Text: Columban Fr Tom O'Reilly on Perspectives in Mission Today

Fr Tom O'Reilly

Fr Tom O'Reilly was the keynote speaker at the 'Sharing Gospel Joy' day in London, organised by the Columban Missionaries on Saturday, ahead of World Mission Day.

Perspectives in Mission Today

Introduction

I joined the Columban Missionaries in 1961, the year before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) began. Pope John XXIII called the Council to explore what it meant to preach the Christian message in the context of the major political and cultural changes in the twentieth century. He spoke of reading the 'signs of the times' and responding accordingly. The Council was also meant to be an occasion of renewal for the Church, a time for opening its windows and allowing the fresh winds of change to blow through. While Vatican II gave us a whole new perspective, it did not give all the answers for the years ahead. Because we are living in a world of rapid and constant change, the Church will always be faced with the challenge of reading the 'signs of the times' and discerning how best to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ in new and changing contexts.

In the fifty years since Vatican II, the world has certainly changed rapidly. We have had great scientific and technological development, which undoubtedly has opened up many new possibilities and enhanced human life. Because of the speed of modern communication and travel, the world in a sense has become smaller and more connected. Yet, things are far from right in this 'global village.' We now have a global economic system, with its autonomous and unfettered free market, which generates great wealth for the few, but inequality and dire poverty for the many. So-called 'development,' driven by human greed, has brought ecological devastation with disastrous consequences for the planet and the poorest in the world. Despite sophisticated means of communication, community bonds are weakening. We have widespread spiritual malaise, on the one hand, and violent religious fundamentalism, on the other. Cultural and religious conflicts, as well as economic hardships and ecological devastation, have led to mass migration. In two important documents (Evangelii Gaudium, 2013, and Laudato Si', 2015), Pope Francis is urging us to reflect on the meaning of Christian mission in our globalised world where dehumanising poverty, ecological devastation and inter-cultural strife abound.

The Church also has changed a lot in the last fifty years. For instance, the geographical distribution of Catholics in the world has shifted significantly. Of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics today, more than two thirds live in the global South. We now have an Argentinian Pope and a Venezuelan Jesuit Superior General! Since Vatican II, ongoing reflection on the experience of mission in the concrete realities of Latin America, Asia and Africa has greatly influenced the Church's understanding and practice of mission today. Our Columban understanding and practice has been shaped greatly by our experiences 'on the ground' in Latin America, Asia and Oceania. The Church needs to continue changing. For instance, Pope Francis is challenging what he calls 'excessive centralisation' and 'excessive clericalism' in the Church.

I would like to outline what I consider to be some important shifts in the understanding and practice of mission in recent times. I organise my remarks under five headings:

• Mission of God
• Mission of Jesus - Kingdom of God
• Goal of Mission - Integral Salvation
• Giving and Receiving in Mission
• Church and Mission

Mission of God

In our chapel in the Columban house in Solihull, there is a large copy of Andrei Rublev's icon of the Trinity (painted in 1410). I think that icon is a very forceful reminder that mission is not just a human project. Fundamentally, mission has to do with the life, dream and project of God - the Mission of God. Rublev depicts God as a Community of Persons, a communion of loving relationships between Father, Son and Spirit, symbolised by the circular arrangement of the figures and the tilt of their heads. God's life is a dynamic circle of love. But it is not a closed circle focussed inwards. God reaches out to invite all people, and indeed all creation, to participate in the divine Communion of Love. Each of the divine Persons has wings and a staff in hand. This symbolises God's movement and journey outwards in love, acceptance and hospitality. The four-cornered rectangle on the front of the table represents the whole created world, invited to be present at God's table and share in the communion of the Trinity. The house with the open door over the Father's head also symbolizes the invitation to enter the home of God. The goal of our lives, then, is to live in communion with the Triune God, to relate in love to all people as brothers and sisters in the one family of God, and to relate with loving care to all creation which is called and destined to be taken up with us into the communion of God. Pope Francis speaks of God's universal communion, which 'excludes nothing and no one' (Laudato Si', 89-92).

