Vigils Reading

THE MISSIONARY LIFE

OF THE CHURCH

By Fr Jean Danielou

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The mission of today is, first of all, a mystery of unity. The Apostles were

sent to the ends of the earth to teach all nations, because Christ, having risen to

heaven, must be present in all creation. It is no more a question, as at the time of

the old covenant, of God’s taking one people in particular under his protection.

The new mission, determined upon by God from all eternity, is to reconcile all

things by Christ’s blood “and to restore all things in him.” This mystery involves

all mankind, and more than mankind, the whole spiritual universe.

In the second place, the mystery of the mission is the mystery of the

missionary. Christ entrusted the spreading of his Kingdom to the Apostles, to

those he had chosen as his tools in the work of evangelizing. This vocation is a

great mystery. It is clear that God could have communicated directly with each

individual, yet he wanted his word to be handed on and his Kingdom to be

spread by human intermediaries. He wanted us to have a share in saving the

world and converting the nations, and the Apostles’ mission is a direct

continuation of the mission of the Word and the mission of the Holy Spirit. The

mission of the Apostles is at once a single thing and a very diverse one… Some

are to be apostles, some prophets, evangelists or teachers. The forms of the

apostolate are many, but they are all one, because all get life from the same

Spirit, all seek the same end.

This unity in the diversity of functions is something St Paul insists on as of

vital importance. Even then he felt the danger of a possible loss of charity

threatening the work of the missions. We must, said St Bernard, put all the force

of our action into our own vocation, but our charity must cover the whole

world… He explains that in the order of action we must put our particular duty

before everything else – do not let the contemplative try to do the apostle’s

work, nor the teacher try to care for the sick – but, he adds, “in our prayers we

must put first what is most excellent in itself.” We must pray more for the most

important interests of the Kingdom, even if they are not the ones we ourselves

are engaged in. Charity will then become perfect in us, for it is proportioned to

the reality of things, not to our personal point of view; selfishness will then be

overcome at every moment. Outwardly we go humbly about our work, inwardly

we are working out the salvation of the whole world. We must be ready to be at

once limited in our work and unlimited in the interior order of charity.