To Be Christian Is To Be Missionary! - Msgr. Tadeusz Wojda SAC
“And because the Church is missionary,” shared His Excellency, “it’s natural that mission also becomes an essential part of every Christian’s identity.”
Msgr. Taduesz Wojda SAC, the Archbishop of Gdansk, Poland, and President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, opened We Are A Mission’s second session of it’s webinar series on Pope Francis’ World Mission Sunday Message. Walking together with the Pontifical Missionary Union, the series aims to give life to the Holy Father’s missionary dream, through the spiritual impulse of St. Vincent Pallotti and Pope Leo XIV.
He began his discourse on “Is Missionary Witness Still Necessary?” by sharing an encounter he had with an elderly woman in Africa, during his time working with the Holy See’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. It was her faith in divine goodness that expressed exactly what mission means, and that Heaven has been our destiny from the very start.
He continued with the testimony of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave born in 1869, who was canonized by St. Pope John Paul II in the Great Jubilee of 2000. Her extroardinary witness of faith teaches us that the “Church is heir to this divine gift, and not only invites all people to embrace it, but actively works to bring it to others.”
Mission, therefore, is an integral part of the Church’s very nature. She is constantly sent by Jesus Christ to proclaim the Good News of Salvation. “To be Christian is to be missionary!”
To continue reading the full text of Monsignor’s address, available in multiple languages, please see the attached files at the conclusion of this article. We Are A Mission’s presentation on “Christians, Bearers & Builders of Hope,” is likewise available both slide and PDF format.
We also extend our immense gratitude to Fr. Anh Nhue Nguyen OFM Conv., whose presence and direction always points us to what is above, and to the new evangelizing season before us that’s possible with God’s grace!
Ad infinitum Dei gloriam!
