The Joy in Mission (14th Sunday Ordinary C)

“New Evangelization” has, perhaps, become the catchword in Church circles over these past years when we have acknowledged this generation’s crisis of faith in many Christian countries due to the inroads of secularist and materialist way of thinking.  We recall during the Year of Faith (2012), we were exhorted by Pope Benedict XVI “to rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith” [PF, no. 6]. We were invited to engage in the task of evangelization with renewed joy and enthusiasm.

In one of the anniversary celebrations of the Couples for Christ held in Manila I brushed elbows with thousands of lay people swarming the Quirino Grandstand to thank God for the blessings and fruits of their mission worldwide.  I met many of the lay leaders whose all-out commitment to the work of evangelization puts me to shame. And their sense of mission to spread the gospel to “the ends of the earth” is characterized by obvious and contagious joy and enthusiasm.  Deep inside me was a growing confidence that God is, indeed, listening to the prayer of His Church for more labourers in his Kingdom. This time, God is calling and sending more from the “rank” of the laity.

Era of the Laity. Today’s gospel (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) recounts the appointment of the seventy two disciples whom the Lord sent for the mission of proclaiming the reign of God.  Clearly the Lord sees the need, apart from the twelve apostles, for more collaborators in the mission. The work of evangelization, if it is to make a dent in today’s crisis of faith among Christian countries, cannot remain an exclusive task of the ordained ministers. In the spirit of the 2^nd Vatican Council and ensuing papal exhortations, lay apostolate ought to flourish and be propelled to rejuvenate the life of the Church. The Church, dominantly controlled by the ordained ministers, has to pave the way for lay empowerment and participation in her mission.  It must be, for the ordained, a joy to behold that the lay who have been evangelized are now themselves effective and joyful evangelizers!

Clericalism, which assigns the sole authority over almost all the aspects of ecclesial life to the rank of the ordained and sees the role of the laity in terms of the submissive stance of “paying, praying and obeying,” has to become a thing of the past. The life and mission of the Church will be blessed with abundant fruits and great harvests as we empower the lay and send them as collaborators in the work of proclaiming the reign of God.

As we pray for more workers for God’s abundant harvest (v. 2), we implore for more vocations not only for the religious and priestly ministry. This prayer should also be an ardent appeal for more committed lay collaborators who, by their joyful witnessing of God’s love and mercy, proclaim to the world that God’s reign is at hand.

The Joy of Discipleship-in-mission.  So much for the difficult and hard demands of discipleship, today’s gospel points out the joy inherent in the fulfilment of the mission of a disciple. Discipleship, even if often described as costly, difficult, not-a-walk-in-the-park commitment, is nonetheless characterized by joy.  It is not a surprise, for instance, that the list of the ten happiest jobs (according to the General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago) is topped by the clergy and followed by other service-oriented professions.  Among these professions, the least worldly are reported to be the happiest of all. The happiness is observed to be directly proportionate to the ability and opportunity to be of service—a distinctive mark of Christian discipleship.

The gospel recounts that the seventy two returned rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name” (v. 17).

The meaning of discipleship does not rest only in the act of following and in the painful learning of the discipline and teachings. It finds its fulfillment in being sent. What brings so much joy and evokes enthusiasm is the dynamic life brought about by discipleship-in-mission.  A disciple who stays in one’s comfort zone may bask in one’s security but will eventually suffer emptiness. But the one who embraces the risk in giving himself/herself to the mission will find Christian life an exciting adventure.

There is joy in being sent by the Lord. This is the joy of participating in and witnessing firsthand the fulfillment of the reign of God in our midst. This is the joy of victory, as the Lord assures a missionary that, whenever the name of Jesus is proclaimed and embraced in faith, Satan “falls like lightning from the sky” (v. 18). This is the joy of belonging to God as ultimate reward, as Jesus promises that the names of the disciples sent are written in heaven (v. 20).

In today’s context of crisis of faith, where are we sent by the Lord that we may proclaim with joy and enthusiasm the beauty of our faith? In our parochial ministries and apostolate, can we move along the direction of a joyful and enthusiastic collaboration between the pastor and the lay?

