Missionary Animation
On Saturday 12 November, on the 10th National Gathering of the Marist Fraternities of Guatemala, we invited Br Teófilo Minga to speak to us on a topic relative to the mission to which we are called as Marists. He gave us a complete and documented exposé on the plans of the Marist Institute on the subject of mission and, specifically, on mission Ad Gentes in Asia.
After his presentation, we also studied the message of Pope Benedict XVI for World Day of Missions 2011. We shared in small groups of five persons before placing our conclusions in common:
1ª Evangelisation in Asia
Starting from the two sources cited, we arrived at a wider vision of the mission of the Church: evangelisation as the Church’s most precious service to humanity. To carry this announcement, it is necessary to recover the enthusiasm of the first communities. It must not be forgotten that the Church is sent specifically to announce the gospel to all nations, according to the mandate given by Jesus Christ. Such is its reason for existence. This call to evangelisation, and specifically to evangelisation Ad Gentes, remains relevant, for in numerous places people have not yet heard of Jesus Christ. This is one of the reasons why the Institute has chosen Asia as a place for the mission of evangelisation. Evangelisation in Asia will be one by presence, without forgetting that we have also to learn from the Christian communities of this continent. This leads us to speak rather of mission « Inter Gentes », a term preferred by some in our time to the classic and Pauline expression « Ad Gentes ». In any case, what is in mind is always evangelisation, an activity we should feel in solidarity with from our respective places of action. This is where we carry out our mission.
2ª The mission is global
This mission excludes no one. It concerns a global task including all peoples and nations in the world, carried out all the time by all the baptised, as individuals but also as organised base communities. Other than the proclamation of the Good News, evangelisation also envisages the fields of education and health where these aspects appear particularly urgent. Mission embraces all aspects of human life.
3º Difficulties of the mission
To the authentic aspirations of evangelisation on the part of the baptised are opposed modern currents such as relativism, indifference to everything connected with the Church and Christian life, separation from the proper culture of the Gospel – as Pope Paul VI said – and the scant regard for moral values on the part of society today. These difficulties should lead us to engage ourselves without delay, where-ever we are, in the apostolic activities which the Church and the Marist Institute propose to us, whether as missionaries who leave for other lands or missionaries in our own country, or in collaborating in the different missionary and ecclesial works.
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Gustavo Palomo,
In charge of the Fraternities of Guatemala
Guatemala City, 22 November 2011