The Missionary Activity of the Church

From the decree on the missionary activity of the Church of the Second Vatican Council:

The Lord Jesus, from the very beginning, called to Himself those whom He wanted; He arranged for twelve to be with Him, and to be sent by Him to preach. Thus the apostles were the first beginnings of the new Israel, and at the same time the origin of the sacred hierarchy.

He commanded them: Go then and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.

From then onward there is a duty laid on the Church of spreading the faith and the salvation that come from Christ. This duty is in virtue of the express command inherited from the apostles by the college of bishops, assisted by the priests, in communion with Peter's successor, the chief shepherd of the Church; it is in virtue also of the life that Christ causes to flow into His members.

The mission of the Church is therefore fulfilled by that activity by which the Church, in obedience to Christ's command and under the impulse of the grace and love of the Holy Spirit, becomes fully and actively present to all men and to all peoples, to lead them by the example of its life, by its preaching, by the sacraments and other means of grace, to the faith, freedom and peace of Christ, so that there lies open before them a free and firm path to a full sharing in the mystery of Christ.

Let us pray for the hierarchy of the Church. Let us fulfill our own responsibility to build up Christ's body.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching