1st PMS Mission Congress of the Antilles Episcopal Conference September 19-22, 2019 - Trinidad & Tobago
The first “Mission Congress” of the Antilles Episcopal Conference ended on Sunday 22nd September, 2019 in Trinidad; there, the church of the Antilles received through those present, a charge to do something and do it by the grace of God. We are to be missionaries of Christ - love, joy and mercy in today’s world.
The congress was called in response to the Holy Father’s proclamation that October 2019 be an extraordinary month of Mission for the Church universally. This was a six-day event, and the first few days ad-dressed students specifically, and later on that week, delegates from throughout the Caribbean examined what it meant to be a missionary of the church, and how the church is to live the mission that Christ envisioned.
The topics chosen reflected not only on the Church of the Caribbean, but also on the Universal Church. It was emphasized that if the Church is to live its Mission, it must live to share joy, love and mercy.
The question is - are we ready to respond to the missionary call of Jesus with selflessness, joy, love and mercy? Am I called to live the Mission? Yes! Yes! Yes! By virtue of our baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are all called to live the mission of the Church.
The Mission is essential to our lives as Catholics, because THIS is our purpose, to go out and proclaim the good news of God to all of man kind. “To execute the Mission effectively, the baptized must be aware of SELF and the gap that exists be-tween their baptism and their mission” exclaimed Archbishop Charles Jason Gordon. Knowledge, skills and attitude are within that gap and one must know their weaknesses and strengths in each - for all are factors that shape vocations, and vocations help us to understand the mission of Christ and the Church.
Archbishop Gordon expounded on what can be termed the “Eco-vocational System” of Missionary Development. This system starts at a personal level where the individual finds and understands God’s call from within the womb.
The understanding of God’s call allows us to find the unique gift that God has given to us. Once we have found God’s gift, we need to think of how we can utilize it in the building up of God’s kingdom, through our personal and professional lives.
Right after we have made a decision on how we would utilize our gifts, we are called answer the question - what state of life are we called to - married, single, lay, priest or religious? Through prayer and grace, we are guided to recognize God’s voice. This is the voice from deep within us (our conscience) that preempts us to choose our vocation and lead us to the final stage of vocational development - that is, Authentic Integral Human Development. At this stage we are called to connect intentionally and holistically with Christ and the Church - for the mission of the church cannot be separated from the unity and love of the church. We are all called to be missionaries through our baptism, all we need to do is discern, discover and channel our vocation.
