Mission for all: proclaiming that "God is love'

For the 80th annual World Mission Sunday, Papa has a few wonderful things to say in a letter to the faithful....

"Unless the mission is oriented by charity, that is, unless it springs from a profound act of divine love, it risks being reduced to mere philanthropic and social activity. In fact, God's love for every person constitutes the heart of the experience and proclamation of the Gospel, and those who welcome it in turn become its witnesses.

Being missionaries means stooping down to the needs of all, like the Good Samaritan, especially those of the poorest and most destitute people, because those who love with Christ's Heart do not seek their own interests but the glory of the Father and the good of their neighbour alone. Here lies the secret of the apostolic fruitfulness of missionary action that crosses frontiers and cultures, reaches peoples and spreads to the extreme boundaries of the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, may the World Missionary Day be a useful opportunity to understand ever better that the witness of love, the soul of the mission, concerns everyone. Indeed, serving the Gospel should not be considered a solitary adventure but a commitment to be shared by every community."

And building upon that, Benedict XVI delivered an address on World Mission Sunday to the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square to recite the midday Angelus:

"The charity that moved the Father to send his Son into the world, and the Son to give himself for us unto death on the cross, that same charity has been poured by the Holy Spirit into the hearts of believers. Every baptized person, as a shoot united to the vine, can cooperate in Jesus' mission, which is summarized thus: to take the good news to every person that "God is love" and, precisely for this reason, wills to save the world. The mission arises from the heart: When one pauses to pray before a crucifix, looking at that pierced side, one cannot but feel within oneself the joy of knowing that one is loved and the desire to love and to make oneself an instrument of mercy and reconciliation.

May Mary Most Holy help us to live with new drive, each one in the situation in which Providence has placed him, the joy and courage of the mission."