Why did the Son of man come to ‘seek’ and save the lost? (Luke 19:10) And why does he encourage us to keep ’seeking’ His Kingdom?
My logic tells me that this is yet another expression of Christ’s love for me. The same expression of which I must show to those who are being lost around me – a mere extrapolation of God’s love for me - because I must love as Christ teaches me to love. And this, therefore, is the purpose of my existence – to be found seeking His Kingdom at all times, even when He returns at an unexpected hour (Luke 12:40) and to keep seeking those who are lost and thus “help them towards a full reception of Christ” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, 15)
This was Christ’s mission on earth and we, in accepting this divine mandate, are merely doing our duty. “So for you. When you have done all that you have been told to do, you must say: We are no more than servants, we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). Surely, there are different ways in which one can go ‘seeking’ for the lost. And truly there isn’t one single way which is most correct or more profitable than the rest. But I feel what is required from us is that we continue seeking. I guess that’s what counts – our efforts to continue going out to give. The necessity is laid upon us, Christians, who are by default – “missionaries”, to find ways and means to give the good news to those who haven’t heard it yet. It is a mandate that the Church readily accepts as her own, for “she exists to evangelise” (EN 14). In fact as Pope John Paul II said “multitudes have the right to know the riches of the mystery of Christ” (RM 8) and as the Vat. II says “...the Church, nevertheless, still has the obligation and the sacred right to evangelise” (Decree on Church’s Missionary Activity, 7).
My logic tells me that this is yet another expression of Christ’s love for me. The same expression of which I must show to those who are being lost around me – a mere extrapolation of God’s love for me - because I must love as Christ teaches me to love. And this, therefore, is the purpose of my existence – to be found seeking His Kingdom at all times, even when He returns at an unexpected hour (Luke 12:40) and to keep seeking those who are lost and thus “help them towards a full reception of Christ” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, 15)
This was Christ’s mission on earth and we, in accepting this divine mandate, are merely doing our duty. “So for you. When you have done all that you have been told to do, you must say: We are no more than servants, we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). Surely, there are different ways in which one can go ‘seeking’ for the lost. And truly there isn’t one single way which is most correct or more profitable than the rest. But I feel what is required from us is that we continue seeking. I guess that’s what counts – our efforts to continue going out to give. The necessity is laid upon us, Christians, who are by default – “missionaries”, to find ways and means to give the good news to those who haven’t heard it yet. It is a mandate that the Church readily accepts as her own, for “she exists to evangelise” (EN 14). In fact as Pope John Paul II said “multitudes have the right to know the riches of the mystery of Christ” (RM 8) and as the Vat. II says “...the Church, nevertheless, still has the obligation and the sacred right to evangelise” (Decree on Church’s Missionary Activity, 7).
So it is that they have the right to know this good news and reach the fullness of Christ and we have the right to give it. So what’s stopping us? Is it our resources – time, money, talents? Living a deeper Christian life, for me, would mean to give my time, money and talents more fully to ‘seeking’ His Kingdom and continuing Christ’s mission on earth. It is certainly a painful affair to go out and search for the lost. But the good news is that we don’t have to do it all alone. The mission, as I understood from the teaching of a Bible scholar, is to bring Christ to the people, as opposed to bringing people to Christ. Our job is to complement the action of the Holy Spirit and bring the knowledge of Christ (both head and heart level) to the people. I am glad that I belong to a Church that provides me with every opportunity to partake and collaborate in this divine mandate :).
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