In the 1st Reading, God’s care was demonstrated through the Israelites being set apart as the Lord’s people and for His glory. The Psalms reflect this truth. St Paul simply laid out for the Romans that the cost of God’s compassion is measured by the price He paid to redeem sinners. In the Gospel, Christ was profoundly affected by a crowd that was seemingly lost without a shepherd.
There is a transition between Israel and the Church. As the 12 tribes of Israel were set apart for God’s glory, now the 12 Apostles sent out as the natural successors of the 12 tribes. Christ laboured amongst the people. He fed them. He healed them. He cleansed the lepers. He gave sight to the poor. He drove demons from those who are possessed. The Apostles and consequently His Church share in the same mission of compassion to the world. We are to be His eyes and ears, His hands and feet.
The word missionary sounds foreign. For many the word connotes the days of old when missionaries were sent to foreign lands but those days are mostly in the past. Moreover, the notion of “venturing into foreign lands” fits more closely with the movement of colonising territories. For example, the Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans arrived in the New World after the Spanish conquistadors had subjugated the local population. As such the missionary waves may be seen as a by-product of the imperial expansions of Western European colonial powers.
What we may not realise is that that Christ’s compassionate outreach is actually reflected in the Concluding Rite. In English, “Go, the Mass is ended” does not capture what the Latin dismissal means. “Ite, missa est”. Literally it means, “Go, it is sent” which, as an imperative does not make sense. What is more coherent is “Go, you are sent”. In fact, the words Mass, Missal, dismissal are all related to sending. At the end of every Eucharist, we are sent and therefore, the days of some superior foreigners coming to civilise us are over. Closer to home the meaning “Ite, missa est” is related to our homes, our work places and our communities.
“Ite, missa est” makes each baptised an apostle. The mission to radiate and diffuse God’s presence in the world is not the preserve of or limited to a handful men or women. No longer is missionary a specialised calling for a few. It is the vocation of every baptised person. This is the full extent of what it means to be baptised as priest, prophet and king—the basis for the universal call to holiness.
Thus, to gather in Church is truly expression of our common priesthood to worship. We offer who we are and what we have to God. Our talents are not merely our own in the sense that God bestowed them for our self-enrichmentonly. Rather, through our blessings and endowment, the Lord intends to touchthe world. Therefore at the end of Mass, after Holy Communion, we bring Christ into the world. Our worship does not end within the walls of the Cathedral. We carry our worship out into the world.
That is not an easy task. Outside the Cathedral, the challenge is to allow Christ’s teachings to deeply influence our words and behaviour. But there is a problem. At the personal level, each one of us, from Pope to Prince to Pauper, struggle with individual weaknesses and sins. Whilst it is crucial to cooperate with God’s grace in our personal conversion, there is still a reality far bigger than our personal foibles and failures. More than our personal struggles, the reality is we are also encountering a world which is not only frightening but a world that is fearful. We suffered a devastating pandemic, right? And that was frightening. All we need is a bout of flu-like symptoms in the general population and the sale of mask will shoot up and that is the reality of a world that is truly afraid.
In our country, for the first time, a state within the Federation, has two rulers. Furthermore, we have at the federal level, a government of supposed unity and at the state level, a coming election that will soon pit the component parties of the same federal coalition that rules against each other. Crazy but that is a fact. In the USA, the Democratic Party is hell bent on demonising Trump and the Republican Party is set on canonising him. What we are left with, both locally and internationally, is a deep sense of bewilderment and with anything that is uncertain, we are terrified. It is not helped that the world is on the brink because Iran, Israel and US are not able to come to a negotiation table. In Ukraine, Putin and Zelensky are obsessed with mutual destruction. With uncertainty, the result is life has become more expensive especially for the poor. While we cannot escape from or avoid vested interest, whatever the situation may be, the world is hurting. Maybe insecurity can explains why we spend excessively and overeat. We are unable to process the fear that is deep within us.
We have a mission at hand to show that God has not abandoned us and that He is still with us through our compassion. Jesus was moved with pity, for the crowd was like sheep without their shepherd. We share that same mission of Christ who showed compassion and while our effort may not be world-changing, still our family and home, our colleagues and workplace, our Cathedral and our city may just need that personal touch from us to make this place, a bit better, a bit hopeful and a bit more confident in God’s enduring love for us. “Keep calm and carry on” may sound cheesy but it is definitely most helpful. We soldier on through our prayers, through Mass attendances, through Confessions, through our charity. We do all we can within our power. We dare to stay calm for God is never far away.
