Catholics called to live the Gospel, rebuild missionary communities

MADURAI, Tamil Nadu  (Indian Catholic News) — The Archbishop of Madurai called on all baptized Catholics to act as agents of reconciliation and peace in a divided world, emphasizing that shared faith requires believers to active build a united community centered on Christ.

In a message marking the 100th anniversary of World Mission Day, celebrated in the Catholic Church on October 18, Archbishop Antonysamy Savarimuthu of Madurai  emphasized that “mission does not begin merely with activity, planning, collection, or programmes”. Instead, he noted that “mission begins with our union with Christ”.

“A divided community weakens the proclamation of the Gospel,” the archbishop wrote. “A reconciled and united community makes Christ visible”.

A shared baptismal duty

Archbishop Savarimuthu stressed that missionary work extends well beyond clergy travelling to distant places. “Mission is not the duty of a few priests, religious, or missionaries who go to distant lands,” the message states. “Mission belongs to the entire Church. Every baptized person is a missionary disciple”.

He urged local parishes, schools, and families to view mission as an everyday lived experience. “The first proclamation of the Gospel is not only what we say, but how we live,” the archbishop noted.

For local communities, this involves “strengthening our parishes, forming our families, animating our Anbiams (Basic Christian Communities), empowering catechists, accompanying youth, supporting vocations, caring for the poor, promoting education, and witnessing to harmony and peace in society”.

The message outlines three essential dimensions for the Christian life today:

• One in Christ: Establishing “a living relationship with Jesus Christ” as the center of personal and family life.

• United with One Another: Overcoming division so that “different gifts, talents, cultures, languages, and ministries are placed at the service of one Gospel”.

• United in Mission: Expressing faith through action, because “when we care for the poor, educate children, accompany the sick, visit the lonely, protect the vulnerable, promote peace, and defend human dignity, we participate in the mission of Christ”.

Proclamation of the Gospel

“The Church is one family in Christ,” the message states, adding that a true missionary spirit “prevents us from becoming narrow, self-centred, or limited only to our own parish or diocese”.

Mission becomes fruitful when believers overcome division, jealousy, and competition to work together, the archbishop said, emphasizing that Catholics cannot proclaim Christ convincingly “if we do not live in communion with one another.”

Pointing out that “the first proclamation of the Gospel is not only what we say, but how we live,” he urged the faithful to centre their personal, family, parish, and diocesan lives around Christ.

Warning that mission becomes “empty activism” without prayer, the Eucharist, and charity, the archbishop called for a faith rooted in the sacraments and active love.

“A missionary Church is first a praying Church,” he said, adding that “a missionary parish is first a Eucharistic parish” and a missionary family is “rooted in love, forgiveness, and faith.”

“The Lord sends us into this world not with fear, but with faith,” the message concludes. “He does not ask everyone to cross oceans, but He asks everyone to cross the distance between indifference and compassion”.

Read the message.