The icon is telling us of our missionary God ceaselessly turning towards the world in creative love. Even when an unresponsive world rejects God's invitation and lives in a way contrary to the communion God wishes, the compassionate and forgiving God continues to reach out in redemptive healing and transforming power. God is mission. Mission is, first and last, God's presence and activity in the world. Our mission is a participation in the Mission of God. Rather than saying the Church has a mission, it is more correct to say that the Mission of God has a church. In the last General Assembly of the Columban Society (2012), we spoke of mission as a call to communion, a call to be signs and instruments of the communion that God wants for the world.

Mission of Jesus - Kingdom of God

We believe Jesus Christ plays the key role in the Mission of God. In the Rublev icon, the second Person of the Trinity, who became incarnate in Jesus Christ, has his hand raised in blessing for the world. The tree of life above him is a reminder that he became human in order to offer God's gift of life to us and all creation. The chalice on the table symbolises the sacrifice of his life so that we might have life.

Sent by the loving and compassionate Father, he came into this world as the messenger of God's all-inclusive hospitality. As such, he had a special concern for the poor, the vulnerable, the outcasts, the marginalised, and all that is excluded from the communion God wants. It has been said that Jesus was allergic to anything that smacked of exclusivism, elitism and privileged position before God.

Jesus spoke repeatedly about the Kingdom of God. His first words in Mark's Gospel were, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; turn towards it, and put your trust in this good news (Mk 1:15)." What is this Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus? It is, first and foremost, the activity of God in our world, the liberating and transforming power of God breaking into our world in the person and mission of Jesus. In a secondary sense, the Kingdom of God refers to the situation which the liberating and transforming power of God brings about - a situation in which there is life-enhancing communion with God, with our fellow human beings, and with all creation. In our world today, where many forces are tearing this communion apart, we badly need to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God and to experience its liberating and transforming power.

In the past, mission was seen to be Church-centred. Mission was about implanting the Church and building Church structures in places where the Church was not established or was underdeveloped. Now we say mission has to be Kingdom-centred. Mission is about promoting God's Kingdom - tuning into and co-operating with God's liberating and transforming activity in our world which is bringing about true communion. The Church is not an end in itself, not a club mainly for the benefit of the members. It is called to be a missionary community constantly reaching out beyond its borders in service of the Kingdom of God. Pope Francis dreams of a 'missionary option,' an impulse to inform everything in the Church (Evangelii Gaudium, 27).

The mission of the Church began when Jesus sent his guiding and empowering Spirit on weak and fearful disciples at Pentecost (Acts 2). In his encyclical on mission (Redemptoris Missio, 1990), Pope John Paul II spoke of the Spirit as the 'Principal Agent of Mission' and in Evangelii Gaudium Pope Francis says we must always be 'Spirit-filled evangelisers.' The mountain/hill over the Spirit in the Rublev icon reminds us that we must be elevated to a higher plane by the Spirit, if we are to experience the communion offered to us by God, and if we are to be signs and instruments in the world of that communion.

Goal of Mission - Integral Salvation

Salvation is said to be the goal of mission. In the past, salvation was understood mainly as a spiritual, 'other-world,' future reality and the focus was on saving individual souls. Salvation was secured through conversion, baptism and membership of the Church.

It is still true to say that mission is about salvation, but we need to ask what we mean by salvation. What kind of salvation did Jesus offer? It was not just the salvation of the soul, nor simply a future, 'other world' reality. In the Gospels, for instance, we see that Jesus' physical healings were understood as an experience of salvation in the here and now. At times, Jesus said to those cured, 'Your faith has saved you.'

The salvation we speak about in mission today is integral or holistic salvation - a salvation which affects the whole person (body and soul) and all dimensions of human life, including culture and social structures. And God's salvation is meant to embrace all creation and not just human beings. Salvation involves liberation from anything that destroys, diminishes or threatens life today. It also involves a transformation, a restoration to a state of wholeness, so that we can live in true communion, in right relationship and harmony with God, with others, and with all creation. While salvation is meant to be a present reality, we are always moving towards the fullness of salvation in the future.

