By Most Rev. Dr. Yvon Ambroise, Bishop of Tuticorin –
It is not a rare phenomenon that we hear about priests, religious or the laity who opine that prayer and missionary work are two alternatives of which one is to be chosen. These two are not to be chosen as alternatives but should be treated as complementary. Prayer fulfills missionary work which needs the former. Prayer is itself at the heart of missionary work. Praying for the mission apostolate brings about the missionary work in some place or in a desired destiny. Let us perceive its close link and its nature in a detailed way.
Church by its nature is missionary
Some ask the question as to why we should pray for mission work: cannot God achieve it by his almighty power? St. Paul, during his ministry to Corinthians, faced this dichotomy of human efforts in missionary work and God’s key role.
Some Corinthians were getting divided as two groups, giving importance either to the missionary role of Paul or to that of Apollos. Paul resolved it by his admonition. Let me quote the controversy and Paul’s way of resolving it, “… for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behave only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one and each will receive his wages according to his labour. For we are God’s fellow workers, you are God’s field, God’s building (I Cor. 3:3-9)”. Paul very clearly pointed out the role of human beings and of God in missionary work.
Jesus Christ Himself entrusted to us this mission just before his Ascension into heaven. “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age (Mt.28:18-20)’”.
This admonition of Christ clearly shows the missionary character of the Church. In order to fulfill this mission in a meaningful and effective way, we need to pray to God to initiate it and bring it to completion. Let us listen to His words. “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laboures are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest (Mt.9:35-38, cf. Lk.10:2)’”.
Further, while conversing with the Samaritan woman when the disciples went to buy food and brought it and asked him to eat the food they brought he replied to them “My food is to do the Will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving the wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘one sows and another reaps’. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour others have laboured and you have entered into their labour (Jn.4:34-38)”
Gospel Quotations on Prayer and Mission Work
In Mk. 3:13-14 we read, “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they may be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons”.
The fact of Jesus going up to the mountain points out to the moment of prayer before he selected the twelve to preach the Word of God. Lukas mentions (Lk.6:12-13) “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came he called his disciples…” Thus we see that Jesus was involved in personal prayer with His Father in the mountain preceeding the selection of his apostles and of entrusting them the work of preaching.
In Lk.4:16-19 we read “And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour’”.
In Mt.10:5-39 Jesus narrated in a detailed way the mission work as well as the hardship they have to endure. But Jesus assured them throughout that God’s Spirit will accompany them in the most difficult moments. They needed to believe that their work of preaching is always in partnership with God and with the accompaniment of God.
This article is used with permission from CBCI