Elia-Sleeva,7thSu.Oct.16,09

Elia-Moosa 7th S.,09
(Mt.28:16-20)

Today we celebrate the Mission Sunday and the reading form the Gospel reminds each one of us about our mission as the followers of Christ.
Jesus just before His Ascension to heaven gathers together the apostles and gives them a commission that becomes their only task in life: to spread the Gospel and to bring every one into the flock of Christ. He gives them the authority to preach in His name and to baptize every one in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. He offers his abiding protection for them, telling them that He would be with them until the end of the world.
He does not use any parable or figurative language to convey this message. It is direct and specific. It is obligatory on the part of every disciple of Christ to become an evangelizer, a bearer of the Gospel, an announcer of the Good News.
How do we become evangelizers? First of all, we have to be believers in Jesus. Just as Peter confessed, “You a re the Christ, the Son of God”, we too have to acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of our lives. If we don’t believe in the depths of our hearts that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, our Protector, the source of our lives, then, we cannot make Him known to others.
The Gospel has to become part of our lives. Our families should become first the centers of Christian love, of forgiveness, of deep and abiding faith in Jesus. It is through our lives that we have to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Otherwise, what we say just become meaningless words and we become the laughing stocks of our neighbors.
Albert Schweitzer was a great missionary in Africa. There was a great reception arranged for him on one of his return trips to Chicago. People were at the train station to receive him as he got down from the train. But when he got down, he saw an elderly black lady struggling to get down and to get her suitcase from the compartment. Instead of greeting the people who came to receive him, he walked over to the elderly lady and helped her to get down. He also helped her to take the suitcase from the compartment. Can anyone doubt the sincerity of his faith? He was preaching the Gospel through his noble action. It is though our lives that the Gospel has to be preached first.
The Holy Father in his message for the Mission Sunday asks every one to transform the world “with the Gospel of love” and to “infect” every one with hope.” This Transformation has to happen first in our own personal lives. Our hearts should be devoid of all ill-feelings, revenge, hatred etc. We should carry this spirit of love and forgiveness to our places of work and living---to our schools and work-places. Let the people who interact with us know that we live by different standards.
Then our witness to the Gospel becomes really genuine and sincere. The commandment that Jesus has given us becomes part of our lives. We can ask ourselves at the end of every day: “ How did I proclaim Jesus today in my life?”
We also have to help the Church in its mission of evangelization by our personal contribution of time, talent and financial resources.