We are All Missionaries — The Challenge of that Word

European group of La Salette Laity and La Salette Missionaries, La Salette Shrine in Salmata, Italy in 2012“No one will understand the speech of another” (Genesis 11:7).

In teaching listening skills to seminarians, I introduced the basics of linguistic theory – how human beings communicate with one another and where problems occur. In any verbal exchange, there is the messenger, the message, and the receiver of the message. The messenger encodes the message in some vehicle – usually words – and then sends that message to the receiver. The receiver must hear the message (no problems in transmission) and decode it before understanding is possible.

May I have a cookie?

Seems straight forward enough, no? I want a cookie. I say, “May I have a cookie?” and my wife, who is putting away the box of cookies, hears my words and responds with “Sure, have the rest of them.” But something more was received than my message, because there are other messages being sent using other means: tone of voice, body language, eye contact.

And there may be an underlying message about the relationship itself, or the context, or a message the receiver is trying to send, such as, “You saw that I was cleaning up, dinner is over, and I am putting the box away. You are interrupting me. Have what you want, there are not that many left, just finish them off and take care of your mess.

Mission means “who God is and what God does”

Recently, I have been having talking about the word “missionary.” At face value, the word is either noun or adjective: a missionary is a person who undertakes a “mission,” especially a religious mission; or it can be an adjective, as in is related to, engaged in, or devoted to “missions.”

Some Catholics have moved away from the word “missionary,” believing it was too closely aligned with colonialization or the missionary work of other faith groups. Others believe that, given the thought of Pope Francis, the word missionary is too exclusive, and it is better to use the more inclusive expression “missionary-disciple.” In this case, missionary is still seen as a noun rather than an adjective and must be conjoined with “disciple” lest the faithful see themselves as “students” rather than “practitioners” of the faith.

The case for “missionary” attempts to distinguish the gifts and ministries of the community without denigrating any of them. Fr. Tony Gittens, CSSp, author of Living Mission Interculturally: Faith, Culture, and the Renewal of Praxis, says that “mission” is who God is and what God does. Mission flows from the heart of God, is manifested and realized in the person of Jesus and is given over from Jesus to the Church. Mission, therefore, precedes Church so all who are baptized are baptized into the universal mission of Jesus . . .

Missionary-Disciples are those who go beyond themselves

Those missionary-disciples who go beyond themselves, step outside their comfort zones, and cross some type of border to encounter and accompany others, in their context, and do so in communion with the Church and as a response to Jesus’ call are missionaries. They are doing an “external” ministry focused more on “being” the love of God for others rather than an internal ministry focused on forming and building up the community of faith through prayer and worship.

Group meeting on the Holy Mountain in 2006 for the Preparation Program for Perpetual ProfessionThere is some substance and urgency to this question of “are we missionaries?” The Fellowship of Catholic University Students calls those people who, after college, give a year or two evangelizing other college students, “missionaries.” Some volunteer groups use the word “missionary” for their international placements and volunteers for their domestic placements. Some avoid the word missionary because it has too much cultural and religious baggage. Others embrace the word seeing it as setting themselves aside from others – from teachers to social workers – who may be doing exceptional service but not in the name of Jesus or his church.

There can be an intentionality, and accountability, in seeing missionaries as a type of minister within the church without judgement or exclusivity. On the other hand, the “signs of the times” may call for new language that both invites and distinguishes the many gifts within the faithful.

What does it mean to be sent?

Mission comes from the Latin word, missio, which means to be sent. The challenge facing all of us in the church today is discerning for ourselves, and for our communities of faith, what it means to be sent today. What is ours to do? Is it better that I see myself as a missionary, a minister, if you will, to people on the periphery who takes on a role within the community so they community can go beyond itself? Or is it better for me to see myself as a missionary-disciple because that appears to be more faithful to what Pope Francis is teaching and is much more inclusive? . . .

(Republished with permission of the U.S. Catholic Mission Association)