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christians and mission

August 1, 2018

"EVER YOUNG"

...The Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us. "Mission revitalizes faith" (Redemptoris Missio, 2) in the words of Saint John Paul II...

YOUR MISSION

Every man and woman is a mission; that is the reason for our life on this earth. To be attracted and to be sent are two movements that our hearts, especially when we are young, feel as interior forces of love; they hold out promise for our future and they give direction to our lives. More than anyone else, young people feel the power of life breaking in upon us and attracting us.

GREAT CHALLENGE

To live out joyfully our responsibility for the world is a great challenge...

PROCLAIM JESUS

The Church, by proclaiming what she has freely received ... can share with you ... the way and truth which gives meaning to our life on this earth. Jesus Christ, who died and rose for us, appeals to our freedom and challenges us to seek, discover and proclaim this message of truth and fulfillment.

DON'T BE AFRAID

... Do not be afraid of Christ and His Church! For there we will find the treasure that fills life with joy. I can tell you this from my own experience: thanks to faith, I found the sure foundation of my dreams and the strength to realize them. .. From the cross of Jesus we learn the divine logic of self-sacrifice ... as a proclamation of the Gospel for the life of the world...

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

To be set afire by the love of Christ is to be consumed by that fire, to grow in understanding by its light and to be warmed by its love ... At the school of the saints who open us to the vast horizons of God, I invite you to never stop wondering: " What would Christ do if he were in my place?"

NO GENERATION GAP

To grow in the grace of faith bestowed on us by the Church's sacraments plunges us into that great stream of witnesses who, generation after generation, enable the wisdom and experience of older persons to become testimony and encouragement for those looking to the future. And the freshness and enthusiasm of the young makes them a source of support and hope for those nearing the end of their journey. In this blend of different stages in life, the mission of the Church bridges the generations; our faith in God and our love of neighbor are a source of profound unity.

JOY AND ENTHUSIASM

This transmission of the faith, the heart of the Church's mission, comes about by the infectiousness of love, where joy and enthusiasm become the expression of a newfound meaning and fulfillment in life. The spread of faith "by attraction" calls for hearts that are open and expanded by love... That expansion generates encounter, witness, proclamation; it generates sharing in charity with all those far from the faith, indifferent to it and perhaps even hostile and opposed to it.

(Source: Message for World Mission Day, 5/20/18)