In this series, we’ve been looking at what it means to be an Easter people, bearing witness to the truth and joy of the Gospel and living as salt and light in the world. Last week we reflected on the topic of love, today we’re going to take a look at what it means to be a missionary people.
It’s no coincidence that the season of Easter comes to a close with the celebration of both the Ascension and Pentecost. Both of these feasts emphasize the outward focus of the Church’s life. Yes, Christ came to give us new life and restore us to friendship with God, but he also sends us forth to be instruments of restoration and salvation in the world. The gift of new life that we celebrate in the resurrection isn’t just for us… it’s for everyone! At the end of Jesus’ time on earth, he didn’t say, “stay, therefore, and focus on your own progress as a disciple” – no, he said, “go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Now, of course, we can’t give what we don’t have. Making sure we are staying close to Jesus and growing in holiness and fidelity to the Gospel is extremely important. But all of this is meant to equip us to more effectively bear witness to the Gospel and fulfill Jesus’ great commission. Our faith is deeply personal, but it’s never just about us. God desires all people to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth, and he has chosen to make us his co-workers in making that a reality.
What this means is that we are a Church on mission, a Church that must always remained oriented toward the world and continually seek to invite others to partake in new life as adopted children of God. This is part of what we proclaim when we profess our faith in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” Church. Certainly the Church is apostolic because it is built upon the foundation of the Apostles, but it is also apostolic in the sense that it is necessarily “sent out” – a Church that must continually seek to “go forth” to love and serve the Lord and make disciples of all nations. As the Catechism says, “The whole Church is apostolic… in that she is sent out into the whole world… to spread the kingdom of God” (CCC 863).
The Church was never meant to be an exclusive club, closed off to life in this world, but rather, a vehicle of God’s grace in the world, making the kingdom of God present in continually new ways and drawing all people into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. This is, in fact, precisely what we remind ourselves of at the end of every mass. The final dismissal of mass is based upon the Latin phrase, “Ite, missa est” – which literally means “Go, it has been sent.” It’s interesting that it doesn’t exactly say “you” are sent, but “it” is sent. The reality that we have just celebrated – Christ’s victory over sin and death, his establishment of a new covenant, and his restoration of union with God and communion among the human race… in short, the salvation of Jesus Christ – this reality is sent into the world. How? Through you and I. We are the bearers of this reality into the world, making the saving power of God present in every corner of creation.
I think it can be easy sometimes to forget this missionary aspect of the Church’s life and think that our practice of the faith is ultimately just about us getting to Heaven. While it’s true that the ultimate end of salvation is union with God and the communion of the saints in “the life of the world to come” – the immediate end of the Church is to be a means by which all people come to know Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life.” When we leave mass every Sunday, we shouldn’t think, “ok, mission accomplished” – no, we should think, “ok, my mission has started.” We come together on Sunday to be nourished by the Word and the Eucharist, which then gives us the strength and grace to “go to work” for the sake of the Gospel. Let us never forget that “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace” (Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14). We are a missionary Church, which makes us a missionary people. As we continue to enter into the joy of Easter, let us pray that all of us might always remember and respond to this call to be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth.