their attitudes when He told them to, “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked, and do not turn your back on your own” (Is 57:7). As His followers you and I must do the same. This requires us to invite God’s Spirit to motivate us. Thus the Holy Spirit tells us to “put your faith not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1 Cor 2:5). It is then, He tells us, that, “your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall be quickly healed” (Is 58:8).

Preservation and Purification

True Christianity preserves and enlightens us, purifying us from Satan’s temptation to embrace tastelessness and sin, disguised as delicious and feeling good. God tells us that this purification comes about when you, “remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech” (Is 58:9). These are what makes life tasteless and cause relationships to decay. When you and I strive to be salt and light for others we are personally healed from the rotting wounds of our sins and are able to dispel the darkness of evil. Thus the Holy Spirit enables us to replace pride with humility, lust with chastity, greed with generosity, wrath with patience, envy with gratitude, sloth with diligence, and gluttony with moderation. God tells us that when we’re salt and light He hears our prayer: “… you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and He will say: Here I am!” (Is 58:9).

Continuing Christ’s Mission

Our mission as Christians is possible because it’s Jesus’ mission and He provides us with the wherewithal through His Church to accomplish what He asks of us. He can’t be defeated because as He revealed, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Rev 1:18). The Christian mission provides the only hope for a life that can be lived as humanly and fully as possible. As Christians we must be careful that as salt we don’t lose our tastefulness by reneging on the mission. As light we mustn’t hide ourselves but rather be a lamp for others to dispel their darkness. Thus Jesus urges, “Your light must shine before men so that they may see the goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father” (Mt 5:16).

The Mission Has No Room for Passivity

Being a member of Jesus’ Church automatically implies an active participation in His mission. This is why the priest at the end of every Holy Mass bids the worshippers to, “Go forth, the Mass is ended,” or “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord,” or “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” Whichever words of dismissal the priest chooses they reflect the call of Jesus to each follower to continue His mission in the world. Refusal to carry our Jesus’ mission is a refusal to be a true member of His Church. Then we become obstacles to the effectiveness of Jesus’ mission and the opportunity He offers every man, woman, and child to be free from the slavery of sin and to be able to practice the supernatural virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. These are the virtues that enable us to live prudently, justly, courageously, and temperately as we embrace God who is the source of what is real, true, good and beautiful. Our mission as members of Jesus’ Church is to inspire people to praise God for His justice and mercy towards us. (fr sean)