Holy Heroes (Baptism of Our Lord A)

HOLY HEROES. This was the title of the formation program for the Year of the Laity in 2014 published by the CBCP’s Commission on the Laity. “Holy Heroes,” we now recall, embodies the theme “Called to be Saints, Sent Forth as Heroes.” All these refer to the vocation of the laity to live holy and heroic lives amid the challenges and opportunities in the Church and in society.

This is, indeed, a far cry from the outmoded pay-pray-and-obey passive view of the laity’s role in the Church. And thanks be to God! We are now outgrowing the highly clericalized Church, dominated by the hierarchy of bishops, priests, and religious where the laity is passive and silent alienated from the real life and mission of the Church.

What is the key to the growing respect for a more active and participative role of the laity? I believe it is the deeper appreciation of the grace of baptism. It is by virtue of our common baptism that we all share in the responsibility of fulfilling the Church’s mission of evangelization.

(picture grabbed from http://joyfulpapist.wordpress.com)

Today’s Feast of the Lord’s Baptism lends itself to our desire to gain deeper insights into our own baptism in Christ.

Why did Jesus Christ submit himself to John’s baptism of repentance? In today’s gospel reading (Mt 3:13-17), John tried to prevent Jesus from being baptized as he felt unworthy and, of course, as he knew that Jesus had no need of repentance.   But the Lord insisted that this must be allowed in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (v. 15). This refers to Jesus’ acceptance of God’s salvific will, i.e. Jesus was to come as Savior in sharing the lot of a sinful people while being recognized as God’s son. Indeed, after Jesus was baptized, the spirit of God descended upon him and a voice came from heaven, saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (v.16-17).

In short, Jesus’ baptism was a confirmation of his identity as the beloved Son of God and his mission as the Savior of all nations. 

Similarly, we can understand our own baptism in Christ in terms of this identity-mission paradigm.  We are called to be saints and sent forth as heroes.

Called to be Saints. In baptism, we die in Christ as we immerse in water and rise into new life with Christ as we emerge from the water of baptism.  Hence, we are born into new life, new identity. We become the beloved sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ.

Indeed, the old life enslaved by sin is no more. In baptism, we are called to be faithful to our identity as adopted sons and daughters of God. Every day, all of us are called to live holy lives. We are called to be saints. I believe, this simply means that we sustain the divine life we share in Christ through baptism.

Many years ago, the call to holiness tended to be understood as directed only to the religious people and priests probably because of their religious vows and ordination to the sacred orders.  While indeed they ought to be effective witnesses and models of holy lives, they do not have the exclusive right to this calling. Now, we have accepted with ease that it is our common baptism that makes this calling to holiness universal.  The laity too is called to live holy lives. They are called to be saints, God’s sons and daughters whom God is well pleased.

Sent Forth as Heroes.  Heroes are those with strong sense of mission.  They go out of their own comfort zones and lay down everything they have even their lives for causes beyond their own personal interest, i.e., for love of others, God and country.

In baptism and confirmation, we all receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. All baptized are enabled by the Spirit to participate in the mission of Christ. With manifold charisms, we all enrich the ministries and apostolate of the Church which are but the expressions of our participation in the threefold missions of Christ—the priestly, prophetic, and kingly missions.

Again, today we have gradually left behind the understanding that the mission of the Church belongs only to the clergy and religious. The lay people also are now recognized as missionaries. By virtue of baptism, they have the empowering gifts of the Holy Spirit which translate into the tasks of participating in the life and mission of the Church.

The lay are sent as heroes. The world needs heroes—heroes who sanctifies families and communities through their prayer and worship, heroes who joyfully proclaim to the world the Good News of God’s love and who firmly denounce the destructive influence of evil, heroes who lay down their lives in service of the poor, the deprived, and the oppressed. They are heroes who are priestly, prophetic, and kingly after the heart of Jesus Christ.

On this Feast of the Lord’s Baptism, we pray for the renewal of the Church's sense of mission through the empowerment of the lay people by virtue of their baptism, activating their charisms from the Spirit, so that they may indeed take up their role as co-responsible agents of evangelization and of social transformation. May the appreciation of the beauty and power of their baptism help them take up their calling to become holy heroes, called to be saints and sent forth as heroes into the world.