Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - The words of the Risen Lord "go into the whole world and proclaim the message of the Gospel to all peoples" (Mk 16, 15) resound in the Church’s memory. This mission, a gift and task for every Christian, has many aspects. The message is Jesus Christ. Every person who encounters Jesus assumes personal responsibility for life. The person of Jesus, his message, his life style of reaching out to people, spreads knowledge of God the Father’s love for the entire human family and frees life from the prison of sin, injustice and violence.
The encounter with Jesus transforms people. God’s goodness shining on the face of the Son, illuminates and at the same time gives rise to a deep desire to share the Good News of this encounter. It is enough to recall John the Baptist, or Andrew who takes his brother Simon to meet Jesus or Philip who tells Nathanael the good news that they have found the Messiah (Cf. Jn 1,45 - 47).
The miracle of the encounter with Jesus must take place in the culture and history of the individual person so it may involve and move personal freedom stirring a response from the heart. There follows a strong desire to learn from the Master and to embrace with joy the act of dying to self in order to live the fulness of life. This happens by a gradual living in Jesus which opens the mind to become familiar with the ways of the Lord. It is by imitating Christ that young Churches make room in their hearts to accept the message of Christ. What better way could there be to root the Christian message in the cultures of the peoples?
The word of Jesus is light which illuminates the values of every culture. Certainly in young Churches there is abundant enthusiasm, generosity and energy for proclamation worthy of the Christian message. Nevertheless for the Christian message which they proclaim to be deeply inserted into the cultures of peoples there must be constant reference to Jesus and a spirit of discernment. St Paul the Apostle offers the key to understanding this: ‘test everything; retain what is good’ (1 Thes 5,19-21). In Phil. 1,9-10 and Rom 12,1-2 he describes the gradual and profound change of mentality behind the authentic discernment demanded of believers.
When young Chruches are able to think Christ in their own cultural categories the message of Christ is living and present in their midst and takes root in their culture. The face of Christ is an inculturated face and contemplation of it teaches something about the culture. In partnership with the Holy Spirit young Churches are called to undertake the task of finding the right place for Christ in their particolar culture.
These young Churches thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of believers elaborate a culture in harmony with the values of the Gospel always attentive to the Magisterium. By serving others in many ways these communities bear witness to a culture in keeping with the Christian message. In this era of globalisation and migration today more than ever this culture must speak not only to believers but to the whole territory. Here then are some of the challenges facing young Churches: the universal nature of the message of Jesus who heals, reconciles and builds communities, gives splendor to human life and to the mission of the family to be the "shrine of life".
Lord Jesus may your Spirit continue to accompany the young Chruches so that your message may penetrate all cultures, purifying their values and bringing them to completion. Sr. Teresa Joseph of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix (Fides Service 29/7/2005)
