Notes in CFE 3 – Catholic Foundations of Mission

Chapter 2
MISSION AS A CHRISTIAN IMPERATIVE

An integral part of the definition of Christianity is its being missionary. This has
to be seen always as rooted in God’s love for humanity and creation which, at one point
in history, became very clear and nuanced in the person and life of Jesus.

Chapter 2, Lesson 1
THE CHURCH IS MISSIONARY BY NATURE

CONTEXT
Who we are determines what we can do and what we ought to do. If we are
rational, then we can do things using our reason. If our nature is good, then our actions
must also be good.
In Christianity, the nature of the human person is that s/he lives for others. The
nature of the Christian community is that it serves. The New Testament points to these
ideas.

INSPIRED WORD: The Church as People of God (1 Peter 2:9-10)

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own

people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you

had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The prerogatives of ancient Israel mentioned here are now more fully and
fittingly applied to the Christian people:
- “A chosen race” (cf. Isaiah 43:20-21) indicates their divine election (Ephesians 1:4-
6);
- “A royal priesthood” (cf. Exodus 19:6) to serve and worship God in Christ, thus
continuing the priestly functions of his life, death and resurrection;
- “A holy nation” (cf. Exodus 19:6) reserved for God;
- A people he claims for his own (cf. Malachi 3:17) in virtue of their baptism into
his death and resurrection.
This transcends all natural and national divisions and unites the people into one
community to glorify the one who led them from the darkness of paganism to the light
of faith in Christ. From being “no people” deprived of all mercy, they have become the
very people of God, the chosen recipients of his mercy (cf. Hosea 1:9, 2:25).

One important scriptural description of the Church is People of God. As people,

the Church is one. Members are in solidarity with each other as a body is a unity of all
its parts. As such, members have to care for one another as a consequence of its self-
understanding as a single body. Yet it does not exist only for itself, but it is called to
serve all needy people. In other words, the Church is essentially missionary. It is other-
directed rather than self-focused.

CHURCH TEACHING
The Church as People of God
One of the images of the Church according to the Second Vatican Council is that
the Church is the People of God. Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the
Church, gives insights about what it means for the Church to be people of God.

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Notes in CFE 3 – Catholic Foundations of Mission

As people of God, the Church is a kind of a sacrament or sign of intimate union

with God, and of the unity of all mankind. As people of God, the Church must witness
to unity – unity with God, with all human beings, and with the rest of creation.
As people of God, the Church is not an exclusive community. Jesus accepted
people because he felt that God does not exclude.
As people of God, the Church is a pilgrim towards the kingdom. As the Church
journeys in the world, the world becomes a better place.
As people of God, the Church is a sign of the kingdom. As Church, we should
become the primary witness and manifestation of the authentic freedom and equality
every human being deeply yearns for.
As people of God, the Church is a participatory community. The Church is a
community of equals who have roles to play in the growth of the Church, even if these
functions vary from one another.

Two of the four marks of the Church or essential characteristics of the Church’s
life are oneness and catholicity.

The Church is One

The local Church and the universal Church are one people of God and one body
of Christ. God is the source of the unity within the Church (Eph. 4:4-6). It is a unity in
diversity, not uniformity (1 Cor. 1:17). Unity not only for our own sakes but for the sake
especially of those who are suffering, sick, and oppressed.

The Church is Catholic

The word Catholic means “universal”, “complete”, “all embracing”. Catholicity
is the “interior capacity of exercising a universal ministry of reconciliation” (CFC 1403).
It implies being inclusive and reaching out to those excluded by society. The Church is
sent to all peoples to be a sign of God’s universal love for all human beings.

Mission is the fundamental reality of the Christian life.

• Life has purpose only to the extent that it has a missionary dimension.
• By virtue of baptism, mission is a Christian responsibility.
• In Christian anthropology, to be human is other-directed (missionary).
- Saint Paul writes in Romans 14:7 that “none of us lives for oneself, and no one
dies for oneself.”
- The famous theologian Edward Schillebeeckx mentions the following
anthropological constants: relating with others, with society, with culture and
history.
- We are always kapwa to another.

The Church’s link to Jesus obligates the Church to do mission.

• The passage on the vine and the branches (John 15:1-17) is a discourse on the
union of Jesus with his disciples.
• The Church is depicted as Body of Christ.
St. Paul used this image to highlight the unique relationship of the Church
to Christ, and the unique relationship among the members of the Church.
In Romans 12:3-8, Saint Paul writes that God distributes a variety of gifts
to the fellowship of believers, including those of prophecy, teaching and
exhortation.
- Prophets assist the community to understand the will of God as it applies to
the present situation.
- Teachers help people to understand themselves and their responsibilities in
relation to others.
- One who exhorts offers encouragement to the community to exercise their
faith in the performance of all that is pleasing to God.

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Notes in CFE 3 – Catholic Foundations of Mission

In 1 Corinthians 12:12-30, Saint Paul introduces the image of a body to

explain Christ’s relationship to believers, and then applies this model to the
Church.
- By baptism, all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into
one organism.
- Saint Paul then develops the need for diversity of function among the parts of
a body without threat to its unity.
In Ephesians 1:22-23 and Colossians 1:18, Saint Paul mentions that the
church is Christ’s body, and Christ is the head of the body.
In Ephesians 5:29-30, Saint Paul writes that Christ is devoted much to the
Church, because we are members of the Church, his body.
• The text on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) recounts the universal
mission given to the disciples to make disciples of all nations and bring them to
belief in Jesus and obedience to his commandments.
• When Jesus appeared to his disciples (John 20:19-23), Jesus sent them [“As the
Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21)] and so, they were made apostles.
• Acts 1:8 notes that Jerusalem is the starting point for the mission of the Christian
disciples, who were assured to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon
them, to the ends of the earth.

MISSIONARY RESPONSE
We cannot escape the fact that we are missionaries. As such, we have to:
1. Cultivate the attitudes of listening, openness, being other-oriented and
sensitivity to the needs of others; and
2. Exert effort to act always in accordance with our identity as a missionary Church
even in small matters.

Prepared by:
MICHAEL ANGELO F. EMPIZO
Saint Louis College, City of San Fernando, La Union
Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
November 18, 2019

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