World Mission Sunday – October 22, 2023
by Father Ron MacDonell, SFM (Scarboro Missions)
On October 7, the world awoke to the news of horrific violence in the Holy Land, making it a very “unholy” land, a place of fear and death. The teachings of Jesus came immediately to mind: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword” (Mt. 26:52)“ In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Mt 7:12); “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:43-45a).
“But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven” ”
This is the mission that Jesus entrusted to his disciples then, and to us now: to love everyone, even our enemies, and to be people of peace embracing everyone in our human family. We are all sisters and brothers. On World Mission Sunday, we stop to renew our commitment to this mission, our “sending forth” by Jesus into world to be lights of peace and love in the darkness of fear and hatred.
We do not have to look far to see where we can live our particular missions. For over thirty years, I have shared life with Indigenous people in the Amazonian rainforest of Brazil. In particular, I have accompanied the Makushi in the struggle for their language rights. Community leaders and schoolteachers have worked hard at producing materials such as bilingual Makushi-Portuguese dictionaries and radio programs in Makushi to promote the teaching of their language to the new generation.
The Makushi people also fought for decades to have their land reserve approved by the federal government in 2005 as the “Raposa/Serra do Sol Indigenous Land.” However, their reserve and the lands of the 1.7 million Brazilian Indigenous, representing 350 different groups, have come under attack in the past year. A group of politicians proposed the “Time Frame” bill, which would mean that the Indigenous could only claim land they already inhabited on October 5, 1988, the date when the new Federal Constitution of Brazil was promulgated. This would mean no new reserves or no expansions of existing reserves – a huge drawback for the growing Indigenous population.
Good news! Happily, on September 21, 2023, the bill was voted down, 9 votes to 2 votes, by the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court. This victory was due in large part to the numerous protests organized over the past year by Indigenous groups and their allies, including the Indigenist Missionary Council of the Catholic Church. This missionary activity in defense of land and life was blessed by God. The courage of the Indigenous and their allies was rewarded with renewed hope for the life of future generations.
St. Luke tell us that Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples ahead of him, with this instruction, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’” (Lk 10: 5). They were successful: “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!’” (Lk 10: 17). On this Mission Sunday, let us remember that we are like those seventy-two disciples. We go into the world with hope and love and, through God’s Holy Spirit, the demons of fear and hatred are defeated. Let us remember their example when we become discouraged: the mission is not ours but God’s. We pray in gratitude with St. Paul, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Eph. 3:20-21).
by Fr. Ron MacDonell, SFM (Scarboro Missions)
Image: Unsplash/Javier Miranda