The Church is missionary by nature. It's so because mission is not only injunction of Jesus but is also life of the Church. The mission mandate to be carried out requires certain things like in-depth knowledge of faith, courage, and grace. These things will actualize the mission of the Church. The readings of the day help us to look into these qualities and encourage us to adopt them.
The first reading reflects two strands of our relation with God: Thanksgiving and prayer. Paul thanks God for the Christians who accpted Christ and for their faith in him. On the other side, Paul prayers for the community for the gift of enlightenment so that they understand and live what they believe. This helps to garner in-depth knowledge of faith which is required for the mission. This is one of the first qualities of a missionary.
The gospel contains the reflection of the mission mandate of Christ. The mission includes profession of faith that is why Jesus says unless we accept him in front of men he will also not accept us before his angels. Acceptance before men or profession of faith requires courage. Courage to show that we believe in Christ through our words, deeds and life. Courage is another quality of a missionary. The third quality that is required of a missionary is grace. Jesus himself promises that don't be afraid of what to say because words will be given to us from the Spirit who is the grace of God for us. The Spirit who is the protagonist of the mission of the Church. He is given to the Church to make Christ known to the World. Those who prevent or occlude the works of the Holy Spirit, Jesus warns, they incur unforgiven sins. This also shows that mission of the Church is of paramount importance.
Dear friends, missionary venture of the Church is not a new phenomenon but an age-long heritage that we have recieved. This patrimony must be passed on. The patrimony of faith must be shared with others just as it has been shared with us and this is our primary concern as Christians. We are the missionaries of the good news. We have recieved faith and we know about it. We also have received grace to profess what we believe but at times what we lack is courage to profess what we believe. Courage to profess our faith with our genuine life that includes words, deeds and life itself. Let's not be ashamed to live as Christians and bear witness with our words, deeds and life.
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May God grant us courage to witness Christ relying on his grace. Knowing Christ and not witnessing him is blasphemy against the spirit which we have given in baptism.
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