Missionary friends, Greetings in this 2021 edition of World Mission Sunday. This year it is still being celebrated in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only in Indonesia, but in all parts of the world the Covid-19 pandemic has not passed...
This year the theme is “We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic has shaken the world.
This pandemic has affected all aspects of life. However, at the same time it attracts everyone to go to his own inner space. There he met his own existence. It meets its own fragility, but also met the Creator who has power over life and death.
This ongoing pandemic has led us to deeper contemplation of the meaning of life and the power of God's love, the Creator, the source and purpose of life. The God who first loved us continues to pour out His love and move us to support, strengthen, comfort and save one another.
We see and hear the powers of God in the waves of this pandemic. God's power heals the sick, strengthens the weak, ignites the faintest hope, and takes what He wills.
Mission is a dynamic movement of contemplation and action. Mission is the fruit of an encounter with a loving God. This encounter is experienced intensely in contemplation. In turn, contemplation leads people to acts of compassion, proclaiming a loving God with words and actions. The mission during this pandemic can be interpreted as a mission of hope, namely the act of "saving" people and/or keeping them safe.
In that mission, there is a belief in God that continues to accompany and act in various situations even those that seem gloomy, joy is transmitted, brotherhood is forged, and hope is burning. Mission continues to present God's unfailing mercy and faithfulness.
Missionary friends, let us open our hearts and welcome God's missionary call to be missionaries of hope. We have witnessed and experienced the power of God's love in the course of our lives, especially during this pandemic. Therefore, like the Apostles, we too dare to say, it boldly says, "We cannot but speak about what we have seen and heard." The celebration of the 95th World Mission Week is an opportunity to reaffirm that missionary commitment. Prayers, reflections, financial-material-energy assistance and daily behavior are directed as a form of the mission of hope. Hopefully, the MISSIO presented by the National Bureau of Papal Work of Indonesia can be a means for us to develop missionary enthusiasm and creativity during this pandemic. Let us ask God for grace so that He will kindle and strengthen the spirit of our mission. Happy 95th World Mission Week. God bless.
Greetings missionaries,
Fr. Markus Nur Widipranoto, Pr, National Director Pontifical Mission Societies Indonesia
