Day 94. The Road: The Way of the Missionary
Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bell,
I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.
C.T. Studd, missionary to the Congo
Whatever happened to the missionary? Forty years ago it was commonplace to pray for the missionary work of the Church and to hear homilies from visiting missionaries seeking support. Children in Catholic schools would give their nickels and dimes for the spread of the Gospel in foreign lands. When was the last time you heard a challenge from the pulpit to carry the message of salvation to non-Christian countries like China, Iran…or France?
I’m not joking. Traditionally Catholic nations, especially in Western Europe, have chosen to ignore or even deny their Christian origins. The constitutions of the European Union have completely eliminated all references to Christendom. The Church in our time has raised the warning that if the faith is not renewed in these nations, local churches will simply be replaced by other religions, or worse, by no religion at all – by the empty pursuit of material wealth, or by rationalism, or by the cynical “so what” of nihilism.
We have turned now in our reflection to the way of the missionary. In contemplating the face of Christ, the three disciples from the Mount of Transfiguration are all commissioned by Christ at a later date on another mountain to proclaim the Gospel. This is a defining difference between old covenant (Moses and Elijah) and new (Peter, John and James). “The law and the prophets lasted until John (the Baptist); but from then on the kingdom of God is proclaimed.” (Lk. 16:16) The proclamation of Christ is the singular duty of the Church.
At the dawn of the third millennium, the missionary summons is sounded again for all members of the Church. “We must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to (the Gospel’s) service…The time has come to commit all the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes…Our own time…demands a resurgence of the Church’s missionary activity…and we Christians are called to an apostolic courage based on trust in the Spirit…the same courage that inspired missionaries of the past, and the same readiness to listen to the voice of the Spirit.” (Redemptoris Missio 249, 252, 276)
The courage of the missionaries is that which led St. Francis Xavier, one of the founding Jesuits, to bring the Gospel to India and Japan where he baptized over a million people. He died from fever awaiting passage to China. The same courage sent St. Isaac Jogues back to minister amongst the Huron Indians of Canada in 1644 after being held captive by a rival tribe for over a year and escaping. In the final days leading up to his martyrdom, the Jesuit missionary from France said Mass for his small native American flock elevating the host with his remaining fingers – those which had not been chewed away by his Iroquois captors.
The call to Christian missionary activism is inherent in baptism. Therefore, no one is exempt. Through this most powerful sacrament of salvation the Holy Spirit commissions every member of the Church to take the message of salvation to the world. It has long been a mistaken impression among Catholics that missionary work is only for priests and religious, but in the final years of the 20th century the Church made it clear that all – and especially the laity – are called to witness to the Gospel. The “New Evangelization” is the trumpet call sounded by the Church for all her members to respond with “new ardor, new methods and new expressions” in evangelization and to return the once-Christian west to a more faithful adherence to Christ.
Each member of the body of Christ will respond to this call according to his or her unique life state. For lay Catholics, their response will often be in their everyday activities – among their own families, friends and colleagues. It is worth noting that Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, though never committed to any vocation, found a particular appeal in remaining among the laity. “In the lay state I shall have better opportunities for daily contacts with the people and so I shall be more easily able to help my brethren.” (The Soul of Pier Giorgio Frassati 42).
Still, it must be said that the consecrated life permits a greater availability for the works of Christ. “An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord, so that she may be holy in both body and spirit. A married woman, on the other hand, is anxious about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.” (1 Cor. 7:32-34)
Missionary activity is traditionally understood as a departure from home and family in order to bring the message of the Gospel to a foreign land where it has not yet been heard. When we speak in these terms, it becomes clear that priests and religious provide important leadership. Lay people have always played a critical role (recall Priscilla and Aquila who helped St. Paul, Acts 18:2, 25f), and missionary couples have given us, in this past century especially, some impressive testimonies of courage. However, those who live a celibate vocation remain uniquely able to go wherever the need and opportunity arises.
Within consecrated life, many orders have a long and venerable history of missionary work. The Franciscans and Dominicans have done much to evangelize throughout the world by their radical witness and powerful preaching. We have already made special mention of the Jesuits who did so much to bring the Gospel to the American continent and to Asia. We recall the Salesians, Xaverians and the priests, sisters and brothers of the Maryknoll communities, to name only a few, who have reached many with the light of Christ.
This missionary history has made some Catholics uncomfortable in recent years. Christian evangelization has been condemned as arrogant ideological warfare aimed at wiping out ancient cultures and religions. Even today, we Christians are mocked as intolerant for saying that Jesus Christ is the “way the truth and the life” (Jn. 14:6). It is no longer fashionable to speak of missionary work in many Catholic colleges unless it professes an “all creeds are created equal” mantra – as toothless as it is truthless. Despite this the Church continues to assert her right to present the Gospel with honesty and clarity.
