October 22, 2017, on World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis publicly announced to the whole Church his intention to designate an Extraordinary Missionary Month for October 2019 (EMM) to celebrate 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s Apostolic Letter ‘Maximum Illud’.
In order to reignite the baptismal awareness of the People of God in relation to the mission of the Church, Pope Francis provided the theme: “Baptised and sent: the Church of Christ on mission in the world”. In fact, reawakening an awareness of the Missio ad Gentes, and reinvigorating the responsibility of proclaiming the Gospel with new enthusiasm, are themes that combine the pastoral concern of Pope Benedict XV in Maximum Illud with the missionary vitality expressed by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium: missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity (EG 15).
By virtue of their baptism, all Catholics are called to be missionaries, sharing the good news of salvation in Jesus by their actions and their words, Pope Francis said. “The importance of renewing the Church’s missionary commitment and giving fresh evangelical impulse to her work of preaching and bringing to the world the salvation of Jesus Christ” is the focus of Pope’s message.
The gift of faith and baptism, “is not a product for sale we do not practise proselytism but a treasure to be given, communicated and proclaimed.” “Baptism and membership in the Church go together and are essential for salvation”, the Pope reminded. This missionary mandate touches us personally: I am a mission, always; you are a mission, always; every baptised man and woman is a mission.
As far as God’s love is concerned, no one is useless or insignificant. Each of us is a mission to the world, for each of us is the fruit of God’s love. From eternity he has destined each of his children to share in his divine and eternal life (cf. Eph 1:3-6).
There are four dimensions, specified by Pope, to live more intensely the journey of implementation of the Extraordinary Missionary Month – October 2019
1st A personal encounter with Jesus Christ in his church: in the Eucharist, in the Word of God and in personal and communal prayer.
2nd Testimony: missionary saints, martyrs and confessors of the faith as an expression of the church scattered throughout the world.
3rd Missionary formation: biblical, catechetical, spiritual and theological
4th Missionary charity.
Through these dimensions the Holy Father invites us to revitalise, renew and reawaken our commitment to mission. This special month, opened on the feast of Saint Therese of Lisieux, patroness of the Missions, has its culmination in the celebration of World Mission Sunday marked on October 20, 2019.
To make this journey fruitful and strengthen our personal commitment to the mission let us walk the talk by invoking the blessing of God through the missionary saints. As St Francis of Assisi said: “Preach the Gospel by your life; If there is any need use some words”.
