Beginning Prayer

Almighty Father; Father of Jesus, the first missionary, you sent your Son as the Word made flesh to bring your life to the world and to be the light of all nations.

Almighty Father, Father of all missionaries, every Christian is Christ’s witness. As a member of his Church, I continue the mission of your Son under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May my voice join with those of my fellow Christians in proclamation of your goodness and the good news of salvation to the ends of the earth.

Almighty Father, Father of all who have Christ’s mission at heart, I may not be able to join the Church’s missionaries among other peoples, but like St. Therese of Lisieux, whose health prevented her from fulfilling her missionary dreams, my prayer for world mission is important. It makes me a missionary, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

e are often invited to pray as members of the universal Church, aware of our many brothers and sisters at prayer in far-off places. In our hearts, we say to them, “Peace be with you!”; their message to us is the same: “Peace be with you!”

“Peace be with you!” These are the words of the risen Lord greeting his disciples before showing them his hands and his side (John 20:19-20)

Jesus was a missionary. As the word of God, he is the light of all nations. As the word made flesh, he brought God’s own life into our midst. Before returning to the Father, he sent the church to continue the mission given him by the Father and empowered it with his Spirit: 'As the Father has sent me, so I send you' (John 20:21)
(To the Ends of the Earth, Pastoral US Bishops, #1)

“Peace be with you!” Jesus repeats the same greeting before sending his disciples on mission: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21)
“Peace be with you!” Our Lord greets us in the same way in the liturgy of the Mass. Outside of Mass, his greeting continues to echo, and we rejoice in the gift of a peace that he alone can give.
We do well to focus our attention on Christ’s gift of peace. We welcomed that gift in baptism. We have been nourished by it in the Eucharist. Now we pause to reflect on it as we celebrate Easter and Mission. Christ’s peace is not for us alone. It is for us to proclaim and to share with all human beings.

Sharing of the loaves

The connection between Christian discipleship and Christian mission is well expressed in the ancient tradition of the multiplication and sharing of loaves. Although each Gospel presents the tradition in its own way, all of them emphasize the missionary implications of the passage… (see Mark 6:34-44)

The reading tells the story of one of the great signs and wonders in the ministry of Jesus. The story, variously called “the feeding of the multitudes,” “the miracle of the loaves and fish,” or “the multiplication of loaves,” shows Jesus’ disciples overwhelmed by having to feed so many people. Christ’s mission was too much for them. But following them step by step, we soon join them in realizing that all they needed to do was share the little they had for all to be wonderfully nourished.

In Mark’s account of the miracle, we are struck by the contrast between Jesus’ instant compassion at seeing the crowd and the reaction of his disciples, who asked him to send the people away. Jesus saw that the people were like sheep without a shepherd, and he proceeded to teach them. He became a shepherd for them. When the disciples suggested that Jesus dismiss the crowd that they might go elsewhere to buy food, he told his followers that they must feed the people, even if all they could find was a meager five loaves and two fish! They too must be shepherds.

Jesus here teaches us something about the Eucharist, where the bread of our poor humanity becomes a rich banquet for divine life.

Like the disciples who gathered in small communities, we too must share Christ as nourishment for others. Such is the Christian mission. Our sharing begins with other parishes and dioceses but reaches out to every land, gathering all peoples at the table of the Lord, that none will ever again be like sheep without a shepherd.

Through these accounts, some of the most beautiful and moving in Scripture, the New Testament relates mission to the Christian experience of hospitality and Eucharist… We too must be willing to bring this nourishment to other lands and gather all nations, all peoples, at the table of the Lord.
(To the Ends of the Earth, Pastoral US Bishops, #53)

Every Christian throughout the world is called to be a missionary. As soon as the seed of the Gospel is planted and the Church is established on new soil, Christ calls that local church to share the Gospel with others.

Jesus still looks over the crowd and sees a people hungry for the word of God, the waters of grace, the anointing of the Spirit, and the bread of life. His heart is moved with compassion for them, for they are like sheep without a shepherd.

Some of us are called to bring the Gospel to other nations; others are called to remain at home and to pray, work, and sacrifice for the world mission of the Church. When we listen to the Gospel and celebrate Eucharist, we experience Christ present among us, inviting us to new life and giving us the Spirit who transforms us into missionaries.

His heart is moved with compassion for the needy and hungry of our world, for they are like sheep without a shepherd.