World Mission Sunday Reflection

A Sister of Our Lady of the Missions, Rose Mary Harbinson RNDM, gave a Mission Awareness talk in St Joseph's Parish, Wealdstone on the 28th Sunday of the Year, based on the readings: Wisdom 7:7-11; Ps 89; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10: 17-30.

This is the month when we remember to pray for the Missionary Church and Pope Francis in his address this year will remind us that we are all, by our baptism, a mission to the world. Where we can never think that the world and people don't need us. "No one is so poor as to be unable to give what they have, but first and foremost what they are. Let me repeat the words of encouragement that I addressed to the young people of Chile: "Never think that you have nothing to offer, or that nobody needs you. Many people need you. Think about it! Each of you, think in your heart: many people need me."

In reality, we missionaries know that we are still needed and challenged mainly by those people constantly facing change, either from the threat of war, violence and more recently, the effects of changing climates, which we have seen on our TV screens over the past few weeks… and the shock and horror that causes us let alone the devastation of the people who have lost everything. But what is a major concern for us: Christians throughout the world are being threated and for many, our Christian way of life is compromised by changing values.

We heard in today's readings quite complicated images of wealth, wisdom and discipleship. By being attentive to true wisdom that comes from God our values will change. What Jesus was telling the young man in the gospel was: that if he truly wants to follow Jesus his peace and comfort has to be disturbed, if he wants to seek inner peace and seek eternal life, love has to penetrate his heart. But his face fell at these words. He walked sadly away like many of us.

The words of the gospel and todays readings become very real to me as I recall my visit to the Philippines during the summer to share briefly in the work of our missionary sisters there. As most of us know, the Philippines is often called the heart and garden of Asia and many go for holidays to the magnificent beaches and tropical climates! But like any developing nation the Philippines has problems with overcrowding in the cities, mainly due to ecological and natural disasters, and crowding into the larger landmasses and cities in around Manila suffering the consequences of greedy landowners, foreign companies and multinationals making personal gains and leaving a trail of poverty and disillusionment.

Our ministry in Manila is to care for the street children and to help families that are pushed out of the city to find accommodation on any empty piece of ground which may be under bridges, skirting the rubbish dumps and derelict places of the old city left in rumble to make way for the high rises and shopping Malls that feature big in Filipino life today.

Our sisters who run a residential centre for street boys, comb the streets each day looking for abandoned or often forgotten children. Because many families suffer from deprivation due to forced migration, often becoming victims of cheap labour, their children are sent out to steal, beg and unfortunately, to sell themselves to get whatever scraps they can to bring home for the rest of the family.

Each day our sisters and lay workers have to walk into the dumps to find these children whom we try to gather to teach basic reading and writing skills to motivate them to get off the street and come into the centre so that we can prepare them for schooling. On one such visit, I noticed one little girl wearing a Rihanna T Shirt. The pink had now faded to a dirty grey and the glitter worn off and it was a few sizes too big for her… There she was, squatting on a piece of plastic trying to write her name and I was shocked to learn that she was sixteen years old!! My heart bled for her and I wondered how she had lived her first sixteen years and what would the next sixteen years be like for her! if she would ever be able to get out of this way of life.…

It was a treacherous walk as already the monsoons had come so I wasn't sure where to put my feet but I kept on thinking that I have access to a shower and bed tonight but these people, I will leave here in the rain and mud! Here I was being challenged: I too like the young man in the gospel, felt that I was doing my best, but was faced with the same challenge: how far was I willing to go to remain with these people? Even today I feel the sorrow of leaving these children and many like them to their fate and uncertain future.

Everywhere in the world there are missionaries who have taken up the challenge, leaving families and friends working to sustain community life and often standing up where there is injustice and bearing witness to the ill treatment of people. The missionaries by their presence, try to be the human face of Christ in the midst of despair and loss in a very material world.

We missionaries truly believe that many people unknown to us around the world are worthy of the Gospel message of hope and joy so we try to be physically present and proclaim the Word of God as "alive and active" to people everywhere and in whatever situation and never abandon them in times of discrimination or social neglect.

What must I do the young man asked? Your gifts, service and prayers will mean much more if we all together really believe that by our baptism we are equally part of the mission to the world.

LINK

Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions

www.rndm.org/