Every year, on the Feast of Pentecost, the Pope issues a message for World Mission Day. In it, he offers us…
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- A reminder of some of the fundamentals of the mission
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- A summary of the Pope’s main intentions regarding the mission (insights which are developed more fully in other previously published and more official text, such as encyclicals or exhortations)
- One or two lines on one or other particular aspect or matter, or some idea of relevance to the current year, or some particular point that the Holy Father wishes to stress.
His Message for the 2017 World Mission Day includes the main constituent elements of the mission, as clearly indicated in the title of the message: Mission at the heart of the Christian faith. The roots of the mission lie at the very heart of the Christian faith, and the heart of the Christian faith may properly be described as a mission.
This is why the first missionary is Christ himself. The Church, which perpetuates the work of Jesus, is by nature a missionary Church, and her function is to proclaim the Gospel, God’s good news (no. 1 of the Messsage). The mission is therefore a return to our origins (to fundamentals): Jesus is the only true missionary, the first missionary; his disciples (Christians) are missionaries by proxy (nos. 2 and 3). One person alone is the missionary: Jesus. Therefore all are missionaries: all the disciples, disciples-missionaries, as Francis likes to call them. The mission is the Christian’s responsibility, the responsibility of every Christian – a task for some particular group of Christians, of a kind of elite body within the Church. It is the duty of all.
One point which Pope stresses in particular this year refers to young people.
Only one person is the missionary: Jesus Christ. Therefore all of us – all Christians – are missionaries. And these include, in particular, our young people (no. 9). The preparatory work for the forthcoming Synod on Young People, the Faith the Gospel and Vocational Discernment, is an opportunity for young people to perform this missionary duty, which is their responsibility as Christians, in society and in the Church.