Salvation is meant to be inclusive, experienced by all without exception. To reinforce this, God enters the world on the side of the poor, the outcasts, the marginalised and those who are excluded in any way from the blessings God wishes for all. So, at the heart of God's Mission is an 'option for the poor.' In the late 1960's, the Latin American Bishops (CELAM) began to speak of the concrete 'preferential option for the poor' and focused attention on liberation from unjust structures which exclude the poor and deprive them of their basic rights. Recent Popes have emphasised this option for the poor. Pope Francis, for instance, wants a Church of the poor and for the poor. These Popes have also focused our attention on creation's need for salvation and called for an 'ecological conversion' on our part, what could be called an 'option for the exploited earth.' This is expressed most forcefully in Pope Francis' Laudato Si'. In announcing the Gospel, the Church is called to denounce the marginalisation of the poor and also the exploitation of planet earth as sins against the communion God wants to bring about. Justice, peace and the integrity of creation (JPIC) are essential components of salvation. In Britain, Columbans have a very committed JPIC team, which networks with Columbans overseas and with people in the local Church here in promoting social and ecological justice.

Giving and Receiving in Mission

In an older model of mission, most of the emphasis was on giving. Missionaries felt they had the truth about God and went out to share it with those who lived in the darkness of ignorance. They saw themselves bringing the gift of God's salvation to those who lacked it. But we have come to realise that listening and receiving are absolutely essential in mission, and just as important as speaking and giving. As a general rule, we must first listen and receive before we speak and give.

This is not just good strategy. It springs from the conviction that God is already present and active in any given situation long before the missionary arrives. Vatican II spoke of "the riches which a generous God has distributed among the nations" (Ad Gentes, 11). It has been said that the first task for the missionary in approaching other peoples, cultures and religious traditions is to take off one's shoes, as one is standing on holy ground. Rather than having a well-worked-out agenda on arriving, missionaries need to look, contemplate, discern, listen, learn, tune into what God is doing and collaborate with that. It is often said that, in the experience of mission, the evangelisers themselves are evangelised. Missionaries are enriched, get greater insights into the meaning of the Gospel and are strengthened in their own faith by living among peoples of different cultures and religions, particularly the poor. That certainly has been our Columban experience.

I am not saying the missionary has little to offer. Mission will always entail courageous witness to Jesus Christ, who we believe is the human face of the loving and compassionate God reaching out to the world in an unprecedented and unique way. At the centre of our faith is not a system of beliefs, code of ethics or set of rituals, but a person, Jesus Christ, who is alive and present in the world today by reason of his resurrection. The Church, in its mission, must always introduce people to Jesus, tell the story of Jesus, make known his values, and bear witness to its experience of Jesus as God's greatest gift. Pope Francis reminds us that we must never cease sharing the joy and the gift of the Gospel with others. But that gift can never be imposed. In sending out his missionaries, Jesus told them, "What you have received as gift, pass on as gift" (Matt 10:8). We offer that gift with frail and, at times, soiled hands, conscious that we, the bearers of the gift, are fragile, earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7). Furthermore, missionary witness to Jesus is not just a matter of talking. More importantly, it is witness by a way of living and relating that reflects the values of the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus - love, compassion, forgiveness, respect for all as children of God, solidarity with and care of those who are vulnerable and excluded, care for God's creation by living simply and walking lightly on the exploited earth. St Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the Gospel always and, if necessary, use words." Pope John Paul II said: "People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers, in experience than in teaching, and in life and action than in theories. The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of mission" (Redemptoris Missio, no. 42).

There is a certain tension between giving and receiving in mission, between sharing our gift in Jesus and being enriched by the gifts of others. Mission today is spoken of as 'prophetic dialogue,' to be carried out 'in bold humility.'

In Birmingham we have a Columban multi-cultural team, made up mainly of lay missionaries, who engage in a dialogue of life and action with people of other cultures and religious traditions, many of whom are poor, vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers. This type of mission partakes in the Mission of God bringing people from very different cultural and religious backgrounds into true communion, a communion in which the poor and the exploited earth receive special attention.

