WE ARE CALLED TO BE MISSIONARIES!

Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

The Grace of Our Lord be upon you and your family.

We celebrate World Mission Sunday today (20 October 2013). It is a day to remember the new command and the last command that Jesus gave to His Disciples... and to each and every one of us - "But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

What did Jesus mean? Jerusalem means  our hometown / parish / our family; Judea is our province / state; Samaria means our neighbouring provice / state; to the ends of the earth. That means wherever we are, whatever we must be doing, whomever we are talking to, we should have a mission. By nature, by call, by commission, we are MISSIONARIES! A missionary is a person who has a mission. We are people with a mission!

We are called to shine as the Apostles in the Kingdom of God - as missionaries, as witnesses for Jesus. Our life with Jesus begins right here on earth.

Let us not be filled with darkness. Let us be filled with Light, with Power, with Love. We are not helpless in the presence of darkness. We have the Power, the Light, the Word to CHANGE the whole world. We need to have the confidence in our hearts - CONFIDENCE TO BE MISSIONARIES - to be Christ''s Light to the ends of the earth!

Pope Francis during his weekly Wednesday General Audience on 16 October 2013 asks all of us to reflect on what it means for each of us to be a missionary and witness of Christ - so that our Church will truly be an Apostolic Church.

"This is what Jesus told us to do! I insist on this aspect of missionary activity, because Christ invites all to “go” and meet others, he sends us, he asks us to move to take the joy of the Gospel! Once again we ask ourselves: are we missionaries with our word and above all with our Christian life, with our witness? Or are we Christians that are closed in our hearts and in our churches, ‘sacristy christians’? Christians only by word but that live like pagans? We should ask ourselves these questions, which are not a rebuke. I too tell myself the same: how am I a Christian, with a true witness?" - Pope Francis

On behalf of the Vincentian Fathers of Divine Retreat Centre, we humbly ask for your prayers for the extensive charitable annd evangelization works that God has placed in our hands.

My prayer for you and your loved ones on World Mission Sunday 2013 is that "You will be the salt of the earth" (Matthew 5:13) and "Lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).  Every act we do should be an act of love for Jesus.

Above is a Divine TV music video reflection - MISSION QUOTES BY HOLY MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD. 

"So let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up,

the time will come when we will reap the harvest."

(Galatians 6:9)

Yours  in Christ+
Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

Director - Divine Retreat Centre