Pope Francis has chosen the theme 'Go and invite everyone to the banquet' (Mt 22:9) for this year's World Mission Day (Sunday, October 20) and Missionary Month (October). All the elements of this theme are very much in keeping with the direction he has given to the papacy since his election.
1) Go Out:
Here is the echo of the call of Jesus to his disciples “go out to the whole earth and proclaim the good news”. It also echoes what we read in Ezekiel 34 where God rebukes the shepherds of Israel for feeding themselves but neglecting the sheep. “You have failed to make the weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the wounded ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost”. Jesus, as the good shepherd, goes in search of the lost and encourages his followers to do the same. That going out is not just to the lost sheep of the house of Israel but includes others like the Samaritan Woman at the well and the Syrophoenician woman, whose faith drew affirmation from Jesus.
Pope Francis has also placed great emphasis on Vatican II and its vision of the church in the modern world. The Council was concerned with engaging the world after a long period where the church adopted a very defensive stance. When Pius X was elected in 1903, he saw enemies on every side, as well as within the church, and vowed to defend it against the changes brought about by the Enlightenment movement, the Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution and the rise of secularism- a set of issues captured by the notion of Modernism. Anyone in the church who attempted to come to terms with these trends was regarded as heretical. Priests had to take an oath against modernism and all in the church were to regard papal encyclicals with virtually the same authority as infallible dogma. Strict control mechanisms were put in place to protect against error and heresy. Seminarians were trained for priesthood in highly disciplined institutions that were shut off from the world with all its dangers and temptations.
2) Invite everyone
The atmosphere that prevailed in the church between the Council of Trent and Vatican II was not conducive to going out much less being inviting. Previous council documents almost always contained long lists of things deemed to be anathema (forbidden). The willingness of Vatican II to engage the world was promoted by documents that contained no such lists. Instead, there were invitations to engage with the scriptures in new ways, to full and active participation in the liturgy, to finding solidarity with the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time. There was also encouragement to dialogue not only with other Christian denominations but also with people of other religious traditions. The missionary activity of the Church (going out) was promoted and the missionary vocation of people by reason of their baptism was given fresh impetus. This stance means the church can invite people to discover the good news of Jesus rather than harping on all that is to be condemned.
3) To the banquet
Jesus often used the image of a banquet to illustrate what the kingdom of God was like. The banquet symbolises celebration and, in his letters, Pope Francis has talked constantly about the joy of the Gospel. The church is a community deeply aware of the compassion of God for the world and for all creation. It invites the world to know this and share in the blessing promised to those who walk in God’s way and live by the values of the Kingdom. In the stories of Jesus those who were invited to the banquet sometimes refused to go. The invitation was then extended to others.
The call for mission month is to “go out and invite everyone to the banquet”.
Fr Pat O’Shea works and lives in Aotearoa/New Zealand
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