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Make disciples of all nations

(Mt 28:19)

            “The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion.” These are the opening words of the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio of Pope John Paul II which he issued in December 1990, twenty five years after the publication of the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity Ad Gentes Divinitus, and fifteen years after the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World) issued by Pope Paul VI.

            These words are still very true today. For this reason the Church never gets tired of reminding herself of the command of the risen Lord: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:19-20).

            This command of the risen Christ to proclaim the good news “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) is so important that all four Evangelists have reported it: As the Father has sent me, so I send you (Jn 20:21). Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation (Mk 16:15). Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised (Lk 24:47-49).

            Last month I was in the resort island of Langkawi in Malaysia to attend an ASEAN meeting. In the hotel where I was staying there were many Filipino contract workers – cashiers, receptionists, waiters. I wanted to hear Mass so I asked the Filipino waiters where the church was. They informed me that there was no Catholic church in the entire island of Langkawi but a priest comes from the mainland every other Monday to say Mass in a small chapel in town. Wanting to verify this information, I searched the telephone directory and found that there was no Catholic church listed in Langkawi. The only one listed was the Church of St. Michael at Alor Setar in the state of Kedah in mainland Malaysia, a three-hour travel from Langkawi by boat and bus. I called the church and was informed that indeed there was no Catholic church in Langkawi but a priest comes every other Monday, as the Filipino workers earlier told me.

            Since my meeting lasted from Tuesday to Saturday, I had the chance to talk again with some of the Filipinos in the hotel. I introduced Couples for Christ and asked them if they would be interested in attending a Christian Life Program and having regular prayer meetings. They responded enthusiastically so I asked them to give me a list of those interested to attend. Before I left that Saturday, they gave me a list with twenty-one names on it. They said that perhaps Filipinos from the other hotels would also be interested.

            There are many places in the world like Langkawi where there are Catholics who are unable to attend regular church services. Without support groups these Catholics may soon move farther and farther away from the active practice of their faith. Some may even embrace the prevailing non-Christian religion in their area.

            In Redemtoris Missio, Pope John Paul II distinguishes three types of situation from the viewpoint of evangelization:

            Firstly, there is the situation which the Church’s missionary activity addresses: peoples, groups and socio-cultural contexts in which Christ and his Gospel are not known, or which lack Christian communities sufficiently mature to be able to incarnate the faith in their own environment and proclaim it to other groups. This is mission ad gentes in the proper sense of the term.

            Secondly, there are Christian communities with adequate and solid ecclesial structures. They are fervent in their faith and in Christian living. They bear witness to the Gospel in their surroundings and have a sense of commitment to the universal mission. In these communities the Church carries out her activity and pastoral care.

            Thirdly, there is an intermediate situation, particularly in countries with ancient Christian roots, and occasionally in the younger Churches as well, where entire groups of the baptized have lost a living sense of the faith, or even no longer consider themselves members of the Church, and live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel. In this case what is needed is a “new evangelization” or “re-evangelization”.

            The situation in Langkawi belongs to the first category – but with a twist. Here is a case – among many similar cases in the world – where a large number of Catholic migrant workers find themselves in the midst of a predominantly non-Christian community. Unable to regularly receive pastoral care from the Church, these Catholics may soon lose “a living sense of faith” and begin to “live a life far removed from Christ and his Gospel.”

            The Filipino diaspora has created numerous situations similar to that of Langkawi. Somehow it has become part of God’s plan to relocate Filipino Catholics in places where Christ is not yet or is still inadequately known.

            My brothers and sisters, I am convinced that it is part of God’s plan that Couples for Christ should reach out to Filipino and other Catholics who are in situations similar to that in Langkawi. God has not yet called Couples for Christ to mission ad gentes. But if through ‘re-evangelization” these Catholic communities can become fired up with the Holy Spirit, then they can become effective witnesses of Christ.

            Ad Gentes Divinitus tells us: There are two billion people – and their number is increasing day by day – who have never, or barely, heard the Gospel message; they constitute large and distinct groups united by enduring cultural ties, ancient religious traditions, and strong social relationships. Of these, some belong to one or another of the great religions, others have no knowledge of God, while others expressly deny the existence of God and sometimes even attack it. If the Church is to be in a position to offer all men the mystery of salvation and the life brought by God, then it must implant itself among all these groups in the same way that Christ by his incarnation committed himself to the particular social and cultural circumstances of the men among whom he lived.

            The work of evangelization is immense and there are not enough priests or religious missionaries who can be “implanted among these groups” to teach and verbally proclaim the message of the Gospel. But God has another plan. He is implanting Catholic migrant workers into numerous “Langkawis” in the world. And an essential part of this divine plan is for Couples for Christ to reach out to these “implanted Catholics” to help form communities who can become effective witnesses to Christ.

            Evangelii Nuntiandi makes this point clear: For the Church, the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Christian life, given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to one’s neighbor with limitless zeal. As we said recently to a group of lay people, “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” St. Peter expressed this well when he held up the example of a reverent and chaste life that wins over even without a word those who refuse to obey the word. It is therefore primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world, in other words, by her living witness of fidelity to the Lord Jesus – the witness of poverty and detachment, of freedom in the face of the power of this world, in short, the witness of sanctity.

            My brothers and sisters, if we can establish communities of Couples for Christ among these “implanted Catholic communities,” then the local Church would be strengthened. And as Pope Paul VI prophetically stated, “it is primarily by her conduct and by her life that the Church will evangelize the world.” By their conduct and by their lives, these CFC communities will evangelize the larger communities around them.

            God’s command is very clear: Make disciples of all nations! His promise is equally clear: I am with you always! The Holy Spirit is in our community. God is with us because he has a task for us. Let us pray for God’s grace that we may obey him.

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