A 'Facelift' For The Church Today

Dear Friends of St. Thomas Parish, Boston,

I greet you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I cherish warm memories of my visit to Boston in the year 2017 and celebrating Holy Qurbana with you. Thank you very much for your concern, prayer and encouragements. Mr. Biju recently requested me to write a New Year article for the parish bulletin. I readily accepted with pleasure. Thanks for the opportunity.

I avail this opportunity to wish you Merry Christmas and a grace-filled New Year. As a bishop I consider every opportunity to interact with others as an occasion of evangelization. For, every Christian is called to be evangelizer - a missionary, for Jesus called the disciples “to be with him and to send out” (Mk. 3:14). The great command of Christ is: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19-20). In other words a Christian is by the very essence is a missionary (AG #2).

I recall an article that I wrote a few years ago while I was a professor of systematic theology at Toronto School of Theology (TST) federated with the University of Toronto, Canada. The title of the article was “Maintenance to Mission: A Facelift for the Church Today.” In it I was focusing on the dire need of required changes for Church’s mission. Though we claim that the Church by her very nature is missionary and by the sacrament of baptism we are called to be missionaries, our concern is mainly focused on the aspect of ‘maintenance of the church.’ May I share with you some reflections of the need of a paradigm shift from 'maintenance to mission'.

The word ‘church’ in Greek is ‘Eklesia’ means people of God or worshipping community. The aspect of community or ‘the people of God’ is the basic theology of the Church. Without people there is no church - indeed the people of God forms the 'Church'. The dynamism of the Church is being Church - people of God - everywhere and being in communion always - the communion with God and the communion with others. Without which the Church is only a crowd. So building up this aspect of people in communion really forms the Church. So, the two important elements that forms the Church are the ‘worship’ and ‘community.’ Unity in worship/liturgy and love in community forms the Church. As a result there is one Church, the mystical body of Christ and we are all its members (1 Cor. 12:12-30). The pain and pale of one member sadly affects all the others. Mutual help, respect and understanding is required to be in communion to form the Church of Christ.

In this context it is befitting to think of the missionary dimension of the Church. Often ‘missionary’ brings home to our minds ‘a sense of preaching in distant lands'. Let us not forget preaching by words and deeds in one’s own land or in neighbourhood or in the family itself is also a missionary task. While being a 'Christian and not a missionary' is a contradiction in terms - a paradox. In other words without being a missionary one cannot be a Christian. Naturally, here a question arises that how can a Christian become a 'missionary' by being in one's own family/neighbourhood. The four ways to become 'missionary' are:

i) Pray for the missions. St. Therese of Lisieux is the patroness of the mission though she has not left her convent for any missions. She prayed intensely for the mission.

ii) Visit to mission. It instils in us a missionary zeal. Watching or seeing the missionary activities will boost us to be missionary. It will be a great experience.

iii) Help the mission or missionaries. The celebrations of Mission Sunday in the third week of October and the Syro-Malabar Mission Week in the second week of January are meant to boost missionary enthusiasm in the Church. Avail every opportunity to help Church's mission in whatever way possible is also a missionary work - a participation in the mission of the Church.

iv) To sent missionaries or become a missionary. Listen to God’s voice or guide others to take up missionary task in the Church. By these we involve in the mission of the Church. We have to leave behind our role as mere 'spectators' and should become genuine missionaries. And we can do it at home, in our neighborhood and in our own parish - not necessarily to go to distant lands. To be missionary means to be his faithful disciple and serve the Church. Jesus tells us: "By your love they will know you are my disciples" (Jn. 13:35).

Along with our faithfulness to abide by Decalogue, sacramental life, prayer, Commandments of the Church and Charity we have to become witness of Kingdom values such as Love, Truth, Justice and Peace in word and deed. We have to move from “maintenance” aspect of the Church to the “mission” dimension. That is to say to be a ‘dynamic Church - the people of God who live and communicate the compassionate love of God to everyone irrespective of any difference or discrimination’. Dear friends let us realize this mission of the Church today, from my home and with me. I wish you all the best.

Happy New Year to every reader.

† Ephrem Nariculam

Bishop, Diocese of Chanda