Missionary Church, witness of mercy

8th Missionary Day

As in the early days of the Church's experience, there are so many men and women of all ages and conditions who bear witness to this merciful love. An eloquent sign of God's maternal love is the considerable and growing female presence in the missionary world, alongside the male presence. Women, lay or consecrated – and today also numerous families – carry out their missionary vocation in the most varied ways: from the direct proclamation of the Gospel to socio-charitable service. Alongside the evangelizing and sacramental work of missionaries, there are women and families who understand, often more adequately, the problems of people and know how to face them in a timely and sometimes unprecedented way: caring for life, with increased attention focused more on people than on structures, and making use of all human and spiritual resources to build harmony, relationships, peace, solidarity, dialogue, cooperation, and fraternity, both in the area of interpersonal relationships and in the broader area of social and cultural life, and, in particular, in the care of the poor.

In many places, evangelization begins with educational activity, to which missionary work dedicates effort and time, like the merciful vinedresser of the Gospel (cf. Lc 13, 7-9; Jo 15, 1), with patience to await the fruits after years of slow formation; thus are generated people capable of evangelizing and bringing the Gospel to places where no one would expect to see it realized. The Church can be defined as "mother," even for those who may one day come to faith in Christ. I hope, therefore, that the holy people of God will exercise the maternal service of mercy, which so greatly helps those who do not yet know the Lord to find Him and love Him.

When Jesus' disciples travel the roads of the world, they are asked for that boundless love that tends to apply the same measure of the Lord to everyone; we proclaim the most beautiful and greatest gift He offered us: His life and His love.

Every people and culture has the right to receive the message of salvation, which is a gift from God for all. And the need for it is redoubled when we consider how many injustices, wars, and humanitarian crises await a solution today.

(Pope Francis, message for the year 2016)