From the Regional Director of Oceania
In 1988 the Columban Mission Society held an international conference in Pusan, Korea. It was my first time going to such a meeting. I learnt many things, but what intrigued me the most was the different ways that the Columbans at the conference spoke about the mission. We all belonged to the one mission society, yet we had different ways of speaking about mission.
For many in the group, the key idea was “the Church”. Matthew’s great commission, to go out into the whole world, make disciples of all nations and baptise them, supported this approach very powerfully, as it had for many Christian missionaries for centuries.
A second keyword for another group at the gathering was “the Kingdom”. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus uses “the Kingdom” as a way to talk about his mission. Here the Kingdom is seen as including more than just the members of the church. Other good people who have fed the poor, visited the sick and cared for the homeless etc. are part of the Kingdom. These people would not say that they are part of the Church, but they are accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven at the final judgement.
The third rather small group in Pusan did not reject talk about church or Kingdom but their basic metaphor for considering mission was to talk about “life”. This was supported by John’s gospel when he has Jesus speak about “life, life in all its fullness”. It also broadens the idea of what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus when John says those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life. The interesting aspect here is that one can “have eternal life” even now in this life. Eternal life consists in living in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit now and forever.
Missionary societies like our own have been talking about mission for many years and what was said in Pusan represents only a small slice through the conversation that has been going on for centuries.
I am finishing up my term as the Regional Director of Oceania for the Columbans on November 23 this year. It would seem an appropriate time for me to reflect on what is the basic image or metaphor that I use when speaking about the mission.
“Love” is another word that I would use for mission. The reason why God made us, and the cosmos was because of love. The commandment given by Jesus was to love God and our neighbours. When he preached the sermon on the mount he said we had to love our enemies. If that was our mission – to get people to love their enemies – that would be amazing. Wars, domestic violence, economic injustice, divisions of all kinds would be overcome if our mission was successful. We are called by Christ to live with the hope that our own mission in life will contribute to such a wonderfully peaceful world.
Today we realise that the desire of God is to bring about such a world. Here we are not just talking about people, we are also talking about the environment, the whole universe. We do not know what a transformed universe would look like, but we believe that God wishes that all people, and all matter would share in the resurrection of Jesus. Our labours, our love and our mission are all part of God’s transforming love for creation. We share in God’s mission.
The last word I want to add to my talk about mission is “union”. It is close to love but being united with Christ in his suffering is more specific and mystical. Many saints have spoken about seeing Christ in the suffering of other people. We can see the sufferings of Christ every night when we see what is happening in Ukraine. Christ is suffering in every aspect of the war. Christ is suffering in those who are waging the war and Christ is suffering in those who are the victims of the war. Our mission is to unite ourselves with the suffering Christ throughout the world. In this way we will also share in his resurrection through the power of the Spirit of God.
Our mission continues as we are led by the Spirit into new ways of living and serving. Our union with Christ in prayer for each other is being missionary at the deepest level.
Fr Trevor Trotter
Regional Director of Oceania
rdoceania@columban.org.au
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