“Faith in Christ does not impel us to intolerance,” said St. John Paul II addressing the United Nations in 1995, “On the contrary, it obliges us to engage in a respectful dialogue. Love of Christ does not distract us from interest in others, but rather invites us to responsibility for them, to the exclusion of no one....The Church asks only to be able to propose respectfully this message of salvation, and to be able to promote, in charity and service, the solidarity of the entire human family.”
The Contemplative Witness
Missionary work is among numerous services that religious communities provide in the world. Schools, hospitals, orphanages, homeless shelters, and countless other human services are freely offered by consecrated men and women. Institutes that serve in visible, public works of charity and service are called “active” while the Church calls “contemplative” those communities which dedicate themselves primarily to prayer, penance and manual labor.
We have already mentioned that contemplative religious orders, like the Cistercians, the cloistered Carmelites or the Carthusians, are no less effective in the work of spreading the Gospel than active orders and missionary institutes. Though their work is largely hidden, these prayer warriors also advance the Kingdom of God in the world by their hours of contemplation and their many penances. “The manifold results of their holiness lends luster to the people of God which is inspired by their example and which gains new members by their apostolate which is as effective as it is hidden.” (PC 7)
All who do missionary work, serve the poor, teach or evangelize do well to note this fact. The effective spread of the Gospel can’t happen unless missionaries are deeply immersed in a life of prayer. Contemplation is no more exclusive to contemplatives than mission is to missionaries. All the people of God are invited to drink from the fountain of contemplation and then to take the treasures of their communion with Christ into the world. As the late theologian and layman Hans Urs von Balthasar observed, “He who does not listen to God, has nothing to say to man.”
Novena Prayer
Jesus says: Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Pier Giorgio responds: We who by the grace of God are Catholics must steel ourselves for the battle we shall certainly have to fight to fulfill our program and to give our country, in the not too distant future, happier days and a morally healthy society. But to achieve this we need constant prayer to obtain from God that grace without which all our powers are useless.
Let us Pray: Blessed Pier Giorgio, show me how to bear all wrongs patiently. Help me to accept the sufferings which others inflict on me because of my desire to be faithful to Jesus.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, I ask for your intercession in obtaining from God, Who protects the innocent, all the graces necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I confidently turn to you for help in my present need:
(in your own words, ask for the Lord to grant you the grace of a priestly vocation. Also, pray for priestly vocations to increase in the Church).
A Book of Prayers in Honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, by Rev. Timothy E. Deeter
Make it My Own
Daily Discernment Workbook
THIS IS MY HOUR
In preparation for making my own discernment decision, we introduce this new section entitled, “This is My Hour.” As the novena draws to a close we will take a Spiritual Life Survey. These exercises give a framework for personal reflection based on the life of Christ and the writings of the saints.
1. The End and the Beginning: What is Jesus’ Hour?
Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify thy name."
Jn. 12:23-27
In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the word “hour” to describe his unique vocation as Messiah, Savior and Son of God. There are over fourteen uses of the word “hour” in John with a variety closely related meanings. Read the passages below and place them in one of the defining categories indicated. Some categories will have more than one passage. Does one meaning emerge as primary?
John 2:4 Jesus speaks with his mother at the wedding feast at Cana.
John 4:21-23 (2 times) Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman
John 5:25-29 (2 times) Jesus defends his authority.
John 7:30 Jesus escapes.
John 8:20 Jesus escapes again.
John 12:23, 27 (3 times) Jesus concludes his public ministry.
John 13:1 Jesus at the Last Supper.
John 16:2-4 Jesus warns his disciples.
John 16:32 Jesus predicts that he will be abandoned.
John 17:1 Jesus offers himself to the Father.
John 19:26, 27 Jesus entrusts his mother to the beloved disciple.
[ ] Commencement: The Hour for Jesus to begin his public ministry.
[ ] Continuation: The Hour or Age of the Church in history following the model of Jesus’ own life, suffering and death.
[ ] Conclusion: The Hour of final judgment.
[ ] Coronation: The Hour of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
[ ] Consummation: The Hour of Jesus’ own passion and death.
Which meaning of the word “Hour” is most often used? What is its most consistent meaning?
Go back to the passage above from John 12. Notice that the word “Hour” is not for Jesus alone. He speaks of his followers sharing a similar pattern of life and death. What examples can I write below of the ways his apostles’ lives reflected Jesus’ fate?
If Jesus is the “grain of wheat” that must die in order to produce a rich harvest, how might my own life follow this same pattern?
What do I think Jesus means when he says I must “hate” my own life? How might I do this?
What promises does Jesus make to the woman or man who “hates” (gives up) her or his own life?