Missionary Church

The Church is missionary by its very nature (Ad Gentes, 2 and 9). What kind of missionary Church is needed today? As indicated already, we need a listening and prophetic Church, a Church of the poor and for the poor. I would like to mention a few other characteristics of the Church in mission.
Mission today needs a Church in which all members have a sense of their missionary vocation. In the past, we understood the Church to have a missionary wing - mainly members of missionary congregations, who left their own country to work in 'mission lands.' The rest of the Church was asked to support this 'flying squad' in its mission. But now we understand the Church to have a missionary heart and every member of the Church is called to play a part in the Church's mission. The missionary call is rooted, not in priestly ordination or religious profession, but in our common baptism.

Pope Francis says, "Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus; we no longer say that we are 'disciples' and 'missionaries,' but rather that we are always 'missionary disciples'" (Evangelii Gaudium, 120). Over the years, many people have given Columban missionaries tremendous support. And we are extremely grateful for that. I prefer to speak of these people, not as our supporters, but as partners with us in the mission of the Church, the Mission of God. While we still need and depend on people's prayerful and financial support, the role of a missionary Society like the Columbans is not just to ask people to support us in our mission, but also to support and facilitate people to live out their own missionary calling as baptised Christians. We try to do that in various ways. For instance, over the last few years we have been inviting people to participate with us in short-term mission exposure opportunities.

Mission needs a Church which understands itself as a communion of local churches, with due importance being given to each local church. In an older model of mission, local churches were seen as 'branch offices' which implemented the directives of 'head office' in Rome. There was a clear distinction between established churches in Christian lands and developing churches in 'mission territories,' between 'mother churches' and 'daughter churches.' The flow in mission was one way, from the former to the latter. All too often in the past, a western cultural understanding of Christian faith and practice was imposed on all local churches. Uniformity was seen as a value. While recognising the role of the centre in promoting the unity of faith, a newer model of mission highlights the importance of each local church in the communion of local churches that constitute the Universal Church.

There is need for each local church to explore how Christian faith and practice can be expressed in a way that resonates with the authentic values and aspirations of their culture. Variety and difference between local churches are appreciated. Each local church is missionary, called to give and receive in the common task of evangelisation. There is need for a multi-directional exchange between local 'sister churches.' Columban missionaries, who are present in many local churches, can be an agent of exchange between these churches.

In many local churches today, including the church here, there are an increasing number of multi-cultural Christian parishes and communities, due in no small measure to widespread migration. That is very significant for mission today. In a Christian community, multi-culturalism should be seen, not as a problem to be solved, but a source of mutual support and enrichment in living our Christian lives as missionary disciples. The challenge is to move from mere peaceful co-existence, in which people of different cultures live, work and pray together with the minimum of hassle, to authentic inter-cultural relationships. A well-integrated inter-cultural community or parish can be a tremendous sign and instrument of the communion God desires in a world where racism, ethnocentrism and cultural conflicts abound. Columbans have become a much more multicultural group in recent years and we have come to realise that authentic intercultural living among ourselves is not just a support structure for our mission. It is an essential part of doing mission.

Mission today needs an open, welcoming and hospitable Church. This brings us back to the Rublev icon. It was called the 'Hospitality of Abraham,' as it was inspired by the story of Abraham welcoming three strangers and sharing what he had with them, only to discover that he was entertaining three heavenly messengers who came with the good news of God's blessings for him and his wife (Gen 18). With that scene of hospitality in mind, Rublev depicted the Trinity as a communion of Persons, reaching out in hospitality and welcome to all creation. If the Church is to faithfully participate in the mission of God in Jesus, then it must be an open and hospitable community.

Pope Francis says, "The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open.... where there is a place for everyone with all their problems" (Evangelii Gaudium, 27). In celebrating the Eucharist, we rejoice in God's boundless hospitality to us and we commit ourselves to be an open and hospitable community, a channel of God's outreach in love to all, especially the poor and strangers. In welcoming migrants and strangers, like Abraham we often discover that the tables are turned and they become bearers of God's blessings for us. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that, some have entertained angels without knowing it" (Heb 13:2). We should not overlook the fact that, from the beginning of the Church, migrants have often been missionaries in their new surroundings (see e.g., Acts 11:19-21).

See also: 'Sharing Gospel Joy' on World Mission Day 2016 www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=31190