Sunday, October 20, 2024

 

 

"Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet" Matthew 22:9

In his 2024 World Mission Sunday message, which celebrates missionaries and their work, Pope Francis reflects on the Gospel parable of the Wedding Banquet, where the king tells his servants “Go therefore to the thoroughfares and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find”.  The invitation to the banquet is linked to the Eucharistic table, where believers share the Body and Blood of Christ, anticipating the final banquet. The Holy Father writes, Here it should be remembered that breaking our material bread with the hungry in the name of Christ is already a work of Christian mission. How much more so is the breaking of the Eucharistic bread, which is Christ himself, a work of mission par excellence, since the Eucharist is the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church.

As Pope Benedict XVI pointed out: “We cannot keep to ourselves the love we celebrate in the Sacrament [of the Eucharist]. By its very nature, it asks to be communicated to everyone. What the world needs is the love of God, to encounter Christ and believe in him. For this reason the Eucharist is not only the source and summit of the life of the Church; it is also the source and summit of her mission: ‘An authentically Eucharistic Church is a missionary Church’” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 84). Click here to read the entire message.

 

Resources for World Mission Month

 

Jesus the Missionary

Except from To the Ends of the Earth: A Pastoral Statement on World Mission.

Jesus was a missionary. As the Word of God, he is the light of all nations. As the Word made flesh, he brought God's own life into our midst. Before returning to the Father, he sent the Church to continue the mission given him by the Father and empowered her with his Spirit: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:21).

The Missionary Church

Except from To the Ends of the Earth: A Pastoral Statement on World Mission.

The Church, therefore, is missionary by her very nature. She continues the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit by proclaiming to the ends of the earth the salvation Christ offers those who believe in him. We are faithful to the nature of the Church to the degree that we love and sincerely promote her missionary activity. As teachers and pastors we are responsible for keeping alive a vibrant Catholic missionary spirit in the United States.

Committee Mandate

The Church's mission is to proclaim the salvation of Christ to the ends of the earth. As teachers and pastors, bishops are responsible for promoting Catholic world missions in the United States.The Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis supports initiatives which focus on the Church's world mission by promoting mission education and working collaboratively with the Pontifical Mission Societies and other mission organizations. 

Vatican Documents on Mission

Ad Gentes
Evangelii Gaudium
Evangelii Nuntiandi
Redemptoris Missio

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Documents on Mission

Teaching the Spirit of Mission Ad Gentes: Continuing Pentecost Today
Best Practices to Teach the Spirit of Mission

Learn more about mission organizations in the United States.