WORLD VIEWS
2. The Blessing of Missionaries
Most Catholics who grew up after the year 2000 have heard little about the great missionary saints. As described above, these heroes are considered by some today to be cultural imperialists because, it is said, they transplanted European ways and destroyed native cultures. There is truth to these claims, but they are, for the most part, accusations published by Western intellectuals. The people who benefited from the missionaries of past centuries can tell a different story. Consider this testimony from Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi, the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda concerning the impact the Bible had on the culture and history of his African homeland:
The first converts in Uganda were called “readers” because they could read the Bible, the first book available in our own languages. Because of the Bible, our languages have been enriched and recorded. For the first time, we heard God in our own languages. To this day, our people bring their Bibles to church and follow along with the readings.
In some traditional African societies, women were denied benefits because of various superstitions. For example, some societies believed that if women ate chicken they would grow beards. In that culture, women, then, never ate chicken. When the Bible came alive during the East African Revival of the 1930s, the Holy Spirit convicted men of such sins of oppression and began the progressive empowerment of women that is continuing today. So, for another example, the African tradition of polygamy and divorce at will left many women neglected and often destitute. The biblical teaching of marriage between one man and one woman in a loving, lifelong relationship liberated not only women but also the institution of marriage and family.
For many of our tribes, revenge was esteemed as a virtue. If a family had been violated, the first instinct was to gather the clan, arm them, and seek revenge on the family and clan of the offender. In such realms, the Bible has had a profoundly transforming effect, given the teaching of Jesus on forgiveness. Traditional Ugandan society was driven by family loyalties, with little basis for loving those beyond your blood ties. The Bible brought the teaching of Jesus to love our neighbors and even our enemies. And, while there remain remnants of the old culture, the Bible has given us a moral and spiritual basis for transforming culture.
In short, an apostolic church is a missionary church. …When the early missionaries came in the late 1800s, their understanding of mission was not only preaching but also education and health ministry. So, combined with our churches, there are schools and health clinics, all under the apostolic oversight of the bishop, whose charge is to preach (evangelism), to teach (schools), and to heal (health clinics).
According to Archbishop Orombi what are at least five benefits brought to Uganda by the Bible?
STORIES OF FAITH
3. St. Isaac Jogues: Missionary to the Hurons and Iroquois
As noted above, the courage of the cross led St. Isaac Jogues to offer his life in service to the native peoples of North America. In contrast to the destructive war that was waged among the colonial powers and their native allies, the work of the Jesuit missionaries and martyrs was a testament to Christian zeal and patient endurance. These priests and brothers lived and worked among the Hurons, Algonquins and Iroquois without weapons or protection. Many paid the ultimate price, inspiring some of the native peoples to embrace Christianity. Today many native Americans claim Jesus Christ as Lord holding with the faith their ancestors passed down to them from the days of these early missionary encounters.
Sunday, August 24, the Huron flotilla got under way. Father Jogues said his last Mass, that of the Apostle Saint Bartholomew, ate heartily of his last French breakfast, and with singing heart walked down the hillside to where the canoes were already bobbing in the shallow inlet. Jean Amyot, frisky as a kitten, ran before him and stared wide-eyed at the doings of the Hurons. On the damp grass near the canoes, the Hurons held their parting council. This finished, in silence they climbed into the canoes. Father Jogues, wearing a nightcap and with his breviary tied with a thong about his neck, tucked his soutane about his waist, cleansed the sand from his feet, and climbed into the canoe. At the signal of the chief, the little boat shivered under the first impulse of the paddles and slid into the river.
Jogues looked back. He bowed his head as Father Buteux raised his hand in blessing. He heard the farewell shouts of the French and Algonquins, the salute of muskets, and looked back upon the hill and fort of Three Rivers, and the flag, white against the green trees. Peace flowed through him as he sat huddled in the pointed stern. After all the uncertainties, after all the preparations since January, here he was at last on his way to the Huron country. The canoe lapped against the ripples and passed by the trees that lined the .shore: In rhythm, the naked, reddish backs of the paddlers swung back and forth as they dug and pulled their blades. They sat on their heels, he observed, their knees and shins resting on the ribs of the frame. He was uncomfortable, with his knees drawn up to his chin, but he feared to move a muscle lest he disturb the balance of the canoe.
The cool of the early morning melted before the summer sun. The heat grew intense, with the sun beating down on his head and back and the reflection from the waters blinding his eyes. The Hurons were silent, save for an occasional grunting word. Their eyes roamed continually over the river and along the shore. A speck on the water, a twirl of smoke in the sky, a footprint on the shore, a broken twig, a suspicious sound, that might betray the presence of the Iroquois, their bloody enemies, who were known to be lurking about.
Excerpt from: Saint Among the Savages, The Life of Saint Isaac Jogues,
by Francis Talbot, S.J.
Want to Read More?
See separate document: Day 94: Way of Missionary, Talbot, Excerpt
Conclude with
“Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
World without end, Amen.”
[1] St. John Paul II, Visit to Latin America, 1983