Clonskeagh Parish RCN:20016166

A few words from Fr Peter Ewaoche Johnson

The Mustard Seed: The Secret behind Successful Missionary Enterprise

Jesus, our model and master, summarises the missionary mandate in Luke 4:18 with the words of the prophet (Isaiah 61:1) as bringing the Good News to the poor, setting prisoners free, opening the eyes of the blind and liberating the downtrodden. The Gospel is good news indeed because it liberates cultures, gives insight into what makes for true flourishing and confronts social injustice with the message and acts of love that pursue fair consideration for humans and all of God's creation. As Fr. Joe attests, different milieu has had different challenges, hence mission has taken various models and approaches as history and society progress. However, the call on every baptised Christian to be a witness to the missionary mandate in belief and life has remained the same and everyone's contribution in every age is priceless. An African proverb puts it succinctly: it is the assembling of various bowls of water from different individuals that fills the earthenware pot to the brim.

Mission in Africa today is targeted at building a self-sustaining church that can meet both spiritual and material needs of all especially the less privileged. The church is considered both a spiritual and a social organ of the society, a voice of conscience formation, justice and civilisation. This has been informed by the early Missionary Enterprise when missionary presence meant goodwill, provision of education, medical services and basic amenities like water. All community members today contribute within their reach to sustain missionary initiative. While some make little donations of money, many others offer land, skills, labour, time, food crops, security etc to enable the church carry out its missionary work. People form themselves into devotional and social groupings based on devotional preferences, age, gender, or profession and make their impact felt through those groups. Everyone gives their time, energy and resources in various capacities with so much joy and belief in God's providence. Here in lies the secret behind missionary success. The seemingly little sacrifices each one makes translate to huge advancement for the kingdom of God. Hence, Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a mustard seed which appears the smallest of seeds but grows into a big shrub when sown. The church and ministries we have today are products of the labours and sacrifices of many of our ancestors in the faith.

As the month of mission draws to an end, God bless everyone living or dead who has contributed and still contributing in various ways to the growth of our church and the ministries we offer. Everyone is valuable and every service priceless. The ongoing Volunteer initiative in our Parish and Partnership offers great opportunities for everyone to bring in their mustard seeds in various areas as the spirit leads and enables. That is the missionary spirit and it is so rewarding and fulfilling. With our little seeds we spread the gospel of love, justice and peace that is the only antidote to hatred and evil in the world.